Blastin' through the weekend!!

What a fantastic weekend!!!
Started out with Greg reading to Kaylen's class on Friday.  She was so excited to see him as their mystery reader.  He picked out books at the library just before going into the room.   He had no time to actually read through them.  If he had, perhaps he wouldn't have gone with the with one that mentioned "underwear" a few times.  Mentioning the word "underwear"  in a class of kindergartners is like unleashing a bunch of monkeys in a banana bushel.  I wish I could have witnessed it myself, but the stories from Greg and Kaylen were hysterical! 

Greg looking over the waiver

That night we went downtown to a restaurant seen on Food Network's Heat Seekers- Heaven on Seven.  This place is so good!  Greg and his friend shared a dish called 'Hotter than a Mother Pasta' in which they had to sign a waiver for because of the intensity of the peppers and spice.  They went to town on it and lived to tell about it.  Granted they were sweating & their lips went numb among other things, but the rest of us had a great time watching the self inflicting assault.

Jim smiling BEFORE he took a bite!

Saturday morning was greeted with a fabulous breakfast club outing with the youth group crew at Dunkin Donuts!  Love these students and leaders- I'm going to miss them all so much!!  After a sugar coma, we went back home to clean up a bit more then headed up to Greg's  grandma's 95th birthday party.  It was so great to see everyone on that side of the family!  It has been a long time since seeing some of the cousins.  The highlight of the trip for me was holding precious little Aiden.  He is our newest nephew and couldn't be any cuter!  Ashland was in love with him and was trying to figure out how we could just take him home.  Then shortly after we got home my parents arrived to stay the night.  The girls were soooooooooo excited that they were staying the night- quite the treat!

Ashland holding Aiden

Sunday morning we talked about things we still needed to get done before Greg left and between that lengthy list and my parents being in town and the girls being way over tired we knew we had a full day ahead of us.  We are trying to minimize our items that we move and really trying to simplify.  Easier said than done- that's for sure.
It was a rough goodbye for the girls to send their daddy off, but luckily it will only be 12 days.  He was just made aware that he could transfer a trip that was booked for sometime in June to this month.  Praise God!!!!

First Goodbyes

Goodbyes are no fun.  Well that is, unless you're saying goodbye to a bad rash, but that's a whole different story.  Yesterday I had my first goodbyes at a bible study I've been attending here almost since we moved here.  There are about 60-70 women in several different studies that all gather for the same purpose- Love Jesus and want to learn and live the Word more passionately.  At an end of the year brunch, I had the privileged of sharing my experience of this past year while studying David: A Heart Like His.  Here's what I had to say:

At the beginning of this year, I was faced with the difficult decision of which study to take, as were many of you.  I was quite sure that I wouldn’t be taking Beth Moore’s study because quite frankly, last year I felt like she yelled at me as we ventured through Revelation.  Then I saw the preview for David and clearly felt that I was supposed to take this study.  I always find God’s humor in my life uncanny.  Perfect.

  As you may know, my family is moving to Texas.  I have felt a strong draw to San Antonio for a while now.  My husband’s job seemed to be coming to an end of what his potential there.  We decided we would look across the nation for a new direction.  The only position that had open doors was in San Antonio.  We felt this was affirmation as to God’s plan for us.  As we explored David’s life and relationship with God, I felt more confirmation in this decision.

There have been many giants along the way.  Just as David faced Goliath, we faced many seemingly impossible situations.  Selling our house in this market, where Greg would stay until we did sell- how would we be able to afford a rent payment and a mortgage, how would we see each other with the cost of flights going up, the incredible cost of moving across the country, people telling us we were crazy and so on.  But as these things weighed on us, I remembered David didn’t defeat Goliath on his own.  David was able to defeat the giant because he was able to see what others didn’t— “the power of God."   David vs. Goliath was a mismatch–small vs. large, weak vs. strong, and a sling vs. a sword- when you focus on the Giant – you stumble.  I wasn’t going to give into the enemy and focus on the giants in our situation, but rather see the power of God in all things. 

