Lately I've been walking through a spiritual dessert. My life has been so haphazard for many reasons and it's thrown me a bit off kilter. I'm yet again looking for the horizon. However, amidst my frustrations, God has shown me very clearly that He's with me and that He knows all about my needs. If I could only use one word to describe the last few weeks, it would be, "Grateful."
Andrew and I recently moved. It was a bit of a crazy time. The week before, we were planning for a weekend retreat with the middle school guys and girls we minister to through
our church. It's an awesome ministry and we are very invested. However, we were going into the weekend knowing that we had 10 days to move out of our place as new tenants were moving in, and we had no idea where we'd be moving. Well, of course, God provided.
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| Me (far left) with my co-leader, Jenny, and our 7th grade girls at camp |
We looked at a place the Monday following the church retreat and it was so awful that I thought, "I will cry daily if I have to live here!" Now, I knew that if God led us to move there, I would be obedient but I knew I would hate every minute of it. It was the size of a shoe box, stepping into the house we were in the middle of the living room, three steps to the right and we were in the kitchen the size of a tissue box, two steps back and we were in the bathroom the size of a tin can, and three steps to the left and we were in the bedroom which might have fit our double bed which we'd have to jump onto from the doorway. There were two small windows in the whole house about face-level which had bars on them. I think that God showed us that place so that I would be more open and excited for the place we looked at on Tuesday.
I'd always been leery of living in a mobile home. Where I'm from, it was not so kindly called, "trailer trash." Basically, a person either lived in a trailer or on the street. Andrew, however, had lived in one and said it was not that bad...and he would never bring me to a place that was "that bad." So, we looked at the home on Tuesday where we filled out the application. It wasn't "that bad." Actually, it seemed spacious with lots of windows We received a call on Wednesday saying we were approved to live there, and we signed the lease on Thursday. Grateful.
With the stress of finding a place to live, we hadn't packed a single box. We figured we would do what we could over the weekend and finish up moving and cleaning the old place early the next week. So, we got to work right away. By Friday, we had a small dent in the packing when my Mother-in-Law and siblings came over to help. Then my Father-in-Law showed up with his truck and we amazingly got a whole load moved over to the house before Andrew got out of work! Grateful.
The next day, we continued packing. Andrew's family once again came over, along with our good friend, Wes. With two trucks, a minivan, and my PT Cruiser, we were able to get everything to the new house in about two trips. We realized early in the day that this process was going a lot faster than we had planned. Without electricity and water, we realized we needed to get to the utility office before they closed at 1pm.
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| The Wretched Wrench |
So, immediately following the first load, we planned on heading over the the utility office while the rest of the crew unloaded. However, on the way to the house we heard a little noise and the check tire light came on...then pulling into the neighborhood, we heard the ever familiar, "thump, thump, thump." Pulling up to the house, we saw the look on Andrew's dad's face we knew it was worse than we thought. The left rear tire was completely imbedded with a small wrench. Great.
We took the minivan to the utility office. Electricity, check. Water...not for three days! We got home to the spare tire being put onto the car. Grateful.
Somewhere amidst getting the second load packed up, Andrew's dad had our tire replaced. Grateful.
The condo we were living in was privately owned by a man and his wife who were believers and fantastic landlords. It was partially furnished and included a lot of amenities. In communicating to them our plans to move, they offered for us to keep the couch (which our cat had adopted as her scratching post) and the coffee table. Our roommate had also given us one of her two T.V.'s and a TV stand that she wasn't going to be able to use in her new place. Grateful.
Another thing we didn't have for the new place was a dining room table. I told Andrew's mom that I thought we would go to goodwill and see if we could find a small card table. After all, it's just the two of us. A few hours after we were left to our own devices, we had run out to get some subway for dinner. Moments after we returned the in-laws showed up with a gorgeous wooden table with two chairs! Grateful.
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| Table for Two |
Now, here we are in our new house and I'm working really hard to get unpacked. I'm of that mindset where if my surroundings are in disarray, I have a hard time relaxing. I need a place of tranquility in order to be at peace in my mind. In speaking with a lot of other women, I'm not alone. Andrew, on the other hand, can decide he needs a day of rest where he can just lie on the couch, read, watch movies, and relax and he'll do it even if there's a load of clean laundry on the couch that has yet to be folded and dishes in the sink. We are complete opposites in that area. The chaos of our house drives me nuts and I'll work my heart out until it gets put away. Andrew isn't going to worry about it, figuring it will get done eventually.
My friend, Jenny, is a professional organizer ("like" her facebook page,
Creative Organizing Solutions!). Understanding my disdain for the mess, offered to come over to help. Just to be friendly. We unpacked out entire house in less than 8 hours! Grateful.
In all the bustle of trying to get settled in, I realize that we don't have a vacuum and the carpet badly needed it. So, I asked Andrew's mom if we could borrow hers for a day, thinking I'd find a used one on craigslist soon. So, when we met up so that I could get the vacuum, out came a box instead. With a brand new vacuum in it. I don't think I was ever more excited to vacuum in my life. Grateful.
Just when we didn't think we could be even more blessed, Andrew went researching lawnmowers, another thing we never had because we've never had a yard until now. He asked a friend of his if he knew of anything. His friend informed him that he was sending a guy to cut our lawn. For a month. Grateful.
So, now I sit here in our "new" home. My dessert seems a little less deserted, my heart feels a lot more calm, and I'm back to the normal every day maintenance of my home, my marriage, and my life. Am I swimming in a sea of fullness and satisfaction? Let's just say that I can see the sun rising over the sandy horizon.
And I'm grateful.
