Last night we had a special dinner up in our room while Libby (and a movie!) babysat downstairs. I am SO thankful for this man! Being married to him is such an incredible gift...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Garage Sale Weekend
Don and I really haven't been thinking about or dealing with more than a couple days ahead of us at a time. God has definitely had us in a "one-step-at-a-time" mode only dealing with what is immediately in front of us. So last Thursday, when we sat down to look at the calendar for the next week, we determined that the only available weekend for the large garage sale that had been accumulating in our garage was that weekend.
So our to do list for the following 24 hours?
...Pull off a big garage sale with virtually no prep time... CHECK!
It was a little haphazard and looked more like a lot of blankets and bins thrown in our yard piled with stuff that had no price. But that's ok! At the end of the day, we had sold a decent amount, made some new friends, taught our kids how to run a small business, and hauled the rest of the unsold merchandise off to the Goodwill.
Mission accomplished! :)
(We had 59 stuffed animals in our garage sale...this did not include the 2 full bins we will be taking to Africa with us. I was slightly horrified...)
Our little entrepreneurs... Daddy taught them about overhead costs and marketing strategies. They actually did pretty well. I mean, who could say "no" to this crew?
So our to do list for the following 24 hours?
...Pull off a big garage sale with virtually no prep time... CHECK!
It was a little haphazard and looked more like a lot of blankets and bins thrown in our yard piled with stuff that had no price. But that's ok! At the end of the day, we had sold a decent amount, made some new friends, taught our kids how to run a small business, and hauled the rest of the unsold merchandise off to the Goodwill.
Mission accomplished! :)
(We had 59 stuffed animals in our garage sale...this did not include the 2 full bins we will be taking to Africa with us. I was slightly horrified...)
Our little entrepreneurs... Daddy taught them about overhead costs and marketing strategies. They actually did pretty well. I mean, who could say "no" to this crew?
I was SO proud of our kids this day. I thought garage sale day would be met with many tears and feelings of much loss. Although there were a couple rescue missions attempted (with success - what can I say?!?), the kids did amazingly well letting go of their "treasures." We are praying God continues to show them a bigger picture outside of themselves and that they truly see that loving people in Jesus's name is WORTH ALL SACRIFICE!
House Update...
The 2nd sale of our house is moving along nicely. We have admittedly been holding our excitement in check on this house sale. Its not that we don't trust God's provision for us. Its that we KNOW God is in control and therefore we have the freedom to hold loosely to all things. Whatever the outcome this second time around, we are confident in where HE is leading us.
That being said, we are through inspection and we had the appraisal yesterday morning. We won't know the results for a few days...so for now, we wait...
But in the meantime, I had the privilege to meet the wife and little boy of the family who are buying our house. Because the family (and realtor) are originally from Korea and speak very limited English, negotiations over the phone with our realtor have been a little challenging. But on Saturday, a very sweet lady and her little boy came up to me during our garage sale. She explained to me with mostly hand gestures that she was the one buying our house. I asked her about her family (also in hand gestures) and she asked me where we were moving. When I told her we were moving to Africa, she immediately asked me "Oh, are you Christians?" I told her "Yes, we are followers of Jesus." Her eyes immediately lit up with tears and she said "Praise God! I drive by the house every day and pray for your family!"
Wow...I am so humbled when God uses total strangers to encourage my heart.
(I hope they get our house!!! :) )
That being said, we are through inspection and we had the appraisal yesterday morning. We won't know the results for a few days...so for now, we wait...
But in the meantime, I had the privilege to meet the wife and little boy of the family who are buying our house. Because the family (and realtor) are originally from Korea and speak very limited English, negotiations over the phone with our realtor have been a little challenging. But on Saturday, a very sweet lady and her little boy came up to me during our garage sale. She explained to me with mostly hand gestures that she was the one buying our house. I asked her about her family (also in hand gestures) and she asked me where we were moving. When I told her we were moving to Africa, she immediately asked me "Oh, are you Christians?" I told her "Yes, we are followers of Jesus." Her eyes immediately lit up with tears and she said "Praise God! I drive by the house every day and pray for your family!"
Wow...I am so humbled when God uses total strangers to encourage my heart.
(I hope they get our house!!! :) )
Monday, May 14, 2012
Happy Birthday Uncle Dave!
Today was my brother's birthday. He's pretty awesome and we love him around here! We were going to send him a birthday video of the kids singing to him but they insisted they needed to be "CRAZY." You know, I guess because Uncle Dave is crazy. They disappeared upstairs and came down looking like this...completely on their own! Happy Birthday Dave!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Spiritual Legacy...
Both Don and I were blessed with AMAZING mothers.
They were both the first in their families to choose to follow Jesus
...they were both the catalyst for spiritual change in the legacies they were leaving behind
...they both paved a way for their children and their children's children to be brought up in the truth and love of Jesus.
Our families will be forever changed because of them...their courage...their desire for truth regardless the cost.
This ROCKS me...
Not only that, but they have spent over THIRTY YEARS pouring much of themselves into loving and serving us! Now that I am a mom, I can appreciate that so much more!
We LOVE them...our children ADORE them...and we can't imagine walking this journey without them!
Happy Mother's Day to our MOMS! THANK YOU for being YOU!!!
They were both the first in their families to choose to follow Jesus
...they were both the catalyst for spiritual change in the legacies they were leaving behind
...they both paved a way for their children and their children's children to be brought up in the truth and love of Jesus.
Our families will be forever changed because of them...their courage...their desire for truth regardless the cost.
This ROCKS me...
Not only that, but they have spent over THIRTY YEARS pouring much of themselves into loving and serving us! Now that I am a mom, I can appreciate that so much more!
