Butterflies, Blooms, and Basketball

Spring has been very wet here in Springfield with an abundance of rain.  The front flower beds are gorgeous and we have enjoyed the beauty of our new neighborhood.   Little cabbage butterflies and bees visit our front flower beds daily.  It’s a beautiful time of year with everything so green and bright!


Roses in the front flower bed.  Very pretty!

School is also wrapping up this week here at the Ferris house.  Due to all the moving around it added many days to the end of our originally planned last day of school!  It is safe to say we are all extremely excited for the end of the year.  Much of that excitement is because our June calendar is packed with fun things to do and explore here in the Rochester/Springfield area.  We are eagerly looking forward to checking out the Muni, Knight’s Action Park, the drive in, and a few Slider Baseball Games.  We have been able to go to our first Movie in the Park last week and watch Brave on a big blow up screen at the Community Park in Rochester.  It was a lot of fun!

Movie in the Park.  Was very much like a drive in experience.  We enjoyed the evening.

Something we are participating in this summer is the Rochester Summer Recreation Program.  It is incredible!  This program runs through June and July and is open to not only those in Rochester, but surrounding areas as well for ages Pre-K through adult.  Here are just a few of the classes the 18 page packet lists to choose from:  Tennis, sandlot baseball, cheering, archery, football, soccer, volleyball, karate, gymnastics, dance, and even scuba diving!  Cupcake wars, chocolate confections, classes at a local pizzeria, cake decorating, drawing super heroes, building benches for a local park, drama, how to do nails and French braiding, teddy bear picnic, Legos, visit to local farm, firehouse, and a local stable and saw mill are yet others.  I saw things for girls with Fancy Nancy, Princesses, and Strawberry Shortcake.  Things for boys like pirates and a “boys will be boys” class.  They have a sign up day near the end of May and each class has a fee to cover materials but nothing outrageous.  It’s amazing! 

Madeline was able to go to her first class last week, Butterflies and Blooms.  The hour long class was held in a classroom at Rochester Christian Church.  She had such a good time and created this vase of beautiful paper flowers from punches, stencils, and other materials.  It is so pretty we have it on our fireplace mantle!  Next week she gets to go to a Pajama party where they will learn to make homemade poptarts.  Samuel will go to the Boys Will Be Boys class later this week where they make and play with slime, play in dirt, and even paint with mud.   Sarah also gets to attend a class this Friday, Fun with Science.  Later in July the three younger Ferris children get to go to Razzos, a great little pizza place in Rochester, and take a class, Pizza Science, where they get to learn about using pizza dough for more than pizza.  

Madeline's Masterpiece

Neil has his own activities this summer.  We are excited to announce that God has opened a door for him to play organized basketball at a local Christian School, Calvary Academy.  We have been praying for God to open a door for him to play on a team of some sort for over a year now, so this is an exciting answer to those prayers!  He has been able to participate in some open gyms in the last few weeks and travel with the JV and Varsity teams to Waverly, IL and Lincoln, IL for summer basketball league play.  His first play of a Varsity game left him with a bloody nose and broken glasses for about a half, but after his nose was taken care of he went back in without his glasses and played well…he even scored.  We were proud of him.

Posting up under the basket

His summer league schedule has us doing two games a night, three nights a week.  It’s been something new to adjust to, but we are so excited for him!  The experience he is gaining by playing now will help him later for his first season.  Not playing on an organized team before has him a little behind the others, but they are all so encouraging and have welcomed him in with open arms.  We know with time and hard work he will catch up.

Once I began putting things on the calendar with camps, classes, games, reading program, movies at the park, and activities at the local library, etc…  our June is crazy full!  I’m sure many of you can relate!!  It’s going to be fun.  I hope I can find someone to even take me to the local farmers market in town, too.  (Hint! Hint!)  I’ve heard so many good things about that as well. We also need to find a place to swim, too.  

Summer is almost here!  I can’t wait!!!  It’s going to be a great time!