We went under contract on our house one month from the day we listed it, we have amazing friends who walk closely with Christ that have opened their house to us which is close to Greg’s new job, his new company has blessed us with trips to see each other all expenses paid, as well as covering ALL moving costs- movers, realtor fees, closing cost assistance, etc.  We surrendered our needs to God to handle and He has provided in a mighty way.  Confirmation that we are living His will for our lives. 

I have learned so much the past few years here at Oasis.  I feel so blessed to have met so many smart, funny, caring women who I call my sisters in Christ.  I will forever hold dear to my heart the many mornings spent here in fellowship.  I’ve witness the power of prayer for one another like never before, seen women come to Christ, had the pleasure to be challenged in the Word and built lasting friendships that I’ll always cherish.  May God bless each one of you!

Hopefully it'll get easier to move on- trying to mentally prepare for lots of ugly crying.

Waving my White Flag

That's exactly what I did on Saturday.  I hit the wall of my limits.  The girls were far from cooperative, wouldn't nap, hopped up on some kind of sassiness from the depths of hell that I hope to never live through again.  ( I snicker just thinking I'm sure this is a rude preview of the teenage years to come) Sigh.  I did what any mature mother who is in control and "follows all the parenting rules" does- I locked myself in my room!  :/  I over heard the girls saying things like "oh boy, this isn't going to be good"- Kay and "I think she is getting new socks on"- Ash.  Oh and my favorite "I think her head fell off and she has to glue it back on"-Ash. 
Besides them bantering about what was happening behind my locked door, they settled themselves into playing in their room.  Miraculously, they didn't completely destroy it.  When I emerged from the serenity of my room (and stopped crying long enough to not look like a red faced beast) I went down stairs and started cleaning.  Then I heard them creep down the hallway whispering...they stood at the top of the stairs and I calmly told them that I wasn't going to tolerate the behavior they were showing and that we would be cleaning the rest of the day instead of going to the movies.  Needless to say, the house was spic and span by the time they went to bed at 6 pm and I was able to enjoy a great movie and evening by myself. 
Sunday morning at church they asked the elders and others to come to the front and pray for anyone who needed prayer.  I was sitting with my fantastic friend Gretchen and she must have known I was in desperate need of prayer.  She more or less dragged me to the front and said, we are going to find someone up here to pray for you girl.  Love her.  She knew exactly what I needed.  A very wise and gentle woman prayed for me and she said something that will stick with me.  She prayed that God would help me to "just get through the next step.  One step at a time." Amen!  I often find myself trying to take control of every situation at hand.  When I just let go and let God handle my needs my life is full of so much joy and contentment.  Knowing this, why do I keep trying to so this on my own???  I'm definitely the type who liked to have a check off a list, have it in writing and an email confirmation... assurance.  But as this journey has had its up and downs (Saturday!!!) I've found the assurance I've once tried to create myself is much easier to attain through God's promise to hear our prayers and know the desires of our hearts.  Praise the Lord I don't have to do this on my own!!!!  That would just be a hot mess- I'll tell you- One. Hot. Mess. 

Thankfully Greg is coming home at the end of this week.  I'm so ready for some reinforcements.  The girls are ready to see their daddy.  It'll be a very busy visit. People to catch up with, birthday celebration and he is looking forward to connecting with the students who have become a huge part of our lives as well.

Side note- Appraisal had no obstacles!  Woo hoo!  Now we sit  and wait for about 5 1/2 weeks for our closing. Oh, and if you get the chance check out this song "Awake" by Before Morning.  Ridiculously AWESOME!!!!!  Here's a link to it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8xTITvcrQ4

Changes, changes everywhere!

Sunday  morning Kay woke up with a killer desire to cut her hair.  I gulped.  I thought for sure f i made her talk to daddy first he would talk her out of it... nope.  She cut 11 1/2 inches off!!!  Many people have asked if she donated her hair.  When I inquired they said it was too fine to work with in making wigs :(  They said by her next grow out it should come in thicker and would be able to do it at that time.  She has such a great face for this wedge cut!  Don't mind the gash on her face below her right eye- that's from her loving sister's street fighting practice.  Scrappy little spit fire!!!!!

