Having (sort of) shared my testimony on Sabbath, I've done a bit of processing lately and I have some thoughts I would like to share. They sort of relate to the storm, in that the storm has certainly cemented these thoughts, but many of them were rattling around in my head, even before the storms hit. I know that some of them might be difficult for some people to swallow. I know I would have had a hard time accepting parts of them several years ago. But, for now, this is my experience and you can take it as just that, my experience.
So, here goes. I believe that God is willing to TAKE you to difficult, even sometimes hurtful places, in order to draw you into a more intimate relationship with him. Alot of people have a very hard time with the thought that God would LET anything bad happen to you, let alone cause it. The problem with that is that 'bad' is totally a matter of perception. I have a friend who had a house fire once. They lost everything! That sounds just awful to most of us. She now counts it as one of her biggest blessings. We are feeling the same way about the storms at this point. Not only because of the physical/financial blessings that have come about because of it, but mostly because of how it has helped us to feel God's abiding presence in our lives, particularly me, and a certainty that He is here with us, interested in our lives, and acting for our better good. If it took living through a tornado for me to get to that point where doubt was no longer a plague that dogged my spiritual steps, then I say bring it!! (not sure I would have said "bring it" on April 26 though)
The unexpected outcome of this is also what it has done to fear in my life. I have other fears (what mother doesn't?). Tornadoes used to be a pretty big one - actually they still are, in a new, different way - because I KNOW -- but whenever I start to get fearful about something, I remember, "Hey - God kept us safe, protected our lives and even our stuff, and blessed us in the midst of a BAD tornado - WHAT am I worried about - we are in His hands" There are other fears, things I don't like to talk about, or even think about. But when they do pop into my head I find myself remembering the way that God was with us in the storm and I know that God would be with us if we were ever to have to actually face that other fear too.
I hope I can help the kids internalize this too.
And the love is awakening too. When I think about the fact that I can rest in the knowledge that God has us covered, and really let that sink in to the core of my being, love automatically begins to blossom there. How can it not?
I know my heart is a bit 'thick skinned' from previous hurts, and depressions, etc that I have experienced. I have prayed for God to bring healing, and a healthy emotional state, so that I could FEEL His love for me, and FEEL love for Him. I knew He was the only source for the healing that I needed. I did not expect Him to take me through one of my biggest fears to get me there, but in hindsight it was (obviously - he IS God, after all) the PERFECT thing to get me to the point I needed to be at.
The question I continue to have is: do I trust God enough to give Him full license to do whatever it takes to draw me into an even closer walk with Him? It might be a rough road for a while, it might hurt, but in the end, I suspect it will be SO worth it. I do know one thing - I hunger for that closeness to continue to grow, the little taste I have had has put a desire for more into my heart.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Some things I guess I forgot to share...
So, it's been a few weeks since I've written. There is a reason for that. Two weeks ago Darlene asked me to share my testimony as the 'speaker' for church this week, so I've been busy processing and preparing for that. In the process of getting that all organized in my head, and also visiting with Mike and Darlene this afternoon, when they came to our house for lunch, I realized there were a few things that I had inadvertently left out of the blog.
One was the harp. One of the first things I tended to when we first came upstairs after the storm was to get the piano covered up, and the harp picked up (it was laid over on it's side) and moved downstairs where it would be safer and dryer until we could get back to pick things up. When I picked it up, and carried it downstairs (it's a smaller, folk harp, thankfully, not a BIG pedal harp) I heard and felt a sloshing coming from inside the sound box. But we were still in 'rush around and get as much covered as possible' mode, so I didn't take time to tend to it - getting the water out was going to be no simple task, because there are only small holes in the back of the sound box, only just big enough to get your hand in. I mentioned to Emma that there seemed to be water in it, and apparently she stuck a towel down in there, but the towel was soon needed for something else, and she did not finish the job.
The next day, when we went back to retrieve things, it was one of the first things we brought up from the basement - it was already completely dry inside, even though it sat in the basement, where there was water all over the floor. We had put it up on a pallet, but still! HOW did it get COMPLETELY dry??
