Our house

Hello to all. I am not writing nearly enough lately, and for that I can explain. I am home for the summer with both of my children. And I am starting the packing process in order to be able to move. And we had to arrange both the house we are moving to and advertise for renters that will take over ours. And Michael is still driving three hours every day to and from work. And he's going to take a fourth (yes, fourth) bar exam one month from now. (We have only lived in SC, but Michael keeps working for multistate firms.) And my kids are home, wondering what fun I have planned for them each and every day as their entertainment director. But I already mentioned them....



So, here's our plan.




Michael - work and study. Otherwise my jobs are useless.




Me - Pack house, feed children, prepare home in Rock Hill, and move.




Kids - Keep a positive attitude and realize that we really do love them and we are trying to do what's best, even if it is incredibly boring and they are going to have to move away from their friends.



That said, what I am trying to do is get back to a routine. In all the hurried life of late, I have given up on praying and reading each morning and having dinner cooked at a reasonable time each evening. We ate at nine thirty last night. There are nights where my kids aren't even hungry anymore because it's bedtime and their bodies want sleep more than food. We are getting frustrated with each other. Michael is stressed out beyond explanation over asking his family to move - again - for the hope of this being the job that settles us. And a lot of it depending on whether or not he can pass this big test while networking in small town America all at once and up until now driving three hours a day to do all that. Yet. There's good.

My kids have built champion forts because they have time and supplies. Boxes stack to the ceiling in minutes and new toys make imagination exciting again. Old friends that we missed all school year are showing up and taking my kids and offering them love and fun and support. The last two or three days I have craved my morning time, and I have taken it, and those days have been good. Blessed by the break. We got the house I wanted (I love it - the rest of them are withholding their vote til I prove how great it can be) and there are sweet college students waiting in Rock Hill to help me get it ready for my family. Michael's new firm is giving him the enitre month off for him to study. No other firm has ever givien him this much time. We are not doing this on our own. All along the way, God is providing sweet friends and family to make this time more than bearable, enjoyable. And for all that I am thankful.

So, in the end, our plan is as I stated in the beginning, but I am adding back to that plan my morning time so that I may remember to tell God thank you and give Him the rest of each day. And I am going to attempt a stopping time in the chaos so that my children don't fall asleep in their dinner plates.

Pray for us!

(We move for good July 14th.)

Abide in Me

That was Sunday's sermon - Abide in Me.

And that's what my friend said she was trying desperately to do today when I talked with her on the phone - Abide. In Him.

And that's what I am doing too, because otherwise I would have had fifteen plus some more panic attacks already today.

I drove on the interstate.
I looked at rental homes. For us to live in for awhile.
I talked to four realtors. No. Sorry. Five.
I found out the people that looked at buying our house don't want it.
I found out another person may want to rent it for a short while.
I like that person. A whole lot.
I talked with my insurance agent.
I like her a whole lot too.
I explained it all to my dad. (Thank you, Dad.)
I talked with God. All. day. long. (Thank you, God.)

Here's the deal. I know we are moving to Rock Hill by August 1st because I have stated it out loud to my kids. And they needed a date. A date for when they could stop cleaning their playroom and living in a museum and saying goodbye to people only to see them again. And again.

I asked God for a date and then declared one. I hope He's on board with that.

Truth. I keep demanding a simple when and where from God. And I keep researching endless possibilities to answer those very same questions. What I am having an awful hard time with is the stopping and abiding part. I mean, for goodness sake, I set a date, God! Can't He see that I am in a hurry? Yet, all my tempting Him has not provided me with answers or comfort. So. I am left to abide in Him.

Just Him.

No date.

No address.

Just Him.

And for tonight, I have to tell you, it feels good to let Him take all that for awhile.