Ash decided on Wednesday that she was ready to get her ear pierced.  I jumped at the opportunity while she was willing.  She was excited to have "princess" ears and have big girl earrings.  She did great.  Just a little crying.  Now the chic that did the piercing, she needs to find herself another job ASAP.  She did the first ear just fine, move on to the second, goes to pierce it and shoots the little gun.  I look down and notice, IT DIDN'T GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!!!  What!?!?!!?  She looks at me with these dreaded eyes and tells me she is going to try to just push it through.  Who does that???  Um, no lady.  You are going to open another pack of earrings on YOUR dime and do it again and GO ALL THE WAY THROUGH!  At this point, Ash knew I was upset, which didn't help her demeanor...my bad.  But after convincing her and bribing her with everything in sight, we got he second one done.  Not without little miss misery maker telling me to "watch that second ear because it may be more prone to infection".  Stick to hair accessories missy.  Anyhow- she looks adorable and loves showing everyone she sees her "diamonds".

NExT StEpS....

Appraiser came out today...just another step in this crazy process!  Luckily for us, we have a great comp up the street from us that should help the appraisal.
We'll have to wait a few days to hear back on it.   Prayers appreciated.

While you are praying, please pray for a dear friend's husband who was in a terrible car accident.  He fractured his neck and surgery is coming soon.  Cover this amazing man of God in prayer and that healing would happen quickly.

Cant' wait to be all back together again soon!!!

Deep Breath!

14 days ago we received our offer- one month to the date of when we listed it!  We countered, countered again and about 5 more times before we came to an agreement.  This past week was our inspection.... and to my extreme surprise, in lieu of making any of the repairs, they asked for our kitchen table and chairs.  CRAZY!!!  We really didn't want to have to credit them any more because we already settled on a low price.  So this is an exceptional option for us!  The table and chairs were bought in our first house.  9 years ago!  Because of a huge billing mistake that even the store couldn't straighten out when I brought it to their attention, we got the set for a fraction of it's cost.  Greg loves the tall table and chairs, but we can find another set again for MUCH cheaper than I'm sure we can negotiate on the repairs.
I have been rereading the book Sun Stand Still and while going through all these negotiations and counter offers and bargaining back and forth, I was in the thick of reading about how when living in God's will and plan for your life and living with audacious faith, it can be costly.  But that God will protect you and honor your sacrifices.  I truly believe that is what has given us peace throughout this process.  Moving at this time, during this economic crisis, is not the most ideal situation, but God has proven over and over again His provision.  It's awesome to be in my shoes right now. I'm not going to lie- I'll look back on this time and get goosebumps remembering how God graciously supplied our every need and gave us strength through the tough times.
Tonight a group of friends and youth students came over for a totally impromptu game night.  We started by playing Rummikub ( so much fun) but then THE COOLEST  thing happened.  A guitar came out and we all just knocked out some amazing worship songs.  Seriously, I will never forget that genuine time.  I'm going to miss these wonderful people so much.  Each and everyone of them have impacted my life to a degree that I know I'll still be talking about them in the years to come.
God is good.

Moving Forward

Wow!  Sorry I haven't updated in a LONG time!!!  The girls and I went down to SA for spring break and had a  fabulous time! The girls loved the Riverwalk and Sea World, but didn't love looking at a bunch of houses.  We have narrowed down the areas of interest- it's a start.  And while we found some houses that we like, in neighborhoods that are beautiful they weren't on the best lots that would be desirable.  Not terrible, but not ideal.  With spring coming around and summer moves sure to come forward, we are confident the right house for us will present itself in perfect timing.
Quite possibly the most exciting thing that happened while down there is that we received an offer on the house in IL!!!  It was a long back and forth process of countering each other and negotiations, but finally they agreed to a counter offer and we are on our way, moving forward.  Inspection should be early next week sometime.  It does make me a little nervous as our house is about 25 years old and well, with age comes issues.  Hopefully we will be able to resolve what needs to be done.  Our buyer is a strong buyer, has the 20% to put down, no contingency and motivated.  Pretty much a gem!!!  So we will do what needs to be done to hold onto this one and continue to proceed.  God willing everything goes as planned, we will close May 31st which allows Kay to finish the school year with her friends.  Ideally, I would have liked her to have some time in school in TX before summer so that she could have met some friends and whatnot, but all-in-all this isn't a bad alternative for her either.
Prayers appreciated for a smooth inspection and follow up talks!

God is good!