Now - before I tell you the next part - it will help to have a picture in your mind of the living room, if you have never seen it. (if you have, you can skip to the next paragraph) It had a vaulted ceiling, with a large fireplace at one end - there were four large windows on either side of the fireplace, two on each side. The bottom ones were about 7 feet tall and several feet wide, running all the way to the corners of the room on either side, above each of them was a second window, several more feet tall, and angled to match the roof-line. Beside those window, in the side walls of the room were two doors, facing out, in opposite directions, onto the deck that ran all around the back of the house. Those doors also had large glass panels in them.
Several days after the storm - in an evening, when we were at Mike and Darlene's place, we suddenly realized, "hey, wait, the grill, that was sitting out on the deck before the storm - just outside the glass door that the harp was sitting next to, inside - that grill was found inside the house, in the middle of the living room floor. Since we were not at the house when we realized this we wondered how in the world it got there, without seriously bashing the harp on the way through? So the next day, when we were at the house we checked things out. The glass, of that door, was intact (one of very few glass panels in the house that were left intact) the glass, just around the corner from that door, beside the fireplace, was also intact - however the glass above that, more than 7 feet off the floor, had a large, oval hole in it about the size of the grill (it's one of those Weber, portable grills, about three feet across and two feet high, and front-to-back). So, it had apparently taken flight, and flown in through THAT window, around the corner from where it had been sitting, rather than through the one that it was sitting right next to, thus flying OVER the harp, rather than through it. The harp did lay over on it's side, and it did have one broken foot (an easily replaced piece) and a couple of broken strings, but other than that, all the damage it sustained, including any water damage we fully expected it to have, was completely surface damage, not structural damage!! It is being easily repaired at the harp teachers' house, right now, until Emma gets home from camp in a few weeks and starts her lessons back up. What a blessing.
Lon's guitar, on the other hand, did not fare so well. The master bedrooms really seems to have taken quite a bit of the brunt of things. There seemed to be the most plant/insulation/dirt/gunk matter splattered all over in there. Just about a week ago I was looking back through some photos, and noticed a picture that was snapped the first time we went back to the house. The bed, which was a sleep-number bed, sitting on a wooden platform was there in the picture, but no sheets, blankets, pillows, or even the dust ruffle, were there. This was the type of dust ruffle that has a solid panel of fabric that was designed to lay on top of the box spring, covering the whole surface of the box springs, and the mattress lays on top of that. It was just gone. Plywood platform: still there, mattress: still there, dust ruffle: sucked out from between the two of them! Most of the bedding was out on the deck, just outside of our bedroom, covered in glass shards and debris. I'm not sure I ever saw the dust ruffle though. Crazy.
Lon's guitar was resting in a stand in our bedroom and it was pretty badly demolished. From now on, when we are under storm watch, all instruments go in their cases. Had his guitar been in it's case, it probably would have been fine. Especially if it was in a closet.
Michael did say something today that sort of took me aback at first, but he is so right. Anyone caught in the up-stairs of our house would not have survived. It's true. There was so much glass and lumber and general debris flying around and being embedded into things, survival would have been difficult. Several people have said that what they heard at first was that 'all the windows and doors were blown out' etc. So their thought was, "ok - board up the windows, and well get a locksmith right out to re-secure the doors..." Hearing that, and then going to the house... two completely different pictures! Even seeing pictures really does not do it justice. It really looked as if a pressure bomb went off inside the house. It really is a miracle that the house stood. There is one neighbor who is pretty certain that the house is actually twisted on it's foundation, not just shifted to the side, but twisted in place. It is also interesting to note that some things flew away from the house and some things flew towards the house. It is entirely possible that the very center of the tornado went directly over us. The tremendous pressure we all felt in our ears, down there in the basement would also attest to that. If that is the case then, in my mind, the only reason the house stood is because there was direct intervention from God. That is my personal theory. I'm not sure what to do with Doug and Nans' house - they are Godly people too, why was their home destroyed and ours saved? Maybe, with no human life in there... I don't pretend to be God, but I do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God was there, with us, protecting us from the ruin that COULD have been wrought on us by this storm. Not only did He protect our lives, he protected our stuff. We did not have renter's insurance. Yet most of our most valuable possessions were protected and saved.
