Kentucky - Home, Not so Sweet, Home

So it is Wednesday, January 28, 2009 and we are finally in Louisville, Ky.  It has been quite a whirl wind since we got here.  Aaron, Briggs, and I left on Sunday morning.  Aaron was driving a Uhaul truck pulling a trailer with his car on it and Briggs and I were following behind in my car.  Sunday morning was a sad day.  I cried as we left and cried as I drove.  I cried some more when Aaron and I had to unload the Uhaul by ourselves in the SNOW in the dark Sunday night when we arrived.  I cried on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'm not sure how one person can have so many tears!!  Sunday's snow was light and so Monday we could get out.  Monday night it snowed even more and then Tuesday night the ice came ... and came ... and came.  Aaron and I awoke to tree limbs slamming onto the roof at about 1:30 in the morning.  They fell until around 4 or 5 am - I can't even remember.  One almost went through Briggs' bedroom window.  Several fell across the back deck. Several fell across the driveway, taking out the power line in the process.  The power went out at 3 am.  We all snuggled together in the bed with lots of covers.  In the midst of that, Briggs woke up screaming that his ear hurt.  Apparently playing in the snow Monday gave him an ear ache.  We piled the covers on, called the power company and tried to rest.  I prayed and cried and prayed and cried.  I was so terrified that a tree was going to crash through the roof.  When morning finally came, we decided it was too cold to stay so we tried to make it to our friends' house.  The roads were very icy and slick, but we made it.  Aaron had to go back to the house later to leave the water running so that the pipes don't burst.  We haven't been able to get renter's insurance yet, so we are nervous about our belongings.  I know it's just "stuff," but it's stuff we have worked hard to get and we hate to lose it.  When Aaron went back to leave the water running another limb fell blocking the front deck.  He had to jump from the side.  If he had been minutes later, it probably would have fallen on him.  God has been good to us - he has protected and provided for us.  I certainly don't quite understand the hard things that are coming our way as we are trying to move and get adjusted, but apparently God is testing me to make me stronger.  That's what I keep telling myself anyway.  I keep trying to be like Job and praise Him through the storms that we are facing.  I keep telling myself to be thankful that we were not hurt.  And I keep reminding myself that God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.

We have had food to eat and a warm place to stay.  I don't know why I should even begin to complain.

I do have several prayer requests:

1. for continued safety (as the temps drop low again over the next several days and the high winds that are forecast for Friday)

2. for our power to be turned back on quickly

3. for adjustment to our new home and life

4. for a great church

5. to make friends and connections here

6. for our family and friends back home

Pics of our house/ice storm:

No longer in Limbo

Well, I think D-day (or actually M-day) is finally finalized!!!  We are planning to leave either Friday afternoon or early Saturday morning.  We are trying to decide whether or not to rent a truck or get help from our parents.  Aaron's parents have a horse trailer that they have offered for us to use; however, we are not sure that it's big enough.  My parents said that they would drive up and carry stuff for us as well, but we hate to have them drive nearly 7 hours and then turn around the next day to drive back to SC.  Decisions, decisions!  What to do - we just really don't know.  We thought that once we had the moving date down we would be all set, and now we have another decision to make.  The rental truck will cost $400.00 (not including gas).  If we take our parents' help, we could put that money towards Aaron's tuition costs.  This seems like the most logical thing to do; then again, both of our parents work, and my parents have an 11 &  7 year old to worry about too.  Anyway, I will post again later with our decisions.  Kentucky, here we come!

Never Liked Limbo

Yep - I never liked limbo.  I was never good at it.  Still not.  But I'm talking about life now.  I feel like I'm in constant limbo right now, and frankly, I'm ready to stop.  As much as I dread moving away from family and friends, my church, my home, I am ready to go just so that I can stop living out of boxes and get back to some normalcy.  I am packing, then unpacking.  I feel - well, not really sure what I feel. Maybe frustration, maybe just plain old tired.  I do know that God is here with me through it all and that He is taking care of me, getting me through day by day.  I'm thankful that when all else is crazy, changing, and unstable, and uncertain, I serve a God who is none of these things.  He never changes, is always stable, and is always certain to be loving me and giving me the best possible things.

I still continue to repeat - God is good all the time & all the time God is good.

How great is our God!

Moving Date

We now have a moving date - if it doesn't change again!!!  It seems to change with the weather.  We are supposed to be moving now on January 23/24 which is the weekend before Aaron starts classes.  We had hoped to move sooner so that we could be settled before he starts back to school, but that is no longer an option.  I'm just praying that we actually get to move that weekend.

I am so amazed at God's goodness!  I know I really shouldn't be because I know what an awesome God He is and that He will take care of us and our every need, but still when I least expect it, He performs some type of miracle in my life that makes me sit back in awe of Him.  That happened this morning.  I listed some of our furniture that we must sell (because there is no way that it will fit into the rental house) on Facebook and had someone purchase two pieces already.  As if that wasn't good enough, the person paid double what I asked for it.  I cried after she left.  What a blessing that was for me straight from God through her.  God is good all the time!  

Though this journey is crazy, hectic, scary, and all sorts of other things, my prayer is that I never forget to stop and see the goodness of God in everything at all times.  He only deserves it!

Home, Sweet Home!

Boy has this week been crazy busy!  We had a great Christmas.  In my previous post I spoke about wanting to see Briggs' face on Christmas morning - well, he showed no emotion whatsoever.  I was kind of disappointed, although he redeemed himself later as he played with his toys!    

On Saturday after Christmas, we left for Louisville to find a place to live.  Our venture started out as unsuccessful.  Eventually we found a house that we put a deposit on.  It is small and cute.  Did I mention it is small?  Like 700 square feet small!  Hey, I hate (oops!  I mean don't - we have taught Briggs that hate is not a nice word) cleaning, so a small space will be great!!  We still don't have a move in date though.  Hopefully we will know for sure tomorrow.  There is currently a family living there who paid rent through January 15.  As soon as they move we will be able to move in.  Aaron is going to call the man we are renting from tomorrow to nail down a definite date.  So anyway, we left on Tuesday to drive back to Easley.  

We spent Wednesday washing clothes and packing and headed out on Thursday morning for a trip to James Island County Park in Charleston to spend time with family and friends camping.  We had a good trip, but are very tired after all the traveling this week.  I'm must certainly say that I am glad to be getting into my own bed tonight!  Which, by the way, is too big to fit into the bedroom of our rental house in L'ville!  I think we will be getting rid of almost all of our furniture.  We will be opting for smaller furniture and not a lot of it!

Well, I must say that my bed is calling!  More to come later.