We had a power surge at the house on Saturday night, and it blew out our modem. The timing definitely left something to be desired, but we finally got it all fixed last night, and the exile is over. It was not much fun to try and find free internet, search for houses/apartments on the iPad, and try to wrangle four children around, but I think we are getting close to a list of places to look at next week.
Next week. Yes, it's still a bit surreal.
We managed to get all the little odds and ends packed up or tucked away by Sunday evening, and our friend Jo came over and helped us rearrange the furniture and get it staged. The cleaners came Monday morning, and the photos and video were finished by Monday evening. A little over three weeks from start to finish, and here is the final product!
The house
At one point I told the realtor that when I saw the pictures, I'd probably wish that I lived in that house, but now that we're done putting everything away, I don't. If we leave tomorrow, you'll know I gave up. It's a lovely house (I think), but we've removed all the things that made it our home--the books, and books, and more books, the kids' artwork that got taped to the wall, the toys and stuffed animals, shoe bins and jackets, and all the balls from the backyard. It's a blank slate for another family, but in the meantime, I miss the way it used to be. Thankfully the kids have VBS all this week, so I'm not harping on them ALL day to stop touching the walls. I go through the house before we leave and turn all the lights on, and do my final check--beds made, everything picked up, bathrooms cleared, counters spotless...I don't do spotless! Even David is less than optimistic that some of the obsessive picking up and clearing will stick. :)
I know God has a home picked out for us in Cleveland, and after watching a video my brother sent me, I'm getting more excited about being there. It's a city that's going through a lot of change, and after seeing it, I started wondering how God will use us there to help bring His change. In the meantime, though, I miss our home.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Tell the Stories Again
When I was a kid, I always wanted to hear stories about when my parents got in trouble. Anyone else? They are easy stories to tell--funny (with some distance), and so very relatable. Now my kids know the story of when my siblings and I walked down the street to the university track without my little brother and without telling my mom, and how my little brother started down the street after us. Oops. There was also an incident with David, his brother, and a hammer, but that's not my story to tell.
There are much, much more important family stories to tell--stories that bind and build our family together. The Israelites told these stories every year, to help those who did not witness them with their eyes to remember and trust: the stories about God's mighty power, God's provision, God's incredible plan for them.
No parting the seas over here, but there is the story of how God brought David and me to our fourth (!) choice of duty station, then provided a (perfect) graduate school for me in chemistry, a wonderful church that became our family away from family...when we got to the base, we heard that base housing was a super long wait. But after looking and looking in town, we decided to check with the housing office. They just 'happened' to have a 3 bedroom house available that day, and our moving truck arrived an hour after we got into the house. Good thing we never did another army move! (which was important for finishing grad school anyway). There are SO many stories in our family, and I want my kids to know them all.
Which brings me to our latest stories. David looked and looked for a job closer to Illinois, but nothing was panning out. He found the IBM job in Cleveland and applied, and they responded within a week. He quickly went through the interview process and went out to visit at the end of February. And then the wait began. In the meantime, he applied to a job in St. Louis--so much closer to my family!! And they responded!! But they weren't sure they were going to hire for that position, so we waited on that too. Maybe this was why IBM was taking so long--so we could take this one!
No, IBM came through, made the offer, and we had to decide whether to take it without knowing about the St. Louis job. I kid you not, one hour after David and I talked on the phone and decided to take the job, David got an email from St. Louis saying they'd closed the position and weren't hiring anyone.
We got a lump sum for the move, but it meant we'd be packing ourselves up. Two days after signing the offer, we were helping someone move and asked for the boxes. One of the other couples there overheard and told us they'd saved every piece of packing paper, every moving box from their (professional) move and we were welcome to have it ALL. So far, we've bought a few rolls of tape for the move. That's it.
After telling people I'd never been to Cleveland, I remembered that I'd gone to my cousin's wedding there, and they now live about 45 minutes from downtown Cleveland. Family will be closer than I thought.
There are so many unknowns still with this move (like where we will live!?), but when I feel trepidation about the future, I try to remember to just look back, and remember the stories.
There are much, much more important family stories to tell--stories that bind and build our family together. The Israelites told these stories every year, to help those who did not witness them with their eyes to remember and trust: the stories about God's mighty power, God's provision, God's incredible plan for them.
No parting the seas over here, but there is the story of how God brought David and me to our fourth (!) choice of duty station, then provided a (perfect) graduate school for me in chemistry, a wonderful church that became our family away from family...when we got to the base, we heard that base housing was a super long wait. But after looking and looking in town, we decided to check with the housing office. They just 'happened' to have a 3 bedroom house available that day, and our moving truck arrived an hour after we got into the house. Good thing we never did another army move! (which was important for finishing grad school anyway). There are SO many stories in our family, and I want my kids to know them all.
Which brings me to our latest stories. David looked and looked for a job closer to Illinois, but nothing was panning out. He found the IBM job in Cleveland and applied, and they responded within a week. He quickly went through the interview process and went out to visit at the end of February. And then the wait began. In the meantime, he applied to a job in St. Louis--so much closer to my family!! And they responded!! But they weren't sure they were going to hire for that position, so we waited on that too. Maybe this was why IBM was taking so long--so we could take this one!
No, IBM came through, made the offer, and we had to decide whether to take it without knowing about the St. Louis job. I kid you not, one hour after David and I talked on the phone and decided to take the job, David got an email from St. Louis saying they'd closed the position and weren't hiring anyone.
We got a lump sum for the move, but it meant we'd be packing ourselves up. Two days after signing the offer, we were helping someone move and asked for the boxes. One of the other couples there overheard and told us they'd saved every piece of packing paper, every moving box from their (professional) move and we were welcome to have it ALL. So far, we've bought a few rolls of tape for the move. That's it.
After telling people I'd never been to Cleveland, I remembered that I'd gone to my cousin's wedding there, and they now live about 45 minutes from downtown Cleveland. Family will be closer than I thought.
There are so many unknowns still with this move (like where we will live!?), but when I feel trepidation about the future, I try to remember to just look back, and remember the stories.
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