From a very young age tornadoes have been a pretty big fear of mine. (Snakes were another one - Before we moved to Thailand I told God- "if there is ever a snake in our house - I'm on the next plane home") I always knew that I simply could NOT live in a tornado-prone area. When we came out to visit, and check the place out before we moved here, there had been a tornado that very week, and Mike and Darlene (that was who invited us home from church that first week that we visited) took us over to the area that had been hit - just a few blocks from their house!! Yet, somehow, once we got here, God gave me tremendous peace about it all. Every time there was a watch or a warning, we would just treat it sort of like a fire drill. Head down into the basement and wait it out... etc. Even I did not understand entirely why I was so peaceful about it all - it didn't make sense with how much I had feared tornadoes growing up. The first warning we had when we first got here did put me a bit on edge, but after that, they were just a matter of coarse. Perhaps it was partly the 'momma bear' thing, since I knew that Tommy had a pretty big fear in that area too, and that if I let any of my fear show it would only fan his flames. I don't know. But I do know that there was a peace that passed all understanding. Even during the storm it's self.
It is interesting, now, to think about other fears that I have (including the thought of ever having to go through this again!!) and start to get tense and then think about how God has been so much in this with us, so much there for us, providing for our needs, blessing us, bringing us through what we thought would be one of the worst things that could happen to a family. And to realize that those fears are not needed. Just leave it with God. He took care of us in the storm, I know I can trust Him with all of the other fears that I have in my heart too. That is a pretty big thing for me to say, because trust has not, historically, been an area where God and I have been on the same page. This storm has definitely taught me that I CAN... DEFINITELY trust God. What a blessing!!!
One was the harp. One of the first things I tended to when we first came upstairs after the storm was to get the piano covered up, and the harp picked up (it was laid over on it's side) and moved downstairs where it would be safer and dryer until we could get back to pick things up. When I picked it up, and carried it downstairs (it's a smaller, folk harp, thankfully, not a BIG pedal harp) I heard and felt a sloshing coming from inside the sound box. But we were still in 'rush around and get as much covered as possible' mode, so I didn't take time to tend to it - getting the water out was going to be no simple task, because there are only small holes in the back of the sound box, only just big enough to get your hand in. I mentioned to Emma that there seemed to be water in it, and apparently she stuck a towel down in there, but the towel was soon needed for something else, and she did not finish the job.
The next day, when we went back to retrieve things, it was one of the first things we brought up from the basement - it was already completely dry inside, even though it sat in the basement, where there was water all over the floor. We had put it up on a pallet, but still! HOW did it get COMPLETELY dry??
Now - before I tell you the next part - it will help to have a picture in your mind of the living room, if you have never seen it. (if you have, you can skip to the next paragraph) It had a vaulted ceiling, with a large fireplace at one end - there were four large windows on either side of the fireplace, two on each side. The bottom ones were about 7 feet tall and several feet wide, running all the way to the corners of the room on either side, above each of them was a second window, several more feet tall, and angled to match the roof-line. Beside those window, in the side walls of the room were two doors, facing out, in opposite directions, onto the deck that ran all around the back of the house. Those doors also had large glass panels in them.
Several days after the storm - in an evening, when we were at Mike and Darlene's place, we suddenly realized, "hey, wait, the grill, that was sitting out on the deck before the storm - just outside the glass door that the harp was sitting next to, inside - that grill was found inside the house, in the middle of the living room floor. Since we were not at the house when we realized this we wondered how in the world it got there, without seriously bashing the harp on the way through? So the next day, when we were at the house we checked things out. The glass, of that door, was intact (one of very few glass panels in the house that were left intact) the glass, just around the corner from that door, beside the fireplace, was also intact - however the glass above that, more than 7 feet off the floor, had a large, oval hole in it about the size of the grill (it's one of those Weber, portable grills, about three feet across and two feet high, and front-to-back). So, it had apparently taken flight, and flown in through THAT window, around the corner from where it had been sitting, rather than through the one that it was sitting right next to, thus flying OVER the harp, rather than through it. The harp did lay over on it's side, and it did have one broken foot (an easily replaced piece) and a couple of broken strings, but other than that, all the damage it sustained, including any water damage we fully expected it to have, was completely surface damage, not structural damage!! It is being easily repaired at the harp teachers' house, right now, until Emma gets home from camp in a few weeks and starts her lessons back up. What a blessing.
