Thanksgiving Thankful Thursday

As another Thanksgiving comes, there is so much in my life for which I give thanks.  Looking back over the past year, I realize that this time last year we didn't even have a home.  All our belongings were sitting in front of my Mom's house in a moving truck which we moved into a rental on Friday.  So this year I feel especially blessed with what has happened in the past year and how God's plan and timing has been perfect through it all.  We could not figure out or have known how things would end up, and now looking back I am thankful over and over again for all the details that HE figured out for us....getting the wonderful house we have now, our son's teacher last year when we moved as well as this year's teacher, new friendships that we've made, our new church family and the ways we have been able to serve with this new church, my husband's job and the people he is influencing. 

Today I am thankful for...
~ having a wonderful day with my husband on Wednesday, just the two of us.  We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then went to see the movie "Courageous."  That is a wonderful movie and I highly recommend it!

~ my son and all the ways he makes me laugh and smile every day.  He is so much fun.  Also, he had a little injury Sunday.  Part of his face was was scratched and bruised.  I'm thankful it was not worse.

~ having Thanksgiving with my husband's side of the family.  We got to go on Sunday, and I was thankful how it worked out for us to get together with his parents, brothers and family. 

~ the miracle we got to witness last weekend.  You can read about it in my previous post!  God is amazing!

~ getting to enjoy days off with my boys!  I'm glad for changes in our routine!
Have a day of blessings!

A year ago...

We were excited to sign the papers to close on our new house on October 11, 2010.  We knew a couple of the rooms needed to be repainted....we did not want bright blue or purple bedrooms!  Plus there were some other things we wanted to do before officially  moving in.  We had it all planned out to sign the papers and then be ready to move in by the end of the month. 
Well if you followed my blog last year you know that nothing went as we had planned!  On October 7, 2010, we got the unexpected news from our Realtor that we were not going to be able to sign the papers on Monday.  The hold-up was caused because the TX Attorney General put a hold on the sale of foreclosures in the state.  I didn't understand all the legal jargon associated with this...it basically meant though that our plans were on hold because the house we were buying was a foreclosure property and the banks had to verify they were handling the paperwork correctly.  We did not have any idea when we'd be able to continue so we were in a waiting game.

My husband was starting his training for his new position.  We were renting a duplex and had assumed we'd be out by the end of October.  The days went on and on, and it was a very frustrating time.  I remember waiting to hear something, anything from our Realtor each day, hoping he'd have some sort of good news or date for us.  We even got a lawyer involved to try to help us through the process of figuring out our options.  We went to look at other houses as well because it just didn't seem this one was going to work.

It was quite the roller coaster for us all.  We didn't know what was going to happen from day to day really.  It was just waiting and praying, trying to see what God would have us do next.  Being the planner that I am I did not like not knowing what was coming. I did not like that all the plans I had made regarding the house and where we would live and not wanting to be separated from my husband and getting my son into a new school were not working out like I thought they should from my perspective. I wasn't angry during this time, I just didn't like not knowing.    

So today I remember how this time last year our plans changed suddenly and without warning.  I remember how God used this time to teach us some valuable lessons about Himself and His plan and timing during the period of unknowns and waiting.     

I heard this song on the radio this week, and I was immediately taken back to that time.  Because on October 7 and October 8 and 9 and 10 and on and on when I didn't know what was going to happen, I still held on to my faith that God had a plan for us.  He had things to teach us and used the time to bring us closer to Him and closer to each other.  We couldn't see the whole picture like He could.
 
Here is the song for you to hear.  It has such great lyrics. 


Looking back a year later, it is still crazy to me how it all worked out.  I think I am still processing it all that we are actually here!  The timing of everything fit together just beautifully.  He knew that all along, even though I could only see what was happening in the day to day moment.  Aren't you thankful that He has a bigger perspective than us? 

Have a day of blessings!

'Tis So Sweet...

{Warning:  This may be longer than most posts as I share some of the story of our move and the circumstances related to that.}

Last night I was thinking that today marks the one year anniversary that we signed the papers on our old house.  Just 10 days after we put our house on the market we received an offer which surprised us to say the least.  After the offer and counteroffer, we signed the papers for the sell. 