Settling In and Looking Forward

Box by box we are getting settled in.  The children have enjoyed seeing long lost toys and playthings, and I have enjoyed the peace and quiet those items have provided. Finally I have been able to touch/open every single box that came off the truck and from the rental house even if it’s not been unpacked yet.  The scariest place by far has been the garage, the “junk drawer” for the entire house.  The task of organizing the labyrinth of bikes, boxes, tubs, tool boxes, gardening and lawn care tools, sports equipment, recycling/trash, chemicals, and other miscellaneous homeless items was almost overwhelming and even a little terrifying!  There came a point and time that I was sure King Minos’ Minotaur was lurking out there somewhere in the eerie maze of stuff waiting to devour me!

The paths were extremely narrow and tricky to maneuver through.  It took great skill to slide between spokes, wheels, and boxes to find the needed item in a timely manner.  I tried to ignore and avoid the garage, but it seemed daily I had some sort of business that would take me out into the Minotaur’s lair.  Fearful of getting lost in the Labyrinth and never being seen or heard from again, I never ventured too far or stayed very long.  It soon became apparent we would have to conquer the garage with the courage and fearlessness of Theseus of long ago.  Resolutely, Neil and I set out equipped with our own ball of string, broom, sharpie marker, recycling container, and trash can.  The contest raged for three hours, and we at one point were ready to surrender.  However, I am pleased to report we emerged battered yet victorious.  The garage still seems a mess, but at least now it’s an organized mess and we know where everything is.  We have like items grouped together and the path is much wider.  Most importantly, I know there is nothing lurking amongst the boxes waiting to consume me!

This week we are finally feeling settled in here not only in the house, but the community.  There are still things on the transition check list we are working on:  doctors, therapists for Maddie, dentists, etc…, but slowly that list is getting smaller, too.  Pictures and wall hangings are going up on the walls, Pinterest ideas are flowing for redecorating, and for the first time in a long time I can finally see a light at the end of the transition phase of this part of our journey to Illinois.  We are looking ahead to the summer now as we finish up our school year in the next few weeks!  I think it’s safe to say….we made it!  While this phase of the journey is over, it’s actually a new beginning!  Looking ahead now to what God has in store for us….the journey continues!

Breaking Camp!

Where we've been for the last five months.  Time to start packing boxes again!

The time has finally come for us to break camp here at the little red cabin.  It has been an eagerly anticipated day for our family.  As of today, we have 9 more days until we close on our new home.  We are now down to single digits!  Yeah-rah!

I find it amusing our character trait this month is gratefulness.  As I have shared with you in previous posts, we’ve learned a lot about that this year.  One of the activities we did as a family was to make an acrostic of the word gratefulness.  What I thought would be a very quick activity actually turned into a really neat family experience.  It was fun to listen to their responses, some serious and others silly.  Everything from God, eternal life, and names of best friends to Skittles, unicorns, and underwear!  It inspired me to do a little “homework” myself, so I decided to come up with a top five list of things I’m actually grateful for about the cabin itself instead of the lessons we have learned while living here.  The assignment also had to be worded in a positive way.  For example, I couldn’t write down I was thankful that the “Potty Kitchen” was located downstairs instead of upstairs.  (That’s what we affectionately call our conversation piece in the basement here.)  It did not come easy, but after some time I did find five things.



Our family activity.  Give it a try yourself!  It was fun!!

1.     The backyard.  It’s wonderful with a covered patio off the garage and a large space for the children to play.

 

Covered Patio we have enjoyed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big, beautiful backyard!

2.     The bathtub.  What the bathroom itself lacks in number and size, the bathtub makes it an enjoyable space.  The rental house is older and so is the tub…a nice large old fashioned tub where those of us that are a bit fluffier than others can actually soak in without feeling like a sardine smushed in a can.

 

Pretty!

3.     The flowers.  Whoever lived here before planted one large flowerbed out front with spring bulbs and they are blooming.  New things springing up daily.  Very, very pretty.

More pretty stuff!