Lon's guitar, on the other hand, did not fare so well. The master bedrooms really seems to have taken quite a bit of the brunt of things. There seemed to be the most plant/insulation/dirt/gunk matter splattered all over in there. Just about a week ago I was looking back through some photos, and noticed a picture that was snapped the first time we went back to the house. The bed, which was a sleep-number bed, sitting on a wooden platform was there in the picture, but no sheets, blankets, pillows, or even the dust ruffle, were there. This was the type of dust ruffle that has a solid panel of fabric that was designed to lay on top of the box spring, covering the whole surface of the box springs, and the mattress lays on top of that. It was just gone. Plywood platform: still there, mattress: still there, dust ruffle: sucked out from between the two of them! Most of the bedding was out on the deck, just outside of our bedroom, covered in glass shards and debris. I'm not sure I ever saw the dust ruffle though. Crazy.
Lon's guitar was resting in a stand in our bedroom and it was pretty badly demolished. From now on, when we are under storm watch, all instruments go in their cases. Had his guitar been in it's case, it probably would have been fine. Especially if it was in a closet.
Michael did say something today that sort of took me aback at first, but he is so right. Anyone caught in the up-stairs of our house would not have survived. It's true. There was so much glass and lumber and general debris flying around and being embedded into things, survival would have been difficult. Several people have said that what they heard at first was that 'all the windows and doors were blown out' etc. So their thought was, "ok - board up the windows, and well get a locksmith right out to re-secure the doors..." Hearing that, and then going to the house... two completely different pictures! Even seeing pictures really does not do it justice. It really looked as if a pressure bomb went off inside the house. It really is a miracle that the house stood. There is one neighbor who is pretty certain that the house is actually twisted on it's foundation, not just shifted to the side, but twisted in place. It is also interesting to note that some things flew away from the house and some things flew towards the house. It is entirely possible that the very center of the tornado went directly over us. The tremendous pressure we all felt in our ears, down there in the basement would also attest to that. If that is the case then, in my mind, the only reason the house stood is because there was direct intervention from God. That is my personal theory. I'm not sure what to do with Doug and Nans' house - they are Godly people too, why was their home destroyed and ours saved? Maybe, with no human life in there... I don't pretend to be God, but I do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God was there, with us, protecting us from the ruin that COULD have been wrought on us by this storm. Not only did He protect our lives, he protected our stuff. We did not have renter's insurance. Yet most of our most valuable possessions were protected and saved.
From a very young age tornadoes have been a pretty big fear of mine. (Snakes were another one - Before we moved to Thailand I told God- "if there is ever a snake in our house - I'm on the next plane home") I always knew that I simply could NOT live in a tornado-prone area. When we came out to visit, and check the place out before we moved here, there had been a tornado that very week, and Mike and Darlene (that was who invited us home from church that first week that we visited) took us over to the area that had been hit - just a few blocks from their house!! Yet, somehow, once we got here, God gave me tremendous peace about it all. Every time there was a watch or a warning, we would just treat it sort of like a fire drill. Head down into the basement and wait it out... etc. Even I did not understand entirely why I was so peaceful about it all - it didn't make sense with how much I had feared tornadoes growing up. The first warning we had when we first got here did put me a bit on edge, but after that, they were just a matter of coarse. Perhaps it was partly the 'momma bear' thing, since I knew that Tommy had a pretty big fear in that area too, and that if I let any of my fear show it would only fan his flames. I don't know. But I do know that there was a peace that passed all understanding. Even during the storm it's self.
It is interesting, now, to think about other fears that I have (including the thought of ever having to go through this again!!) and start to get tense and then think about how God has been so much in this with us, so much there for us, providing for our needs, blessing us, bringing us through what we thought would be one of the worst things that could happen to a family. And to realize that those fears are not needed. Just leave it with God. He took care of us in the storm, I know I can trust Him with all of the other fears that I have in my heart too. That is a pretty big thing for me to say, because trust has not, historically, been an area where God and I have been on the same page. This storm has definitely taught me that I CAN... DEFINITELY trust God. What a blessing!!!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Still Here
Thought it might be time to write something more here, since it's been a little bit. Life is starting to get back into some sort of a routine for those of us that are here. Annie flew out to Idaho for the summer, last Sunday. She seems to be having a blast out there. The first time I called her she didn't answer, and when she called me back she said "Mom, don't CALL me!!" It's true, though, I've been to these staff training events, they're schedule is PACKED with meetings and work projects. So we wait for her to call us, and yesterday she had a NICE long chat with Lon. Seems she is having a wonderful time! I'm so glad she got to do that. She didn't get hired, but she is volunteering for as long as they will have her there, possibly the entire summer. Lucky girl to have a job here, that will still be there for her when she gets back - she cleans the church, and Sarah is just filling in for her, while she is gone. Makes Sarah happy too!!
