You of little faith

Okay, so when the air conditioner went out just two weeks before my scheduled move date, I literally raised my eyes to the sky and said, "Why would you do this now?"

The very next day, God answered me. He said, "You of little faith." I could almost literally hear him saying that. I told (complained to) only one person that day about my air being out. That person just happened to be the first person (besides my kids) who I saw that day. Later that afternoon, the person dropped by with an envelope of money with instructions to get my air conditioner fixed. Let's just say I was very humbled... especially since this person has three kids of their own and isn't well-off or anything.

Once again, I didn't have faith that would God would take care of me. In fact, I blamed Him for giving me yet something else to deal with. And once again, He showed me His love and power. I can almost see Him shaking His head in disappoint at me but it doesn't matter because I know that no matter what stupid, human traits I have, He still loves me like a Father should. So I don't have to worry about being a disappointment... I just rejoice!

It's hot in my house!

A little less than two weeks before our big move date.... and the air conditioner goes out. Normally, we would just suck it up for two weeks but go figure... today the temperature in our county hit 100 degrees.

It went out yesterday evening and I spent a night tossing and turning while sweating - but it got worse today. With the windows open and the ceiling fans blowing, I have been able to keep the heat in the house down to 87 degrees. But geez, 87 degrees! That's pretty hot! The boys are walking around in only shorts and we are all laying around doing nothing, but we're still sweating. I'm watching the weather and they just said we are on day 17 of a heat wave. I called a repairman who said he would be here sometime this evening but it seems like such a waste to pay big bucks to fix an air conditioner we will only need for less than two weeks.

My youth director and his wife have offered to let the kids and I stay with them but I would hate to have to do that. They have three kids of their own. I guess we'll have to see what the repairman says, and how much it is going to cost.

I want to tell you more, but it's so hot I want to get my hot laptop off my lap. And it's definitely too hot to turn the oven on, so I'll guess I'll shell out a few bucks and order pizza.

Stealing a moment

A friend and I took stole an hour on a beautiful, summer day to take the kids to the park.




We paid a dollar to ride a little train around the park, and the engineer let Adam sit in the engine seat for a photo.


Even big brother and his friend had a fun time!

A day at the stables

Last Saturday the children's department of our church went on a field trip to a local horse stable. It was Adam's first time around horses and Kimberly, our children's director, said he refused to get on at first. But having been firmly directed by me that she better get a photo of my baby with a horse, she convinced him to sit on a horse just long enough to get his picture taken. Once he got on there, he decided to give riding a try just once, and Kimberly said he ended up loving it. He rode that horse six times!

They said he was always gentle and loving and did a great job grooming the horse. He ended up having a great time. They did a craft with a horseshoe (below).


And they had a sack race. Who doesn't love a good, old-fashioned, sack race?

Recycled coop

Remember when I said I would give you the details of the shed we built? We built it at Nancy's house to hold some of my tools and yard equipment after I move in with her. The trick was doing it without paying much.

I gave all my chickens to Nancy to add to her coop. Then we spent a weekend painstakingly taking down my coop, loading it on a trailer and driving it to her house. We used all the wood, tin, etc. from my coop to make my new shed. I did have to buy some siding, but that's it. The coop didn't have a floor, so we used the plywood to make a floor for the shed. We added weatherproof siding and ta-da! An almost free 8x8 shed. Ronnie got the heavy metal door for free from a friend who works at a dump.

It was a little sad seeing the coop come down. I loved my chickens and the coop had good memories of the entire family working together to build and paint it. Oh well, life goes on. I think that is going to become my new motto... "life goes on." Because truly, it just does. It has it twists and turns, but we learn to adjust and go on.

Sorry, I tend to get reflective these days. Back to the subject at hand!

From this:


To this:

We plan to add an overhang for my lawn mower. I will also be painting it, probably in the same colors as the coop since I have some paint leftover. It might not look like much now, but just wait until it's painted, has a white lattice underpinning and is surrounded by flower beds!

A new plan

Yes, everyone, that is me. Okay, only if I was skinnier and my hair was trimmed regularly... but that doesn't count, right? What does count are the details of the avatar. I am still doing all that mom stuff like laundry, caring for the animals like my dog Gracie who is pictured, and yes.... getting ready to move.

Because I was suddenly left by myself with the kids, I can no longer afford the house payment. So after months of prayer and deliberation, I am out of here.

In mid-July, the kids and I will be packing up a u-haul and heading even farther south - down to South Carolina. We will be moving in with my friend Nancy and her family. She has three extra rooms so I will have a room, my niece will have a room, and the boys will have a room.

The goal is to live with them for seven to eight months while I find a job and save up some money. Then I hope to get a used mobile home to put on some land next to their home. Lofty goals, I know, lol. A job, a used trailer and a new life. But life goes on and we must adjust.

Nancy and her husband Ronnie have been so gracious to offer to open their home to us in our time of need. I know it will be hard on both our families. I'm not sure about them, but I know I have never shared a home with another family before - especially when the home is not mine. It will be a very humbling experience, I'm sure.

I will be leaving some things behind that I will miss. Our urban homestead, a couple of good friends (I'll miss you, Candice!), my brothers, and my wonderful church family. However, even though I am moving to another state, it's only an hour and a half away, so I'll be able to visit often.

And I feel better now that I have truly made a decision. I feel like I am following God's "new" plan for my family, and I feel that I have some new goals and something to work towards. I felt like I had been adrift, tossed about on a great big sea. I still feel like that a lot, but those feelings have lessened a bit now that I have a plan. And eventually, I hope to have a new homestead!

Weekend shed building

Two weekends ago I spent the weekend at my friend Nancy's house, where we worked to build a shed. All weekend long, the weather went back and forth from a scorching 90 degrees to loud, blinding thunder storms complete with drenching rain. We managed to get most of the building up and ready to go,anyway. Okay, I say we, but I mostly mean Nancy's husband, Ronnie. Nancy and I sat in the sun and learned to jump up and bring him a tool or hold a wall or help move a panel whenever he shot us that "am I doing this by myself?" look.

Ronnie finished the roof and door later, and I think he did a great job for a spur-of-the-moment weekend shed. Now we just need to paint it! Stay tuned because on Monday, I will be giving you all the details on how we built this shed for a low, low price. I will also have a special, life-changing (for me, not you) announcement.