4.     The wildlife.  The subdivision we live in is established with mature trees.  We’ve enjoyed seeing many different birds, gray and brown squirrels chasing one another and doing death defying feats on the power lines, and a few unexpected visits from the raccoons that live in an old hollow tree out front.

This is from the internet, our squirrels wouldn't cooperate with me today.  However, we did see them playing outside on our tree just like this today.

5.     The sense of community.  This was the big one and the most unexpected.  In a word – amazing!

There is a sense of community here among the 6-8 neighbors up and down this street that I have never experienced before in all our adventures together as a family.  The first day we moved in here at the cabin, the ladies across the street presented me with a map complete with names of all family members and phone numbers in case we needed anything.  During one of the larger snows this winter we discovered while locking up for the night that someone had used their snow blower and cleared our driveway, in fact all driveways up and down the street were done.  I found out later it was a neighbor across the street.  There is an older couple next to us and everyone networks and keeps an eye on them.  The older gentleman goes to dialysis several times a week.  On move in day they told us about them and how they like to help out and keep tabs on them and might even take them a meal from time to time.

After our first week, the cold weather hit and we all hibernated inside the homes up and down the street.  We’d wave from our warm cars when out, but not much communication yet there is this sense of being a part of something bigger.  It’s getting warmer now, people are slowly coming outdoors and the neighboring lessons continue as I see them interacting.  I’ve been watching and I’m convinced it’s an art -the art of neighboring those around you.  It’s been one of the unexpected blessings of being here at the cabin.  God is still working and teaching us more things before we leave this place.  He never wastes an experience and will use those to help us minister and encourage others.

Where we are headed in 9 more days!  Yeah for us!!

 We’ll soon start packing up things and getting them ready to put in boxes and move across town.  The goal is to move the items here at the rental house one weekend and get those things unpacked and settled since they are the things we need daily.  Then we are planning to have the boxes on the truck brought the next weekend.  Looks great on paper, but we’ll see how it actually works out.  Our journey continues and soon we’ll be breaking camp!    I can’t wait!

 

In a box....on the truck!

“Mom, where is my ____________?”  is a question I have heard numerous times in the last few months from the children.  “Mary, where is ____________?”  is a question I have heard several times from my handsome husband guy.  “Now where did I put __________?”  is a question I have asked myself here of late.  The answer to 95% of those questions is the same, “In a box…..on the truck.”  In fact, anymore they just join me as I answer, “In a box, on the truck!” J Those missing items are on the big moving truck loaded up Tuesday, January 15 of this year in Newburgh.  The same truck that is now stored somewhere here in the local area that we are unable to get into until unloading day sometime in the future.  Items I thought we would be able to do without since we were going to be moving into a new house at the end of February.   If only I had known our original plan wasn’t going to turn out as we thought, I would have most definitely packed a few more things for the little red cabin. 

The boxes...on the truck.

The little red cabin has somehow shrunk these last few weeks.  Door knobs have been falling off doors, the drain under the kitchen sink separated this past week and I found myself standing in a huge puddle of dirty dishwater I had just dumped down the drain, and the one bathroom has now become more difficult to share.   It’s getting harder to be positive about camping.  The little ones are bickering more.  While it is tempting to open up the backdoor and let them out in the gorgeous back yard here…I learned the hard way that was not such a good idea.  So I won’t be repeating that mistake lest we have the return of the mud monsters!

I was feeling so proud of myself.  That alone should have been a red flag, but it wasn’t.  They were bickering and fussing and it was such a nice day, so I bundled them up and sent them O – U – T, out!  I sat down to get some lesson planning and other administrative things done at the computer without interruption.  Ahhh!  All was quiet and I was making tremendous headway when all of a sudden the backdoor flies open, Sam thunders through the kitchen, continues on through the entry way, and into the living area on the main floor just as proud as can be.  His pink cheeks were glowing and his brown eyes snapping.  He was animated and full of the energy only a 4 year old can contain.  He stops right in front of me, holds up one leg, and says, “MOM, LOOK AT THIS!”  I was horrified.  From this point on, it was all in slow motion.