Lon has slipped pretty easily into a routine of driving up to Nashville on Monday mornings, and home on Fridays. He was able to be home the first three Fridays, by working 4 ten-hour days, his boss allowed that, so that we could 'finish' getting settled. But he found that schedule to be rather grueling, so he worked a normal 5 eight-hour days this week. He'll occasionally do a modified schedule, just depending on what business-hour things he has to do here in HSV. This next week we have some DMV work to do, and he has his sleep study follow-up appointment. So he's not going back to Nashville until Monday, after we do those things.
The kids and I got quite a bit done on unpacking this last week. We are pretty much done with all the craziness of phone calls and dropping off documents regarding insurance, FEMA, SBA, etc. Now we are ready to focus on getting UNPACKED. So that feels good, to finally be getting settled a bit.
We got the kids a pool and a trampoline, thanks to a generous donation from friends back in Portland, and we are enjoying being able to cool down by getting in there on a regular basis. It also makes a GREAT incentive for the kids to get their 'chores' done every day, and actually behave themselves!! (for the most part) The weather has been rather on the hot side, in the hundreds often for the last three weeks. A bit cooler this next week, which will be nice, only in the 90's, and maybe even 'only' the 80's. I'm hoping to get at least a bit of a garden in, in the three garden boxes that we have here.
The chicken coop is all finished now, thanks to some wonderful friends who took it on, and saw it to completion. The only problem is that the chickens don't like to stay in their 'yard' so we are going to have to add some more mesh to things, and fasten down the mesh at the ground a little better. They usually either squeeze under the mesh, or they stand at the top of the ramp from the coop, and fly over the mesh. Hopefully that will get dealt with today.
My leg is feeling MUCH better. I've been doing alot of walking without even the boot on, around the house. My 'final' (hopefully) appointment is on Tuesday of this next week. So I'm hoping to be able to abandon that boot for the most part, and start working on some PT to get full range-of-motion back.
And, of course, God continues to work on my heart. But I still have a hard time FEELING things, just because of how shut down my heart was for SO long. It is a constant prayer of mine, for Him to bring complete healing to that part of me. Seeing and feeling His presence through this whole experience has definitely settled the 'head' part of that healing. Now, we just need to let the heart follow. Any books that anyone wants to suggest would be much appreciated. And prayers.
I'm enjoying a new e-mail relationship with my brother. He has been having some interesting interactions with my parents, and needed someone to vent to, so we have been doing ALOT of e-mailing back and forth. It's been AWESOME!! What a surprise blessing that has been!! I'm really enjoying it!
We did go to a meeting with the old neighbors. That was a miracle, how it all happened too. I was out on some errands with one of the older girls in tow, and one of the things we wanted to do was go and dig up the daffodil bulbs I had at the old house. We kept re-arranging the order of our errands and ended up heading up there in the heat of the day. NOT our first choice!! (it was one of those 100+ degree days) While we were driving up, we saw Nan driving through, and stopped to chat a bit, and she told me about it. It's was focused more on people talking about insurance issues, etc, and what they are planning to do in the future (move away or re-build) so, since we are already moved away, she had not called me about it. But, invited me, when she saw me, anyway. It was that evening. Fortunately I had nothing planned and was able to attend. It was SO eye-opening to hear them all talk about the hassles they have had with their insurance, and finding contractors, etc. Some of them have had an AWFUL time, but even the ones that have had a 'easy' time have CLEARLY spent a GREAT deal of time dealing with the whole process. AND they are all living in temporary housing. Attending that meeting helped me to realize just how fortunate we were to be leasing, and be able to walk away from the house and not have to deal with it.