We LOVE them...our children ADORE them...and we can't imagine walking this journey without them!
Happy Mother's Day to our MOMS! THANK YOU for being YOU!!!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Tulip Time Fun!
We got back from Iowa on Sunday! We had a great few days with family. We even got to venture into our old stomping grounds (Pella, IA) for a couple days to take part in the annual Tulip Time festival.
We saw some awesome Dutch Dancing... (Many of these children are dear friends of ours! Love these kids!!!)
...ate some yummy nostalgic festival food
...reconnected with dear friends
...had some good laughs with those friends (Wish you could see this lil one's wooden shoes!!!)
...reconnected with the yummy local Dutch bakery (a favorite!)
...watched our favorite Tulip Time parades from our favorite parade spot that we inhabited every Tulip Time for the 10 years we lived in Pella!
We saw some awesome Dutch Dancing... (Many of these children are dear friends of ours! Love these kids!!!)
...ate some yummy nostalgic festival food
...reconnected with dear friends
...had some good laughs with those friends (Wish you could see this lil one's wooden shoes!!!)
...reconnected with the yummy local Dutch bakery (a favorite!)
Spending time with friends and family was so good for our hearts!
Incidently, we also SOLD our house AGAIN while we were gone!!! We're hopeful for a better ending for round 2!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Keepin' it Real...
One of the things I promised myself when I finally made the decision to start blogging was that I wouldn't just share the good days. My heart's desire is that our family be able to look back on this journey and be able to see how Jesus walked us through the hard days...how He met us regardless of our choices...how He was ALWAYS there. Sunday was one of those days...
...a day when sickness and fatigue threatened to take over my body
...a day when the task in front of us seemed insurmountable
...a day when the lies of loneliness permeated all my thoughts
...a day when I questioned whether our children would forever carry the scars of the sacrifices we were asking them to make
...a day where honestly, I just wanted to curl up in my bed until it was over.
This may seem a little intense for my 6th blog post but days like this ARE intense...and they are REAL. Following Jesus in any capacity isn't always easy. We are at the beginning of a difficult journey and we realize that there will be days when we feel sad...lonely...overwhelmed...and we will struggle to choose JOY. On Sunday, getting really sick put me over the edge and I struggled with all of these things. But Jesus was there. He gave me the strength to get through the weekend...HE was strong when I was weak.
...and then a couple days later, He reminded me again through my 8 year old daughter why days like this exist. Our conversation went like this...
Libby: "Mom, I was thinking. I know it was a hard thing when our house didn't sell like we thought it did and things didn't go the way we wanted. But I was reading in my book that when problems happen, we can choose to throw a fit or we can choose to let Jesus make us stronger. Maybe our house didn't sell because Jesus has a different plan and He wants to help us grow."
Me: "I think you are exactly right, honey."
Libby: "Mom, I think Sarah Young [author of Jesus Calling for Kids that she had been reading] is an encourager. I was thinking that maybe you would be encouraged by reading this section. I pretty much underlined all of it because it was all really good."
[she handed me her book marked with the section that she was asking me to read]
Libby: "And if you don't mind, I would really love to hear what you think."
Ummm.... at this point I was thinking, "Whoa! I just had a grown up conversation with my little girl!" It was a special moment to see the beautiful heart God is continuing to grow in her.
I left her room that night so thankful...thankful that Jesus can use all circumstances to sow truth in my heart and in the hearts of my children. He's ALWAYS pursuing...ALWAYS loving...ALWAYS working...ALWAYS there!
So we walk forward...praying for the strength to embrace the hard days as an opportunity to grow stronger and more dependent on Jesus!
...a day when sickness and fatigue threatened to take over my body
...a day when the task in front of us seemed insurmountable
...a day when the lies of loneliness permeated all my thoughts
...a day when I questioned whether our children would forever carry the scars of the sacrifices we were asking them to make
...a day where honestly, I just wanted to curl up in my bed until it was over.
This may seem a little intense for my 6th blog post but days like this ARE intense...and they are REAL. Following Jesus in any capacity isn't always easy. We are at the beginning of a difficult journey and we realize that there will be days when we feel sad...lonely...overwhelmed...and we will struggle to choose JOY. On Sunday, getting really sick put me over the edge and I struggled with all of these things. But Jesus was there. He gave me the strength to get through the weekend...HE was strong when I was weak.
...and then a couple days later, He reminded me again through my 8 year old daughter why days like this exist. Our conversation went like this...
Libby: "Mom, I was thinking. I know it was a hard thing when our house didn't sell like we thought it did and things didn't go the way we wanted. But I was reading in my book that when problems happen, we can choose to throw a fit or we can choose to let Jesus make us stronger. Maybe our house didn't sell because Jesus has a different plan and He wants to help us grow."
Me: "I think you are exactly right, honey."
Libby: "Mom, I think Sarah Young [author of Jesus Calling for Kids that she had been reading] is an encourager. I was thinking that maybe you would be encouraged by reading this section. I pretty much underlined all of it because it was all really good."
[she handed me her book marked with the section that she was asking me to read]
Libby: "And if you don't mind, I would really love to hear what you think."
Ummm.... at this point I was thinking, "Whoa! I just had a grown up conversation with my little girl!" It was a special moment to see the beautiful heart God is continuing to grow in her.
I left her room that night so thankful...thankful that Jesus can use all circumstances to sow truth in my heart and in the hearts of my children. He's ALWAYS pursuing...ALWAYS loving...ALWAYS working...ALWAYS there!
So we walk forward...praying for the strength to embrace the hard days as an opportunity to grow stronger and more dependent on Jesus!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)