I remember feeling totally at peace as we walked out of the Realtor's office that day.  It was an odd feeling in those circumstances of not knowing what was coming, yet being filled with the peace I knew could only be from God.  Looking back I cannot believe all that has happened since that day.  We didn't know, but we prayed, had faith, and trusted somehow God would work it all out. 

Things did not go at all as we planned when we put our house on the market.  We knew of some assistant positions that would be opening in the agency for which my husband works.  We did not know when they were opening, but we knew he wanted to apply for one of these.  We put the house on the market thinking we'd see if it would sell and really thought it'd take months to actually sell it.  We knew the house would have to sell if we were to move and we didn't want to live in separate cities.  But none of that happened as we thought.  Our house sold in 10 days and the assistant positions did not open.

Sometimes I'd have those thoughts of what if they don't open the new positions or what if he does not get one of them. I had plenty of times of doubts and frustrations when I couldn't see how everything would turn out.  We knew we couldn't see the full picture and had the "back up plan" in mind that he would just keep working where he was and if we were staying in that area find a new house eventually.

Since we didn't know what was going to happen, we moved to a temporary duplex which was amazing in itself.  We had looked and looked for a place to live and came to closed door after closed door.  The duplex ended up being near our old house and with a landlady who listened to our situation and expectations that we wouldn't be there for very long.  We still thought that the agency would announce the assistant positions, my husband could apply, and we would still get to move. 

However, all of that changed on July 29 when we found out of the tragic death of my husband's coworker M.    The coworker was the director whom my husband hoped to work with in one of his offices as an assistant. I remember the heartbreak I felt when my husband called with the news. It was so hard to understand, and we still have so many questions and grieve over this painful loss. 

So it ended up that my husband instead of being in an assistand position as we originally thought is now the director.

None of it happened as we thought it would.   Now today a year later we are here in a different city in our new house and my husband has a new job.  My mind has trouble processing all this sometimes.  Even though I never knew M, only the stories my husband shared from their work-related experiences, I now think of him and his wife every day.      

Last year we trusted that God had a reason for our house to sell so quickly, but never could have imagined it would be under these circumstances.  As for the assistant positions, it is weird to see that now at the beginning of this summer those positions were announced and opened. 

Today in church we sang the song 'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus.   It made me smile as we sang the lyrics.  The past year we learned more about trusting Him.  I'm thankful that He has taught us we can count on Him and trust Him, even during the times when we can't see or have a clue.   

Have a day of blessings!
 

New table!

I sold the table we had when we moved to the duplex. I knew I'd like to have a new one when we moved anyway so I thought I'd list it on Craigslist. It sold quickly. While we were at the duplex, Caleb and I would mostly eat supper at a little table made of boxes on the kitchen floor. He liked to stack them and make a little chair and table top. I remember one night when my husband was home for supper (this was the time he was traveling and training) and it was such a blessing to be able to sit and eat supper together, even without a table!

Since we have moved to our new house, we've been eating on the couch with tray tables. On Friday we went to buy a new table. We'd gone to some furniture stores to look a few weekends ago. I wanted one that could fold out to be bigger, it's called a butterfly leaf table. My Mom has one of those and I like it so I hoped we could find one similar.

Since we had already looked I already had an idea of what we'd want and the price. Before we left, I looked in my box to see what extra money I had. I knew that over the past few months I had cashed some checks (like when we got a refund from the dentist's office and one from insurance when we stopped the policy on our first house and other random things like that plus some I'd saved back) and put the money there, but I didn't know how much it was. I took it to the bank and was surprised at the amount.

We chose the table and went to pay. It was $4 less than the amount I'd counted out in my cash stash! I was excited about that. Now I just need to find another stash for the new couch I saw there....May have to use some savings for that one cause I don't know of any more stashes that I have anywhere!

Here is a picture of the table. This is the folded in size. I like how it is tall and the colors of it.

Have a day of blessings!

Update on us

I thought I'd give a little update since I haven't written lately.

We loaded up on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving at my Mom's. Then on Friday we unloaded the rental truck. We have a house we are living in that our Realtor found for us to use without a lease or contract, which is very helpful. We are still deciding/waiting on the house to buy....either the first house we wanted or a different one.