Everyone was, of course, wondering what we knew about what the homeowners were going to do with the house we were in. So Lon called them, and it found out that it is indeed shifted on it's foundation. It's actually twisted a bit, not just shifted to one side, but turned in place. That is how close we came to having it sucked right off of us. The homeowners are, unfortunately, badly under-insured. So it is unclear exactly what will happen as far as demolition, etc. Hopefully we at least hear about it before it happens. It's amazing how many things we keep thinking of that still need to be picked up up there. We go up about once or twice a week for this kid or that kid to get some item that they realized that they didn't pick up. Lon is up there this morning, retrieving some game pieces from a game that got wet. Emma thought it was a total loss, and then realized that the pieces are plastic, so they can be washed, and she wanted her 'lucky elephants'. So Lon went to get them, and a pile of towels. We kept wondering what had happened to all of our towels. Then Lon saw a pile of them down in the basement. They are a bit mildewy, etc. But we are going to bring them home and wash them up and at least have them for rags. He didn't pick them up when he saw them the first time, because he didn't think of using them for rags. So, nothing URGENT, but still, it would just be nice to have some warning before they knock the place down.
We are going to buy new furniture this afternoon. I found a nice faux Leather set, Couch, Love Seat, and recliner for less than what we saved on food from the SNAP money. So, I'm taking Lon to see it today and talk price with them, but they are having a HUGE sale and the guy came down in price like $300 just when I came to see it the once. (thanks for the tip about the sale, D!!) We're going to use the Dave Ramsey method of having cash on hand to get them to be willing to come down in price. It's amazing what the sight of one hundred dollar bills does to a salesman's psyche!
The new cars are working out pretty well. The van has some quirky things wrong with it, but it IS a nine year old car! And every time I get mildly frustrated with the odd things it occasionally does, I just remind myself "NO PAYMENTS!!!" You can put up with a great deal in that situation. It WILL probably need a new transmission before too long, but we got it for a good deal less than blue-book price (probably for that very reason - it needs a new tranny) so it will be a wash in the end, financially, as far as the transmission goes. We like it though. It's nice to have something a little smaller to drive. Parking is SO much easier!!!
Lon and I took a look at the long-term budget today, and it was pretty exciting to see that we can be completely debt free and have a nice buffer to cover us between Lon's work contracts, within about 18-24 months time!! That is a good feeling for sure!! People have been SO generous, and blessed us in SO many ways, financial and otherwise. We consider all of the money that people have given us to be GOD'S money, and we expect to pay it forward to others in need, as God shows us where HE want's it spent! That is going to be FUN!!
We went to a neighborhood picnic here in our new neighborhood last weekend. That was NICE. It was good to actually meet some people!! There are several other home-school families, and there is a couple in our cul-d-sack who has a 9 year-old autistic grandson, who lives here in town too. So we are hoping he and Ricky can play together a bit now and then.
Ricky has been seeing his therapist, and had some testing done, and the clinic is telling us he is not autistic. I'm not buying it. They are basing it on the fact that his IQ is a certain number, and that apparently, according to them, makes it so he can't be autistic. I've been reading on the internet, and found that NOT to be the case at ALL. #1 - IQ tests are INCREDIBLY unreliable for autistic kids. And #2 - ANYONE can be autistic, whether they are intelligent or not. So we will likely be finding a new clinic to work with. I'm not happy with all the pressure I get from this therapist to put him in school, either. She is just convinced that home schooling is not what is best for him, and we spend so much time each month discussing that, that Ricky does not get the services he is supposed to be getting. There is a great therapist in Decatur (a town not too far away, and CLOSER, now that we have moved) and I think we will just start working with her, instead. She also specializes in adoption and attachment issues, so she'll be able to help in that area too.
Well, one thing I want to do today is get a BUNCH of unpacking done, so I suppose I should get up from the computer and get going on all of that!! Thanks for all of your prayers, and please continue to pray for us as we continue to 'recover' from this event and figure out how to move on from here. God continues to work in our lives, it is never a completed project, is it???
PS - Emma found the one item that she particularly wanted to find, and couldn't, earlier. It was a toy, that she had saved from her pet bird that died, just before we moved out here. She found it in the toy box that had just been picked up and brought from Mayahna's room (That Emma used to share with her) That was a large part of what had her pretty upset before, and also the fact that a great deal of her stuffed animals had a 'smell' to them. We were able to 'recover' most of the stuffed animals by setting them out in the sun for several days. So, she is doing MUCH better, emotionally - thanks for all of your prayers on that one too!! She's also going out to MiVoden for two weeks of camp, which lifted her spirits considerably!! She was really bucking for MiVoden, rather than Alamisco, and I told her to pray about it, and ask God to provide the money. HE DID!!! (and then some!) She leaves in two weeks. She is, needless to say, counting the days!