Note to self:  Self, this beautiful backyard gets muddy after the snow melts.

The bottom of his shoe was entirely caked with at least no less than 1/2 inch of mud.  He was like some mud monster you would see on Scooby Doo.  There was mud everywhere!  Mud on his face, coat, pants, and his shoes were hard to see beneath the filth.  There were globs of mud falling off his shoe as he stood there with it in midair.  Then in an instant we went back to real time, and I can now see past him.  I see the trail of muddy footprints from the back door to where he was now standing.  Clumps of mud in between those prints dotted here and there.  It was at this point something inside me snapped.  Sam was instructed in a not so calm and patient voice to return outside to the beauty of the day, and I had a little change of plans.  Instead of getting some work done at the computer, I got to clean up a bunch of mud inside the house, off the back porch, steps, patio, and three muddy children (shoes, muddy pants, and muddy coats).  That was perhaps the most stupid idea I’ve ever had because I didn’t think it through.  While yes, it was beautiful outside, the newly melted snow had made the yard very squishy. 

 

I did bring two boxes of toys for the little ones back from Newburgh to the rental house and immediately we opened one up.  I forgot about the other one.  I know that sounds silly, but there are still items we have here packed in boxes with lids open against the walls.  It is primitive I know, but we’re camping, remember?!  So it kind of blended in with the others.   I discovered this box not so long ago and we had a grand time opening it!  You’d have thought it was Christmas!  WOW!  Talk about peace and harmony and excited voices about what was inside new to play with.  I didn’t know Legos were such a big deal.  Never before had they been so enthusiastic about them in Newburgh.  Absence does make the heart grow fonder I guess.  The Legos hadn’t changed, but their attitudes about them had.   They were grateful.  I have a feeling it will be sensory overload once we unload the boxes on the big truck. 

 

We’re one week away from the one year mark of when it became very clear to us that moving to Illinois was most likely going to happen.  It marks the time when we began the process of preparing to put our home in Newburgh on the market.  A time when I began putting items in boxes for the first time, and storing them in the yard barn or garage.  I can’t believe it.  It’s been a very interesting year.   It’s been a year where we’ve had to rely on God like never before, and trust His plan for our family.

And the boxing began.

If I were to sum up this year in one word, it would be Simple.  We’ve learned about simplifying our life and getting back to basics, the core of what is needed instead of wanted.  We’ve discovered those things we once thought were needs are really wants and are appreciating those things now that we have gone without.  Things like having enough bathroom space to store your toiletries, hang your towels, and even just turn around.  Things like more than one bathroom, dishwashers, carpet, cabinet space, pantries, dressers, and an attached two car garage.  I’m even grateful for their toys and books.  You know, all the ones I used to get frustrated about cleaning up at the end of the day!   We’ve also learned to appreciate one another.  We’ve learned we are so incredibly blessed and don’t deserve all we’ve been gifted by our great and awesome God.  Please understand, I’m eagerly looking forward to the day the big truck comes and is unloaded, yet I’m even more grateful for the lessons we’ve learned this year.  Fortunately for us, those are things that will always be with us in our hearts and minds, and not packed in a box….on the truck! 

Shoe storage converted to toiletry storage.
50 gallon gray storage tote converted to dresser in background.
Camping at the Cabin.

 

A Forever Kind of Love

For the past several weeks we have been challenged at RCC to live a lifestyle of worship all day, every day.  This last Sunday during services I was a witness to something truly beautiful.  It is an image I hope my mind will not soon forget and a living testimony to me as a parent of the role I have in teaching my children about worship.  It is a role that needs to be lived out instead of talked about or debated about.

Several weeks ago some new friends of ours from RCC returned home from China with twin two year old little girls.  They are absolutely precious!  It has been so fun to read about their journey on their family blog.  I was so touched by their story and the realization that this family was giving these precious girls a new life and so many wonderful opportunities.  More importantly though, these girls now had a forever home and would experience a forever kind of love.