Caleb is enjoying his new school. I'm so proud of how well he had adjusted and thankful for his positive attitude. We really like his school and teacher as well, it's such a blessing how well it has gone.

We don't have Internet right now so I'm not posting regularly. I visit the library to read blogs and post for now.

We are getting ready for Christmas. I'm not sure when we are going to get our tree, probably soon. Caleb has been asking about that. I don't feel quite excited about it this year as I normally do. I think that is because this place feels temporary since we aren't really unpacking or settling in, so it feels weird to me to think of decorating for Christmas when I don't know how long we'll be here.

We love being here in this city and are so thankful to be together. Keep us in prayer as we make decisions regarding the house and all the other things that go along with moving like finding a new church, bank, doctors, etc.

Have a day of blessings!

Update on our house...

Hello everyone. I am very busy today but wanted to stop and ask for you to please pray for us. My husband went to the inspection on House #2 yesterday, and we were surprised to find it has some major issues. It is a new house so apparently it was a builder who did poor quality work. It looks fine on the outside, but the inspectors found termite damage, rotting wood, and foundation issues. We do not want to go into a house with these major problems.

Now we are trying to decide what to do. We are still planning to be out of our duplex tomorrow. One option is to use a rental our realtor has and just wait on House #1. I was so excited about the school Caleb would attend if we lived in House #2. I think the school at House #1 is a good one too, I just liked the other one better.

Thank you for your prayers.

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers and Promises Week #43

This week's verse is Psalm 103:2, 3--
"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits--
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases."

Here are some prayer requests I would like to share with you:

~ I saw on Facebook on Friday a prayer request and want to ask you to pray for this family. I was in choir with these sisters (one was a couple years younger and the other a few years older than me). One of the girls said her Mom's cancer had spread to her brain, a tumor burst in her brain and she has a brain bleed. She was care flighted to Lubbock and a recent post said the doctors gave her a few days to live. This family has been on my heart, and I ask you to pray for them to be comforted at this difficult time as well as for those caring for their Mom, Joyce.

~ Another Facebook prayer request! Many of you probably know Michele-- she said their heater went out and the repairman is coming Tuesday, they have a space heater to use till then. Where she lives it's already in the 30s/40s at night, so pray for it not to be too cold and also for the repair not to be expensive.

~ Denise (Shortybear).

~ Still waiting on our new house. We have the duplex pretty much packed up besides a few things we are using in the kitchen and bathroom. We are just waiting now. To be honest we can't see with our eyes how this is going to work, but we are praying we could close somehow this week....that is really what we want to happen and feel like needs to happen for my husband to start his new position on November 1. It is going to have to be God for it to all come together this week though; we can't do it ourselves obviously. We had things planned how we thought they would work for the move, and it hasn't gone like that. I read in a devotional book today about the man who asked for his son to be healed of the evil spirit (Mark 9:14-32). The dad said to Jesus, "But if you can do anything...." I was reminded that our prayers to God about this do not need to be "if you can." We trust Him and seek His will in all of this.

Thank you for visiting. Visit others for Spiritual Sundays.

Have a day of blessings!

In Other Words...

My friend Debbie at Heart Choices is hosting "In Other Words Tuesday" this week. I wanted to join in when I saw the quote she chose for this week. It's a quote from Priscilla Shirer's book entitled One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Land.

The spirit of complaint is born out of an unwillingness to trust God with today. Like the Israelites, it means you are spending your time looking back toward Egypt or wishing for the future, all the while missing what God is doing right now.

When I read Debbie's post last night, I emailed her and told her that it was just what I needed to read this week as we are still waiting to close on our new house and for it to be released from the foreclosure freeze.

If I am not trusting God with where He is taking me, I will complain and grumble. Neither of those will do any good; they will cast a negative feeling over our home. That is not what God wants (and it's not what my family wants either!).

I've been reminded lately to enjoy today without complaining and also without longing for our new home. Things have been smooth for us and God has provided every last detail. It will all work out and come together in God's timing anyway.

Have a day of blessings!

Prayers and Promises Week #42

This week's verse is Colossians 3:13. It is another one about forgiveness that is familiar; it's good to be reminded of the importance of forgiveness.