Lon has slipped pretty easily into a routine of driving up to Nashville on Monday mornings, and home on Fridays. He was able to be home the first three Fridays, by working 4 ten-hour days, his boss allowed that, so that we could 'finish' getting settled. But he found that schedule to be rather grueling, so he worked a normal 5 eight-hour days this week. He'll occasionally do a modified schedule, just depending on what business-hour things he has to do here in HSV. This next week we have some DMV work to do, and he has his sleep study follow-up appointment. So he's not going back to Nashville until Monday, after we do those things.
The kids and I got quite a bit done on unpacking this last week. We are pretty much done with all the craziness of phone calls and dropping off documents regarding insurance, FEMA, SBA, etc. Now we are ready to focus on getting UNPACKED. So that feels good, to finally be getting settled a bit.
We got the kids a pool and a trampoline, thanks to a generous donation from friends back in Portland, and we are enjoying being able to cool down by getting in there on a regular basis. It also makes a GREAT incentive for the kids to get their 'chores' done every day, and actually behave themselves!! (for the most part) The weather has been rather on the hot side, in the hundreds often for the last three weeks. A bit cooler this next week, which will be nice, only in the 90's, and maybe even 'only' the 80's. I'm hoping to get at least a bit of a garden in, in the three garden boxes that we have here.
The chicken coop is all finished now, thanks to some wonderful friends who took it on, and saw it to completion. The only problem is that the chickens don't like to stay in their 'yard' so we are going to have to add some more mesh to things, and fasten down the mesh at the ground a little better. They usually either squeeze under the mesh, or they stand at the top of the ramp from the coop, and fly over the mesh. Hopefully that will get dealt with today.
My leg is feeling MUCH better. I've been doing alot of walking without even the boot on, around the house. My 'final' (hopefully) appointment is on Tuesday of this next week. So I'm hoping to be able to abandon that boot for the most part, and start working on some PT to get full range-of-motion back.
And, of course, God continues to work on my heart. But I still have a hard time FEELING things, just because of how shut down my heart was for SO long. It is a constant prayer of mine, for Him to bring complete healing to that part of me. Seeing and feeling His presence through this whole experience has definitely settled the 'head' part of that healing. Now, we just need to let the heart follow. Any books that anyone wants to suggest would be much appreciated. And prayers.
I'm enjoying a new e-mail relationship with my brother. He has been having some interesting interactions with my parents, and needed someone to vent to, so we have been doing ALOT of e-mailing back and forth. It's been AWESOME!! What a surprise blessing that has been!! I'm really enjoying it!
We did go to a meeting with the old neighbors. That was a miracle, how it all happened too. I was out on some errands with one of the older girls in tow, and one of the things we wanted to do was go and dig up the daffodil bulbs I had at the old house. We kept re-arranging the order of our errands and ended up heading up there in the heat of the day. NOT our first choice!! (it was one of those 100+ degree days) While we were driving up, we saw Nan driving through, and stopped to chat a bit, and she told me about it. It's was focused more on people talking about insurance issues, etc, and what they are planning to do in the future (move away or re-build) so, since we are already moved away, she had not called me about it. But, invited me, when she saw me, anyway. It was that evening. Fortunately I had nothing planned and was able to attend. It was SO eye-opening to hear them all talk about the hassles they have had with their insurance, and finding contractors, etc. Some of them have had an AWFUL time, but even the ones that have had a 'easy' time have CLEARLY spent a GREAT deal of time dealing with the whole process. AND they are all living in temporary housing. Attending that meeting helped me to realize just how fortunate we were to be leasing, and be able to walk away from the house and not have to deal with it.