 This past Sunday during the musical part of the service, I was watching the lyrics from the back row and it was such a sweet time.  People were focused and at times they would lift a hand in worship.  Then I saw it….the father of the twins raised his right hand in praise while holding one of the twins with his left hand.  The next thing I knew her little hand went up as high as it could and from my vantage point with the lights dimmed, all I could see was a silhouette of the back of their heads and their hands raised in praise and worship.  It touched me. 

These girls may have eventually been adopted and given a forever home, but our friends were doing so much more than that.  They were giving them a forever kind of love, an eternal love that can only come from Jesus.  Because of their choice to open up their hearts and home to love these orphans, these girls can know Jesus Christ and have an opportunity to have a relationship with him someday.  Already they are being taught about his love and how to worship Him in spirit and in truth because our friends aren’t just telling them about Jesus, they are living out being Jesus and how to worship.  Amazing.

I was challenged in that moment to go and do likewise with my own children.  I was challenged to live out my worship in the small details of my day, every moment of everyday.  I want my children to not only be loved, but to experience that forever kind of love that can only come from a relationship with Jesus Christ.  That is a love worth celebrating.  Happy Valentines Day!

Bittersweet

It’s been a fast and furious few weeks with signing papers, packing boxes, loading boxes, and house inspections on both sides of the process of selling/buying a home.  It has been a time of tying up loose ends and looking ahead.  Understandably, it’s been a bittersweet and an exhausting time as well.  The new year has brought us a mixture of gratitude and reflection mixed in with a time of hope and wonder as we continue on our journey.

So great to pull into the drive the Friday before "Pack up the House Day" and see SOLD!

We were overwhelmed with help in packing up our home in Newburgh.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but tried to have the boxes, tape, and markers ready to go the night before.  The packing crew on the Saturday we packed was AWESOME!!!  They began showing up one by one and when one would need to go, another person would arrive.  I was going to be happy if the downstairs was completed that day, and instead they did it all in a four hour time span.  It was far beyond what I had hoped.  Because we were living in the house while we packed there were still some things left to pack up, but only a closet and the bathroom we were using.  When they left I wept tears of gratitude and thankfulness.  Bittersweet.



Part of the packing crew:  Patti, Kim, and Donna!  THANK YOU!!!

Camping in the Newburgh house.

One of the last things I packed was our family pictures.  I love pictures as you can tell from my blog.  I think it adds something words can’t capture.  I found myself not packing them up.  Instead I was going through them and taking a trip down memory lane and posting a few on Facebook.  It was very fun!  I found my baby book, grade school report cards, senior pictures, prom pictures, and pictures of Neil and Maddie as babies that I hadn’t seen in a long time.  I found pictures of myself as young as two years old with my grandmothers, one of which is now with Jesus.  I found pictures from past Christmases and pictures of our honeymoon.  I found pictures when we were thin and Brad had facial hair. Then I found pictures of when we built the O’Hunter House and a piece of paper that listed the steps in the building process with handwritten dates on the side of when they were completed.  I smiled, I laughed, and I shed some tears.   Bittersweet.

 

 

Loading day was just like packing the house up day.  We weren’t sure exactly how many would turn out and again, God provided more than enough.  He always does and He always will.  Why I stew and fret I have yet to figure out.  I’m so glad He is patient with me.  As I’ve shared before, many hands make light work…even cold ones.  About an hour into the loading, the temperature dropped.  No one complained.  With red checks, red noses, and frozen toes they continued to load furniture and boxes in the trailer.  Four hours later, the trailer could hold no more and our friends departed.  There is something about seeing all your earthly possessions in one place, loaded up in boxes.  Loading day was emotional and difficult.  The realization we may not see some of these sweet, sweet people this side of eternity again rushed over me.  Bittersweet. 

The trailer arrived by 10 a.m.  Little did we know it would be full six hours later.

The hands and feet of Jesus to the Ferris family.  Thank you friends!

The ramp was the last thing they could fit on the trailer.  Done.