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Do you have any prayer requests this week? Here are some requests:

~ Alexis, a young girl battling a brain tumor. Pray for her and her parents.

~ our military and their families back home.

~ Leslie's family. I read this prayer request on Kelly's blog recently. I've been praying for this family in their devastating losses.

~ Regarding our move there are several things: We need definite answers on our house closing. We were asked to extend the contract to the 22nd, which is this Friday. We don't have a definite answer on closing though. We really need it to be this week due to our schedules and the time we have before my hubby has to be at his new office. Another prayer is for my husband as he begins his new role in a management position. Pray for wisdom as he will be in this new position. We pray for us to find a new church home. We are also praying for this to be a smooth transition for our son as he will be in a new school.

Thank you for visiting.

Join us for Spiritual Sundays.

Have a day of blessings!

Since we've moved

I am so thankful we were moved and settled at the duplex before school started. While we were surprised our home sold so quickly, we know it was all part of God's timing that it happen in the summer and not once Caleb was in school. It is nice not to be stressed with packing and cleaning for a big move right now as we are getting back into the swing of school.

I am thankful that we are content here in our duplex. Some people have asked how we like living here and if it's okay. Yes it is different from our home. There is less room and many other changes, like no back yard to play in, no yard to mow, and I don't have a clothesline to hang our clothes. We aren't looking at these things as negatives though.

As I look at what we have here with us and think about all that is in storage, I continue to wonder if we even need all that stuff and if I want to really unpack it once we move again. So much of it just takes up space. There are some things I would want to keep like my Precious Moments, teacher stuff, and Christmas decorations. There have been a couple things here and there I've missed (like why did I pack away all my pie plates, something I realized last week when I was going to make a pie for my husband!). But for the most part I haven't felt I was missing anything major. That just goes to show you that it's not the "things" that make me content and happy...it's the two wonderful people I am living here with that makes it home.

Caleb has adjusted very well. I'm so proud of him! He continues to surprise me with the creative games and imaginative things he comes up with to play. I always laugh at all the uses he has for yarn! I told my Mom I could write a book called "101 Uses for Yarn."

As far as the laundry, I do miss my time at the clothesline. I have an alternative though...a collapsible drying rack we bought at Walmart. I have figured out when to wash the clothes so I can hang them to give them plenty of time to dry so most nights they aren't all over the house when my husband gets home. I could use the dryer but I like to save on electricity this way.

Speaking of electricity, we got our first bill for living here a month. We were pleasantly surprised at the cost! We weren't sure how it would compare to our home because we didn't know the energy efficiency of the windows and appliances here. It was low and that was for August in Texas too!

A funny story about our move...The guy who is living in our old house has the same last name as us! I told the ladies at the post office when I turned in our card to forward our mail. We have received some of his mail in the past couple of weeks. One day I even had something from AT&T that was his name with our address here! (Not sure how they messed that one up, but they've messed up pretty much everything we asked them when we transferred our service so it wasn't too surprising to see this mistake from them!) Who knows how long this will take to get straightened out!

We are continuing to wait and pray about what is next for us. We are very excited to hear something and are really expecting to hear in a few weeks about one possibility. Please pray with us. I have a whole list of things I'm praying about as we wait. God's worked out all the details of this story up to this point and we continue to trust Him.

Have a day of blessings!

As we continue to wait

We had an enjoyable week last week as Caleb began another school year. He is a first grader now. The past couple of weeks I have remembered my feelings from this time last year as he was going to kindergarten. This year was much easier on me emotionally! I am thankful he loves school and enjoys going. It was so nice to go to campus and recognize all the familiar faces of the staff, students, and other parents. I volunteered on Friday and loved being there, catching up with a couple of the ladies. We enjoyed the first football game of the season on Friday night. Caleb is participating in a program where he is matched up with a football player buddy. The group of boys gets to run out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game before the football players come out. It was fun seeing him excited about it and also watching the game with him and hearing his buddy's name throughout the game.

We continue to wait on news regarding my husband's job. However, we know we are closer now than we have been because some new positions have opened. We have prayed specific prayers about what we would like to happen for our family. We do not know how soon we will have an answer. I am also praying that we will accept whatever answer God has for us if it is yes, no, or wait some more. He has been so faithful and taught us both so much through this process. More and more details that He is writing in this story that I never could have imagined make me just smile and thank Him. Please pray for us over the next couple of weeks as we anticipate some new news about this.





Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

We started staying at the duplex on Sunday night, and we closed on our house We are getting situated here. We do miss our house and all agree that we really miss the big open windows. But we are thankful at the same time to be here now and look forward to what God has for us in the future. And I've found things I do like here, like the stove....I think I want one like it in our house!

This week I am thankful for....
~ my husband being my hero! He has been so helpful during this move. Friday he found us a fridge and had it delivered. Also he called Sprint to get my phone part of his plan so it doesn't use my minutes while I'm talking to him on his cell....didn't know we could do this and glad we can because I went over on my minutes last month, probably talking to him!! And he dealt with AT&T for several days because they really messed up our change orders for this move. And he fixed my dryer cord so it could be connected here. And he has made countless trips to storage and moving stuff here!

~ my sweet boy and the things he's said during this move that make me smile. He told us to tell the people buying our house to try to use nail holes that are already there (he heard me say that the landlady at the duplex said this). Also, he told me the new people must believe in God to live in our old house. I thought that was cute. We knew it would be hard for him to leave his house since that is the only house he's ever known. He asks to drive by so we do.

~ having a washer/dryer connection here and that they are connected and working. I even got a drying rack so I can hang some stuff to dry since I won't have my clothesline for this time.

~ answers to prayers.

~ our upcoming Bible study with the ladies at church.

We are over at Lynn's today if you would like to join in for Thankful Thursday.

Have a day of blessings!

Changes!

Change is part of life. We all know that fact, but how many of us actually like or enjoy change? Some changes are easier to handle while others require some pain, either physical or emotional. If you are like me, you like your little routine and like to keep things the same day after day. We sometimes refer to this as our “comfort zone.” We usually prefer not to allow too much stretching of our comfort zones.

You can find me today over at Laced with Grace to read the rest of this devotional entitled Changes!

Have a day of blessings!

Last week

We are on the countdown of the last week here in our home. It is getting rather empty around here already. We have moved a bunch of stuff over to the duplex already and will move the bigger stuff later this week.

I've known all along that when the last day gets here (or the days leading up to it) I'll have feelings of sadness. This home is special for so many reasons. We had rented before and this was the first home for us to buy. We found a subdivision with lots for sale and saw this house being built from the ground up. We got to pick the colors for the brick and carpet, the light fixtures, and counter top. Once it was under construction we would drive over in the evenings after work to see the progress that had been made each day. I remember when the walls were up and then how excited I was when they started adding the brick and then the cabinets. This is the home we've lived in for nearly 7 years (October would be 7 years). This is where we brought home our baby boy from the hospital and where he has had all his firsts up to this point. We are the only people who have lived here so I know it has only been our pictures hanging on the walls and our clothes filling the closets.

As I'm thinking of this week, I am thinking of the memories we have made...Caleb's birthday parties, having a little toddler stand at the window ledge hollering , "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" while watching Daddy mow the front yard, planting trees and flowers, having a fence put up in the backyard so Caleb could go out to play, going on walks, visiting with neighbors. The list goes on and on.

I'm also thinking of the "lasts" we will have here and the things I will miss.... like the last time we'll eat supper together or the last time we'll put Caleb to bed in the only bedroom he's ever known or the last time I'll hang clothes out on the line (but my Dad made them so they can come out of the ground and go with us so I'll have them at the next house).

We are thankful for this home and the memories we have here. As I look at the lasts here, my husband reminded me that with the "lasts" here will come "firsts" at a new place. I'm thankful for God providing us a place nearby that can be our temporary stopping point until we know where we are going next.

Have a day of blessings!

Looking for a "Temporary Home"

When we found out we sold our house, we began looking for a new place to live. In the last month or so we have found several places that we thought would work. Then it felt like all the doors we thought were opened ended up closed.

First my husband remembered some new duplexes being built in our little town. We looked at those, but they were really pricey and wanted a year lease. So we kept it as an option but not very high on our list.

