Are You Like a Child?

While making my bed this morning, Nolan happily skipped by my door to take his laundry to the laundry room. I thought, "Oh, I love how happy he is right now, even while doing his chores." Then as he skipped past again he said chipperly, "Hi, mom!" Then, it hit me. Suddenly I was overcome with thoughts and emotions of how I have been so harsh at times, and reactive and unkind with my words and tones. Yet, he is so loving, so quick to forgive and forget. Amazing. Then beautifully, the Lord gently reminded me that He created us bringing us into this world as babies, children with a trusting, loving, forgiving heart. Our young children are a direct reflection of His loving, gracious forgiveness. How precious this truth was to me. As I reflect on this throughout my day, my prayer is that I will think of God's goodness each time I look into the eyes of my children, and be a direct reflection of our gracious God to my family today.

Time for Rain!

We're experiencing quite an unusual hot spell and drought here. Corn crops have already been damaged and many other crops are in jeopardy. As I was relaxing on my couch looking out my window this morning, I began praying for rain. Almost immediately, I realized that we not only need rain as a community, but I need spiritual rain in my life, as well. As I look around outside, the grass that was lush and green only three weeks ago when we arrived, is now brown and crunchy. There are trees and large bushes that are green, due to their deep roots, however many smaller plants appear to be dying. As I began applying that to my own life, I realized that there are areas in my heart/life that are still green due to their strong roots, yet there are many areas that have browned and are seemingly dead on the outside. The key word there, is seemingly. If I water those areas with the Word and rain of the Holy Spirit, they may become green once again. Perhaps dreams in the depths of my heart that have faded and browned, and maybe been long forgotten. Maybe goals I had set a while back that were laid aside for other "good things." The Lord showed me that not only do I need rain in the natural, but I need a spiritual rain. It doesn't take too long for the crops to spring back to life after a good, steady rain. So, as I ponder this today, my prayer is, "Lord, bring the rain!"

Unpacking

We're slowly unpacking. It's funny, I remember when we were looking on craigslist for moving boxes and I thought to myself, "we really don't have very much stuff." Then, I tried to talk Bryan into downsizing our rental truck (he's so much smarter than me, but don't EVER tell him I said that!) and he insisted on the larger truck. Yes, we needed all that space, by the way. Now, as we are unpacking box after box, I realize just how much we have! It's ridiculous! Do we really have twenty five boxes of books? Really? And that's after getting rid of some!

Our town is nice, there are more stores and restaurants than I expected, and a lot of thrift stores, yay! Every time I leave our house I am overwhelmed with the beauty of the farms and mountains out here. I love to see God's creation!

We didn't go to church yesterday, we'll go next week. Ashton, Kaidan, Bryan and myself are all having "stomach problems" due to the switch to well water :) And we thought it would be nice to be home together and unpack since Bryan worked Friday and Saturday. The Lord is already providing work for Bryan, he has a six week job coming up soon!

Here are a few pics of our home. I think my kitchen pantry is my favorite feature of the home, it's ginormous! Remember, things are not really in place yet, these are just glimpses for you. The home looks much better in person than in my pics. I think I need my friend Dianne to come out and teach me how to use my camera!

Our New Home

We have spent the last few days with friends, Gean & Darlene, and their daughter, Anna, unloading and unpacking. It has been pretty hectic around here! I went into town yesterday to do a little food shopping to restock the refrigerator and of course, check the place out! I like it!

Bryan started work today. We were hoping to have him through the weekend to get settled in and rest, but thank the Lord, he was needed to begin today and tomorrow. So, off he went. It's my first day alone with the kids in about two weeks. Adding to that, Ashton has been really sick and is teething, and I'm overwhelmed with boxes and this huge house (thank you, Lord, I'm very grateful, really!) to clean, but it's gonna be a good day! Please pray for me today!

I'll try to take some house pics for you all soon. Thank you for praying for our safe travels. We miss you all!

Our New Driveway & View

We arrived safely at our new home and made the trek up the looooooong driveway and were greeted by this view... It's amazing. The pics are from the top of our driveway! Look at all those farms! We are about five miles from town, which is a beautiful drive through the country. We have the usual shopping area which includes some great stores and a starbucks!

We're Home!

Approaching the "Virginia Welcomes You" sign excited us all. Here are a few pics of the beautiful land of our new (and former) state. Mountains and farmland, yay!

Final Hotel Night

We stayed in Knoxville, TN the last night of our trip. The kids were a little loopy, well, I think we were all a little loopy by then! We were off to VA the next day, our final resting place (literally!). Here are a few pics!

Our final Night on the Road

We traveled through Tennessee today, it is one of the most beautiful states I have had the privilege of experiencing. Look at all that green! In one of the photos, you can see white and black dots... those are cattle! The rest area we stopped at was gorgeous, that's where the first five pics were taken. Ashton is feeling better, his fever has broken and his tummy seems more normal. He doesn't have much of an appetite, but that's to be expected. This is our last hotel night. The kids have really enjoyed the hotels and indoor pools. Tomorrow we will arrive at our new home. What a crazy feeling it has been, following a truck with everything I own, from one side of the country to the other! Overall, the trip has been surprisingly pleasant and fun (thank the Lord!). So, who's joining us on this side of the country by the end of the year???

Arakansas Rest Area Pics

Here are a few pics from our rest stop in AK. It was so green and lush!