The most difficult part of the good-bye process in Newburgh though hands down was Thursday.  It was the last day we spent in the house.  We loaded up a UHAUL with the items that wouldn’t fit on the big trailer, loaded up the Explorer on the trailer, loaded up the van and the car topper, and finished cleaning the house.  As I cleaned each room Wednesday and Thursday, I prayed for the new occupants for joy, laughter, good health, and wonderful memories.  I prayed Jesus would be their Lord and Savior and change their lives. Then it was time to do one final walk through.  Now the house was completely empty of stuff but so full of other things.  As I was going through one last time, the sounds of laughter from the children still echoed off the walls.  Cries of babies just brought home from the hospital sounded in my mind.  Visions of Neil and Madeline running up the stairs laughing as they made their way to their rooms on move in day played in my mind.  Memories of family celebrations - anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, good report cards, milestones of riding bikes, crawling, walking, and baptisms flooded over me.  Dinner time laughter echoed in the empty kitchen.  Bedtime prayers softly spoken from a child’s heart whispered out from the walls of empty bedrooms.  Giggles, tears, and so much more surrounded me, and their sounds seemed amplified in the emptiness.  This was the last time we’d ever be in those walls, and while I was glad to take the memories with me, the time had come to leave.  It was time to say good-bye to an old friend.  Bittersweet.

Good-bye!

Paper signing day to sell our O’Hunter house was a good day.  The new family was precious.  The father is a minister!!!  I had a smile on my face knowing that the house was in good hands with people who loved Jesus and would take care of it.  So good to know those walls will be filled with Jesus’s love, laughter, and hope again very quickly!  It was a joy after all the papers were signed to join hands and pray together with them and our realtors.  We pulled out of Newburgh afterwards exhausted but full of hope and wonder and what God had in store for us.  During our time in Newburgh, an offer we made on a house in Springfield had been accepted.   The next step was to wait for an inspection report on this new house.  Sweet.

Pulling out and heading back to Illinois

The new house was incredible and looked great!  It was built for entertaining and we eagerly looked forward to a projected move in date of late February.   Needless to say we were thrilled and VERY excited!  Inspection day was Wednesday of this week, but the findings were not positive.  Over 20 major problems were identified.  These items were things one wouldn’t be able to see by just walking through the house.  We had been continuing to pray about the inspection and asking God to open the door if that is where He wanted us or to shut the door if not.  We both had a peace that God had shut a door and had protected us.  Bittersweet.

We were very disappointed, all six of us.  I think I was the most disappointed of all – the kitchen was INCREDIBLE (stainless steel appliances, double oven, cook top, custom cabinets, quartz counters, ceramic tile flooring…a cook’s delight!).  I had to seek out some chocolate cake therapy along with a glass of blackberry lemonade from Smokey Bones yesterday after the “official” report was e-mailed to us.   Today I was amused at how sad I was about losing something that wasn’t even mine to begin with, but in my mind I had moved us all in and had planned out some groups of people to have over.  The children had this hilarious menu planned to help me “try out” the new kitchen our first week in the house.  We had begun to make plans and mentally get settled and now that was not to be a reality.  I was reminded of Proverbs 16:9, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (New Living Translation)   Bittersweet. 

Chocolate Cake Therapy

God has something different planned for the Ferris family, something better for us somewhere out there in our future.  The difficult part is waiting to see what that is.  We appreciate your prayers for us and once again ask you continue to go before God on our behalf to show us where we need to live and make the path clear to us.  We need wisdom.  Please pray for God to open the right doors and close the wrong ones.    While we wait, we will continue to “camp” in our little red cabin and hold onto the thought that the best is still yet to come and that is not a bitter thing…it is very, very sweet!

Our Christmas Eve Present

A simple Christmas meant borrowing a 4 foot tree and using the children's handmade projects from church to decorate.  I think it turned out just fine!
The best present this year however, wasn't under this tree!!!