Everyone was, of course, wondering what we knew about what the homeowners were going to do with the house we were in. So Lon called them, and it found out that it is indeed shifted on it's foundation. It's actually twisted a bit, not just shifted to one side, but turned in place. That is how close we came to having it sucked right off of us. The homeowners are, unfortunately, badly under-insured. So it is unclear exactly what will happen as far as demolition, etc. Hopefully we at least hear about it before it happens. It's amazing how many things we keep thinking of that still need to be picked up up there. We go up about once or twice a week for this kid or that kid to get some item that they realized that they didn't pick up. Lon is up there this morning, retrieving some game pieces from a game that got wet. Emma thought it was a total loss, and then realized that the pieces are plastic, so they can be washed, and she wanted her 'lucky elephants'. So Lon went to get them, and a pile of towels. We kept wondering what had happened to all of our towels. Then Lon saw a pile of them down in the basement. They are a bit mildewy, etc. But we are going to bring them home and wash them up and at least have them for rags. He didn't pick them up when he saw them the first time, because he didn't think of using them for rags. So, nothing URGENT, but still, it would just be nice to have some warning before they knock the place down.
We are going to buy new furniture this afternoon. I found a nice faux Leather set, Couch, Love Seat, and recliner for less than what we saved on food from the SNAP money. So, I'm taking Lon to see it today and talk price with them, but they are having a HUGE sale and the guy came down in price like $300 just when I came to see it the once. (thanks for the tip about the sale, D!!) We're going to use the Dave Ramsey method of having cash on hand to get them to be willing to come down in price. It's amazing what the sight of one hundred dollar bills does to a salesman's psyche!
The new cars are working out pretty well. The van has some quirky things wrong with it, but it IS a nine year old car! And every time I get mildly frustrated with the odd things it occasionally does, I just remind myself "NO PAYMENTS!!!" You can put up with a great deal in that situation. It WILL probably need a new transmission before too long, but we got it for a good deal less than blue-book price (probably for that very reason - it needs a new tranny) so it will be a wash in the end, financially, as far as the transmission goes. We like it though. It's nice to have something a little smaller to drive. Parking is SO much easier!!!
Lon and I took a look at the long-term budget today, and it was pretty exciting to see that we can be completely debt free and have a nice buffer to cover us between Lon's work contracts, within about 18-24 months time!! That is a good feeling for sure!! People have been SO generous, and blessed us in SO many ways, financial and otherwise. We consider all of the money that people have given us to be GOD'S money, and we expect to pay it forward to others in need, as God shows us where HE want's it spent! That is going to be FUN!!
We went to a neighborhood picnic here in our new neighborhood last weekend. That was NICE. It was good to actually meet some people!! There are several other home-school families, and there is a couple in our cul-d-sack who has a 9 year-old autistic grandson, who lives here in town too. So we are hoping he and Ricky can play together a bit now and then.
Ricky has been seeing his therapist, and had some testing done, and the clinic is telling us he is not autistic. I'm not buying it. They are basing it on the fact that his IQ is a certain number, and that apparently, according to them, makes it so he can't be autistic. I've been reading on the internet, and found that NOT to be the case at ALL. #1 - IQ tests are INCREDIBLY unreliable for autistic kids. And #2 - ANYONE can be autistic, whether they are intelligent or not. So we will likely be finding a new clinic to work with. I'm not happy with all the pressure I get from this therapist to put him in school, either. She is just convinced that home schooling is not what is best for him, and we spend so much time each month discussing that, that Ricky does not get the services he is supposed to be getting. There is a great therapist in Decatur (a town not too far away, and CLOSER, now that we have moved) and I think we will just start working with her, instead. She also specializes in adoption and attachment issues, so she'll be able to help in that area too.
Well, one thing I want to do today is get a BUNCH of unpacking done, so I suppose I should get up from the computer and get going on all of that!! Thanks for all of your prayers, and please continue to pray for us as we continue to 'recover' from this event and figure out how to move on from here. God continues to work in our lives, it is never a completed project, is it???
PS - Emma found the one item that she particularly wanted to find, and couldn't, earlier. It was a toy, that she had saved from her pet bird that died, just before we moved out here. She found it in the toy box that had just been picked up and brought from Mayahna's room (That Emma used to share with her) That was a large part of what had her pretty upset before, and also the fact that a great deal of her stuffed animals had a 'smell' to them. We were able to 'recover' most of the stuffed animals by setting them out in the sun for several days. So, she is doing MUCH better, emotionally - thanks for all of your prayers on that one too!! She's also going out to MiVoden for two weeks of camp, which lifted her spirits considerably!! She was really bucking for MiVoden, rather than Alamisco, and I told her to pray about it, and ask God to provide the money. HE DID!!! (and then some!) She leaves in two weeks. She is, needless to say, counting the days!
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