Monday, January 31, 2011
I can do hard things
It's been a rough month around here. I've been having some health problems that we now know started about Christmas. I didn't have a clue what was wrong. I've just felt "off". There's been some other small issues along with the "off-ness" but nothing life threatening. I was just tired of not feeling well. When I talked to the doctor, they didn't seem overly concerned so I didn't get overly concerned. Insert last week. Certain things took place and suddenly people were concerned. They needed some blood tests. Then they needed an ultrasound. Suddenly we were being moved from room to room and doctor to doctor. Finally we were instructed to get ourselves to the hospital right away because I needed emergency surgery. (Not exactly how I had foreseen my Thursday evening.) We cried. A lot. We made arrangements, stopped at Target for some supplies and went to the hospital. Everything went fine. I should recover just fine. This experience has changed me though. In a way that I will never be able to explain to anyone else. I am okay, don't misunderstand me, just changed. Sometimes we just don't know what the Lord has intended for us and now I understand that sometimes we don't get a lot of time to struggle through the trial itself. Sometimes what is happening happens so fast that we find ourselves inexplicably altered and find the struggle in the aftermath. Maybe I'm crazy but I love when I fall on my knees and have to be reminded to rely on more than my own strength. There's something so exquisite and so profound in that kind of pain. I think those moments are when we really discover who God is because the rest of the time we aren't vulnerable enough to pay attention like we should. I have been constantly reminded that His pain is my pain too and I am not alone, ever. For me, that is truly something beautiful.
Friday, January 7, 2011
It's a Brand New Year
I don't know that I'm all about New Year's Resolutions really. I like trying to re-start and be better or set new goals but I do that all the time so the New Year doesn't automatically mean a total reboot on my life. I am just in general trying to be better. Good enough, right?
I was trying to think of things that we learned in the last year so here they are, in no particular order:
1 - Selling a house is fun and super stressful. BUT we were super blessed through the whole process. My wonderful mother-in-law gave us a place to be when we had nowhere else to go and within a week we found a rental in Fairfield. We've moved on from that rental now but it was what we needed at the time.
2 - My children are generally good and kind. They are listening and taking in way more than I think they are. Paige especially. She went to a birthday party last month and she told them no when they offered her tea. (Although she told them it was because it has alcohol in it =o) During Christmas at my parents house, Paige told my Grandma that Christmas is the most special day of the year because it is Jesus' birthday.
3 - Subdividing land is way more complicated and time consuming than we thought. When we first talked to the surveyor at the end of July/ beginning of August, we truly thought we could get everything done and submitted by the end of August then we could break ground in November. It took until the beginning of October to submit. Then we got a response in mid-November but we had deficiences that had to be corrected. So once I got through my life and re-submitted it was December and we heard back right before Christmas. We just went to the lawyer and got all the documents signed and filed everything at the courthouse this week. The land is finally ours so now we can work on the financing and getting ready to break ground which will hopefully happen in March. They are always going to be hoops to jump through with this I guess but with luck, we'll be living in our house by next Christmas.
4 - Adam is a master at the wood stove and I only qualify as the bumbling apprentice. Our current house has an awesome wood stove. Adam has it down to a science. He can get a blazing fire in no time flat and bake us out of the house. I can get it warm in here eventually but it might take a while and we all might end up smelling like smoke in the end =o) I think we may have to look into a pellet stove for the new house rather than a wood stove.
5 - We have amazing friends and family. I cannot tell you how many times someone has saved the day for us. They have babysat, driven cars home, helped us move TWICE, changed flat tires in the snow, written sweet notes, called when we're having a bad day, been just as disgusted at certain people's crappy decisions, brought cookies, loaned books, folded laundry, cleaned when we were moving, and much more. The goodness of people never ceases to amaze me. I very much appreciate the people who love us unconditionally. Especially the ones who we don't see often and even if it's been forever, we seem to pick up right where we left off. THANK YOU to all of you. You know who you are.
2011 is gonna be great!!
I was trying to think of things that we learned in the last year so here they are, in no particular order:
1 - Selling a house is fun and super stressful. BUT we were super blessed through the whole process. My wonderful mother-in-law gave us a place to be when we had nowhere else to go and within a week we found a rental in Fairfield. We've moved on from that rental now but it was what we needed at the time.
2 - My children are generally good and kind. They are listening and taking in way more than I think they are. Paige especially. She went to a birthday party last month and she told them no when they offered her tea. (Although she told them it was because it has alcohol in it =o) During Christmas at my parents house, Paige told my Grandma that Christmas is the most special day of the year because it is Jesus' birthday.
3 - Subdividing land is way more complicated and time consuming than we thought. When we first talked to the surveyor at the end of July/ beginning of August, we truly thought we could get everything done and submitted by the end of August then we could break ground in November. It took until the beginning of October to submit. Then we got a response in mid-November but we had deficiences that had to be corrected. So once I got through my life and re-submitted it was December and we heard back right before Christmas. We just went to the lawyer and got all the documents signed and filed everything at the courthouse this week. The land is finally ours so now we can work on the financing and getting ready to break ground which will hopefully happen in March. They are always going to be hoops to jump through with this I guess but with luck, we'll be living in our house by next Christmas.
4 - Adam is a master at the wood stove and I only qualify as the bumbling apprentice. Our current house has an awesome wood stove. Adam has it down to a science. He can get a blazing fire in no time flat and bake us out of the house. I can get it warm in here eventually but it might take a while and we all might end up smelling like smoke in the end =o) I think we may have to look into a pellet stove for the new house rather than a wood stove.
5 - We have amazing friends and family. I cannot tell you how many times someone has saved the day for us. They have babysat, driven cars home, helped us move TWICE, changed flat tires in the snow, written sweet notes, called when we're having a bad day, been just as disgusted at certain people's crappy decisions, brought cookies, loaned books, folded laundry, cleaned when we were moving, and much more. The goodness of people never ceases to amaze me. I very much appreciate the people who love us unconditionally. Especially the ones who we don't see often and even if it's been forever, we seem to pick up right where we left off. THANK YOU to all of you. You know who you are.
2011 is gonna be great!!
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