Craziness and Community

These last couple of months have been super crazy. It started around the time the buyer's of our home wanted to move the closing date up by a week. That was the same day that I found out my momma's cancer was back. The very next weekend was when the head gasket on our 15 year old van decided to go. When I was co-leading our women's retreat. The weekend after the retreat we moved. A week after we moved in, our heat went out in our (new to us) house and the HSA couldn't get someone out for a couple of days. The next week we replaced our van. And then our heat went out again this past weekend.

I tell you all of that, not to say "woe is me." Or to have you feel sorry for me. I tell you all of that to give glory to God for the amazing body of believers that He has given us to walk through carry us through the craziness.

When the buyer's moved our closing date up, 3 of my friends came over and helped pack us up. They got more packed that night than I could have done in a week by myself.

When my momma called with her news, one of my friends called me immediately to check-in to see how I was doing and stayed on the phone with me while I blubbered through the news. What a patient friend. This friend called and checked on me multiple days following that one. My husband left work early to come hold me even when I didn't ask him to. He sat there next to me while I sat in shock avoiding the subject. And later when the emotion overflowed, he held me and let me soak his shirt with my tears. What a man! Other friends have been great at texting, praying, and asking me how things are going. Not minding that my answer isn't "fine." One friend gave me a super cute pillow to hold whenever I need to just sit and cry. It totally matches my bedroom, too. A couple of other friends have hired a photographer to come take pictures of my family when we are all together for Christmas. What an amazing gift! Other family and friends have offered to buy plane tickets or offer points to fly so I can go be with my family. So overwhelmed by their generosity! When I couldn't be with my momma and daddy for the official news, my grandparents spent several days with them to keep them company while my dad waited. And they continue to be available to my parents when they need them.

When our head gasket blew on our van, we had family step in and offer us their cars until we could research and find a new one after we moved. Totally saw God's hand in this provision.

When I was at the women's retreat, friends showered me with some yummy treats and also with fun memories. What a great time to get away and shift my focus back on Jesus. When I got home, I was able to enjoy a date with my husband because family had taken the girls for the day.

When we moved, family watched our girls the whole weekend so that we could move without them underfoot. We had lots of friends come and help us move. Some came even if they were only available for a short bit. And others stayed for the whole day. All of the friends that helped also have families that were spending the day without them. What amazing friends to give up their family time as well as their Saturday to help us. Also, the weekend we moved was a gorgeous weekend. Hoodie weather. (The weekend we were to originally move on ended up being snowy, rainy, and icy all day long. Thanks Lord!) Several friends provided dinner during this week leading up to the move which was wonderful because I was able to have the kitchen packed up. Another friend came and helped me clean the night before the move. And a few friends helped take a few loads over that night before. One family member came and cleaned my new house for several hours on two separate occasions! It was a huge help!

When our heat went out, friends offered their heater to us if we wanted it. Family gave us fire wood for our fire place.

When we went to get our van, family watched the older two girls, making our test-drive much easier.

I am so very thankful to be a part of a community that picks us up when we are absolutely defeated and have nothing left to give. These last few years, God has definitely made it so clear to Adam and I that we need this community that we find in Him. His love overflows from His people.

My Reflection

In our old house all of our mirrors were high. So when I looked at my reflection, I simply saw myself from the chest and up.

One of the last days in the old house, I went in to put some laundry away in Kaylee's room and was surprised by the very pregnant woman looking back at me. Her dresser is usually stacked high with pillows so I still only get the partial view of myself, but this day the pillows were on the floor.

Our new house gives me the whole view of myself every time I go to the bathroom. It still amazes me how surprised I am by my pregnant reflection. We have been in the house for 5 days now, you would think I would be used to it. I know that I am pregnant and have been for 35 weeks, but seeing myself pregnant is crazy weird.

I am looking forward to the last few weeks of my pregnancy and getting to watch my belly grow before Charlotte arrives. Maybe I will even be able to tell when she drops. :)

Craziness of the Last Few Weeks

These last several weeks have been super crazy!

Our computer broke. Which was the best timing ever since we weren't spending any money on buying a new house or anything. (Total sarcasm here people.) We ended up just having it fixed, but seriously just got it back yesterday. Needless to say, I have missed all of you and I am so excited to be blogging again.

We closed on both of our houses, the one we were selling and the one we were buying, on last Wednesday. We slowly moved over stuff to the new house, but had two massive hauls on Saturday with some fabulous help. Thank you to all who helped and that includes wives that watched their children so that their husbands could help!

Pause. I also want to say thank you to my buddy from highschool, Jonathan, as he helped us think of new ways to negotiate our contract with the people we were buying the house from. These ideas helped us win in the bidding war and get the house. Thanks so much Jonathan! Ok back to the craziness.

I thought for sure that I was going to go into labor because of all the contractions I was having, but thankfully baby girl stayed put.

This week has been small amounts of unpacking, but mostly cleaning, cooking, and never-ending laundry. 

My goal is to catch you up on our lives over the next week or so and to also finish up Blogtember. I hate that I missed it. 

How have you all been?

Giving You Some Background

My family moved. A lot. Like I am only a few years older than how many places I have lived in my life.

My parents made life fun. They were always doing puppet shows for the neighborhood or letting us have lots of friends over. Their love for Jesus poured out of them and into every aspect of our lives. So,  even though moving was difficult and terrible, they kept Michael and I happy and gave us things to look forward to in each move.

With each move, new people entered our lives. It hurt to say goodbye, but the new people helped it not hurt as bad. I wouldn't know half as many people as I do if we had not moved. 

Moving made our family close. Sometimes we only had each other. And while there are times that I wish we could have been like my husband and only live in a few places, I am grateful for the bond that my family has from moving as often as we did. 

The biggest impact that moving had on me was probably in relationships. Relationships are fragile and distance breaks them. So as I got older I began to build walls around myself to keep myself from truly allowing myself to open up to others. It wasn't until college that I feel like I let some of those walls come down.

As we currently prepare to move, we are considering and weighing all the options that are available to us. I don't want to jump the gun and uproot our family if it is not necessary. But I also want to hopefully stay where we land for the next 25 years. When did I become the adult making these decisions? They are not easy that is for sure.