We talked to one of our elders at church who handles some real estate. He told us on a Wednesday he had a house that would be available about the time we'd need it. Then Sunday he said he found out it was going to take longer for him to get that he thought originally. So cross that one off the list.

Next we saw a "for rent" sign in the yard of a house right around our block. I called several times and couldn't get an answer. Then finally a couple days later I talked to the guy, and we went to look at the house. He gave us an application. We had some "red flags" go off on this one, so my husband emailed him about our questions. He didn't respond so I called him. No, he wouldn't give us a 3 month lease even if we paid him extra and paid him up front. Okay, next.....

A lady at church is a leasing agent so she knew of an apartment in our neighboring town (where my husband works and is a bigger place that where we live) that does three month leases. This was exciting because we had not even thought of being able to get something for 3 months, even though we knew we wanted something short because we don't know how long we'll be here. So we talked to the lady at that complex and it would possibly work but was farther away from Caleb's school than I wanted.

This got me to thinking maybe other apartments would give us a three month lease. I found one last week. It was closer, and when Caleb and I went to look at it, we liked it. I felt good about it and understood the guy to say they would have some available at the beginning of August. The next day I called to find out when one would be available and was told not till the end of August. Talking with the guy again I had one of those "funny feelings" that made me think this was a no too.

In between all this we had been watching ads in the paper and contacting realtors trying to find something. It seemed everything was either too far away or wanting a year lease.

Last week at the library I picked up one of the apartment advertisement magazines. Friday afternoon I thought I'd call a few more. I found one and we met to look at it Friday evening. It had so many positives..... it was already ready to move in, downstairs (the others were upstairs), location (closer to drive Caleb to school although he still will have to transfer), AND they would let us do a month-to-month lease! After weeks of hearing no after no after no when I'd ask for a 6 month lease, I was so excited to hear this wonderful news!

We filled out the application online (another plus was they waived the application fee for doing it online) on Friday night. Sunday afternoon we went to see if we could look at the particular apartment that was available. We went back to the office to get some more information. As I sat down I noticed a song coming on the radio. I looked up at my husband and smiled. It was this song....



If you have not heard Carrie Underwood's song "Temporary Home" I encourage you to listen to it. I had seen it posted on a few blogs recently, so I went to YouTube and listened to it. I loved it because it is how I feel about our home. I know I'll be sad to leave here, but at the same time I know that things on earth are only temporary anyway. When I sat down at the apartment office desk, it made me smile to hear this song. It felt like a little reminder that the apartment is just a temporary home too. While it isn't what we planned or expected to live in an apartment again, it has all worked out in God's timing. We go to sign the papers on Thursday. Continue to pray for us as we get the rest of our stuff moved.

Have a day of blessings!

Countdown: 19 days

I have recently asked for prayers for my family here on my blog. I thought I would tell you what was going on.

We sold our house! We put it on the market on June 1 and on June 10 we had an offer. We close on July 26.

When we signed the papers for the contract, I walked out of the realtor's office with such peace. In the months leading up to putting it on the market I had mixed feelings about the whole thing. I was excited but scared of the unknown too.

My husband said he felt we had chosen the right realtor and I agree. Having never done this before, we didn't know even how to choose one! I got some tips from my former high school senior English teacher who is now in real estate (and someone I trust and respect). She did give me some tips and said I would just know...she was right. I knew he was the right one too when I got this email back from him one day after I told him I guess we were ready to put the house on the market but was nervous about it:

Putting a house on the market can be a little scary, but I trust that it won't be overwhelming. As we follow where we see God leading, He will work it all out!

We are looking for something temporary until we get a definite answer on my husband's job. It is a good possibility he will be changing to a different office within the state. We are very excited about this!

I am excited to share the whole story with you, but it is a story that God is still writing. There are so many little details that have shown me this is totally in God's hands. I have thought so many times of how great a story it is going to be too and can't wait to see how it all ends up. We give all the glory to Him because we cannot do this on our own.

I do have my days when I feel like I can't wait one more possible day without knowing where we will be. But then I get a little word of encouragement from someone and am able to keep going and keep believing it is all going to work out.

If you've noticed the theme of trust, faith, and waiting on many of my verses and songs, this is why! Thank you for your prayers as we wait expectantly for how God will answer our prayers.
Have a day of blessings!