Home Sweet Home

Wow, what an adventure this move has been. We were greeted with 100 degree heat and no power at our little (and I mean little) home. Let me back up and start with the morning of our move. Our plan was to have the moving truck completely loaded and to be leaving our rental house in Gainesville at 8:00 Saturday morning. Tyler had not been feeling well (I think it was partly due to being nervous about moving and also seeing the stress that his dad and I were feeling.) and was slow moving so it took him and Chuck a little longer to get the truck loaded.

Kaelyn taking a break

Needless to say, we didn't leave at 8:00 it was close to 1:00 when we finally pulled out of our neighborhood.

When we got to our little house (living in married housing on campus) we were met with 100 degree heat and no power (long story on that and to be quite honest just don't want to go there). My cousin Rebecca's husband Shawn had a couple of guys who also live in married housing there to help unload the moving truck.

The front of our house and yes I cried when I saw it.

After seeing the front of the house, this little gift basket bowl from Rebecca and her family was a welcome site. It was full of goodies.

All of the furniture was unloaded on Saturday along with some of the boxes. It was so hot and we were all tired. We locked up the house and went to Shawn and Rebecca's (which is just a couple of houses down from ours) where we had sub sandwiches for dinner that they had bought for us from Subway.

Fast forward to Monday, we finally have power in the house and the a/c was cooling really good. After much cleaning (the house was filthy and just plain old disgusting) we finally got things clean to where we could start putting stuff away. Here are some pictures of what awaited us upon arrival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dead bug and a shoe print in the bathtub. Bless my husbands heart he got in there and scrubbed that bathroom down. Also in the tub was what I thought to be spilled paint, after Chuck started cleaning in he said it wasn't paint. Apparently the enamel on the tub was chipped and who ever was fixing it didn't know what they were doing.

We noticed that every time the toilet was flushed we had to plunge it. The maintenance man was sent over and he worked on it then said he couldn't find anything wrong with it. Well after he left it still kept happening. So on Tuesday morning he was there to put a kitchen drawer back in (he took it back to the shop on Monday since when you opened it, it would fall out) we told him the toilet still was not working right. So he goes in the bathroom and after messing with it for about two hours he leaves and this is what we find.

He had to pull the toilet out. Turns out that something was stuck in it and he couldn't get it out, so he had to go and get a new toilet for us. When he left, Chuck went back in there and scrubbed the bathroom clean again. Gotta love a man that helps out by cleaning. ( ;

After being in the house for a few days the shock had worn off a little. We were able to make it more like home to us. We got boxes unpacked and hung some pictures up on the wall.  You're really not supposed to hang pictures on the walls because the holes could expose the asbestos in the walls. The maintenance man said we would "probably be okay".

 The maintenance man did come and clean all the "yuck" out from under the lifted up part of the kitchen counter, still could use some repairs.

Broken blinds throughout the house, we had to replace them. I was just shocked that all of this wasn't taken care of before we moved in. I was not in the best of moods during our first couple of days here, don't really think any of us were.

It's been a a little over two weeks since we moved to Graceville...and boy what a week that first one was! After starting off with no power in our house for 2 days, which is a rough way to start. Things have gotten better, our house is becoming a home and we are all adjusting well in our new "adventure". God is good!

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13 NIV

I will have another post up soon with pictures of our "little house" after the clean up. ( ;

A Big Change

I can't tell you the number of times that I have sat down to write this post then delete and start over again. This time I plan to get it finished and click on the "PUBLISH POST" tab. It's not that I don't want to write this post, it's just there are so many things I want to write and just can't seem to find the words for it.

If you remember this post where I said that there would be a BIG CHANGE for our family this summer. Well now is the time to share that with you, my friends. So with lots of excitement and also a little sadness I tell you all that we are once again moving.

Let me start at the beginning. We moved to Gainesville a year and a half ago, God has used that time to mold us, shape us and draw us together as a family as well as give us a clear vision for the ministry calling He has blessed us with. We know that their were people praying for us and that has been a comfort in the dark days and an encouragement to keep us going.

After much prayer and seeking God's will for our lives and ministry, we know that God is leading us to leave Gainesville and attend The Baptist College of Florida. Chuck has been provided much "hands on" experience in ministry and now it is time for him to have some formal theological training. We will be moving on July 14th and Chuck will begin classes on August 13th.

Our family would appreciate your prayers as we make these changes. Here are some of the specifics you can pray for:

• Tyler and Kaelyn starting a new school
• God to provide us with new friends and co-workers for the advancement of the Gospel
• God to provide for our family financially
• God to provide a church for us to minister in while in college      

A scripture that I have been clinging to for the last several months has been Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

To be quite honest I have been anxious about moving, we don't have a job, how will we pay for groceries, utilities, etc. Well that is where I have been clinging to and praying the above verse. And you know I can say that I feel at peace. I know that by stepping out in faith and being obedient that God will take care and provide for our needs.    

I love what Priscilla Shirer says in her bible study "Discerning the voice of God": God knows your life from beginning to end. He knows all the details necessary to take you from where you are to where He wants you to be and keep you in His perfect will.

I am excited about this new chapter in our lives, but at the same time sad that I will be moving away from people that I love and care about deeply. Most likely I will be missing from the blog for a few weeks as we pack up this next week and get ready to move next weekend, then of course getting unpacked and setting up house again. Once we get "somewhat settled" in our new home I'll be back to share pictures and of course how our move went.

Love to all my family and friends!