Holidays were special events in my house growing up, and Christmas was perhaps my favorite.   The house was always decorated so nice.  The large picture window in the parsonage growing up was the perfect place for the Christmas tree.  Underneath that tree was a Christmas village complete with its own train line.  Over the years the village has grown into this huge metropolitan area.  The train line has grown, too and actually has several working trains.  The nativity scene in the country is a cherished corner of the city, but my favorite is my dad’s little musical church.  It was one of the last gifts my dad received from his own father before he died.  It lights up and plays Silent Night.  On Christmas Eve each year we’d gather around the tree and read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  Dad would wind the church and it was such a neat time to think about God’s great gift to us.  We’d close the day in prayer.  Each Christmas morning my dad would again wind up the church, and we would know we could come out of our rooms to see what wonderful surprises awaited us under the tree.   The day would continue with travelling to grandparents’ homes and eating a huge meal followed by a few more gifts.  It was a magical, wonderful day celebrating Jesus’ birthday!

Christmas Eve reading of the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and singing Christmas carols while Neil played his guitar.

Brad and I have tried to make Christmas a special time for our children as well—focusing on the birthday of Jesus.  We also enjoy other Christmas traditions from each of our own backgrounds blending them together and sprinkling in a few things of our own.  A birthday party for Jesus has been a new tradition we’ve tried to have each year with cupcakes.  We also attend Christmas Eve services as a family, something Brad grew up doing.  Before bed we read from Luke chapter two around the Christmas tree and pray as a family just like I did growing up as a little girl.  Brad and his brother always slept in sleeping bags in the same room on Christmas Eve, and for several years growing up our entire family would camp out in my brothers' room.  My dad would fill one whole wall bed to bed and move beds around.  I couldn't find the picture for this blog, but someday I hope to post that one!  Twenty years ago during Christmas we were engaged.  Christmas is a special time for me.  It is still a magical, wonderful day celebrating Jesus’ birthday!

Silent Night

 

God did something so wonderful for us this past Christmas Eve.  He gave us a gift and answered so many prayers prayed for us.  I can now smile at His timing.  He does love to give good gifts to His children!  This year we went to Christmas Eve services.  We chose the early service and it was standing room only….literally.  It was packed out.  Extra chairs in the back were set up.  Extra chairs on the sides of the seating sections were set up.  I was going to be content standing in the doorway singing and sitting in the foyer in the couches listening to this really handsome new preacher at RCC speak!  I’ll credit the seating crew….they found us five seats all in a row….in the second to the front row!  Now, for those who know me best, you know how uncomfortable I was with that!  I’m a preacher’s kid, and I sit in the back row or the balcony in my little “crow’s nest”.  I was thankful the children were well behaved even after my meager supply of Life Savers ran out.  The service was nice and the handsome preacher did a fine job.

Sarah read from Luke 2 this year.  She did a great job!

 

 After the last song I quickly checked the time on my phone and put it back in my purse.  We gathered our coats and wrapped up as the night was very cold.  We loaded up in the van and returned to our little red cabin and took our time getting shoes and coats put away.  We changed into comfy clothes and Maddie was getting the puppies settled.   The last task before getting dinner ready was to get my phone out of my purse before putting it away.  As I pulled it out, I noticed I had missed a call and had a message from Jenna, our realtor.   So I retrieved my message and hear, “We have an offer….”   I’m not sure what the rest of the message said at that point because all I could hear was “We have an offer…”!  I wanted so badly to call Brad, but he was participating in the second Christmas Eve service.  Here I had this GREAT news and couldn’t tell anyone!  What a gift God gave us Christmas Eve!

Notice the realty sign - Sale Pending!!!!  Yeah God!!!!

Thank you to all who have been praying for us!  However, we can’t stop yet.  There is still the inspection to get through.  They were not able to get up on our roof January 3^rd because the roof was 75% covered with snow.  So in the next five days they will try again.  If all goes well we close on the house in Newburgh January 18.  When God moves, sometimes He moves swiftly!  Please keep praying this final inspection goes well so we can officially close the deal on our home in Newburgh!   What a gift!  What a God! 

This year they camped out up in the "loft" with Neil!  They slept in until 8 a.m.!  Another wonderful gift :)!