There is a way....there is ALWAYS a way....

This past weekend we accomplished something of a miracle. Moving. So, to give you the short version:
Monsoon like rains and storms hit Springfield Friday and didn’t let up until early Sunday morning. Moving Day was Saturday. Moving service scheduled weeks ahead to take care of our big, bulky and heavy furniture, and we rented a box truck to move all the boxed stuff, odds and ends, etc.
Moving Day arrived, got the box truck early, and headed to the house while Ryan got ready for it to start at the apartment. Little did we know what was about to go down.

Moving service called and cancelled. Short-handed. I won’t go into specifics here, but you can only imagine the state we were both in at this point. First, when Ryan got the call. Second, when he called to tell me. I was at the house because we had two deliveries coming and I was waiting to coordinate the unload when they arrived with our stuff. So, while my sweet Chloe was outside in our new garage enjoying watching, talking to, attempting to feed crackers to the worms crawling in out of the rain, I was in a minor panic. I took momentary panic and pushed it into high gear, told Ry okay, we gotta go with it, and we both proceeded to get on our phones and contact anyone and everyone we could think of to please come and HELP!

I am still absolutely astounded and overjoyed by how God works in the midst of these momentary panics. He used the unknown, the freakishly stressful unknown, and made it good. I keep rolling it over in my mind, my heart, just so thankful, so thankful, so thankful. We are just so incredibly blessed by the amazing group of people who came to help us from family, to dear friends, to our Story Church family-Wow! Thank you so much! I can’t stop smiling when I think about it. God took a bad thing and made it so very good! This is that moment when we realize once again the invaluable benefit of being part of a community of believers. And it is not the first time. We have watched time and time again, over the years, as our community of believers has come to our aid in both tangible and intangible forms. This is the difference between surviving this life, and choosing to thrive in this life.

Parent moment here: If you have children, then you will appreciate this as much as we do. This whole process, this amazing experience we had this past weekend was such a beautiful lesson for our children. When our children see us react to stress, what will they take away from it? The way we respond in stressful moments will have a lasting impact on our children and influence how they handle stress on their own one day. I am the type that does not shrink to a challenge, and in fact I step up to it and look it over, determine there is a way to get it done. I don’t give up easily. And I don’t want my husband and my children to give up easily. So, my immediate reaction is to evaluate it, figure out a way to take care of it, and then afterwards no matter how it went down consider what I learned from the experience. My husband’s reaction is to get very quiet, look very tense, no real verbal response, and essentially looking like he could either completely shut down or implode at any moment. So, my reaction to him in this state is Ultimate Cheerleader Wife! Game on! We will not back down, we will not give up, we will move on through it! I can come on a bit strong, and I know by the look on Ryan’s face and my children’s faces when I’ve gone overboard and need to tone it down. So, it’s a learning experience all around for all of us. But the point is, keep moving forward and don’t let anything knock you down and keep you down. There is a way. There is always a way.
So, to my amazing, handsome, strong and absolutely wonderful husband Ryan-I am so thankful for you, and so proud of how you handled it all!

Rylee and AJ-Awesome job stepping it up and doing everything without complaint! You worked so hard and made the best of it to help us get moved into our new home-I’m so proud of you both!

Chloe-my sweet girl, you make it all so delightful and fun! You didn’t miss a beat and brought joy to the day!

Bailey-You may have missed out on the move, but you absolutely stepped it up Sunday, my partner in cleaning the apartment and then getting groceries. You are going to make a wonderful husband to a lucky young lady one day!

I can think of no better way to close out this blog entry, than to point to the best thing about this whole experience: the opportunity we have to do the same for someone else. It is a cyclical process, the beauty of this process of being part of a community of believers. We cannot truly appreciate what’s been given for us, until we have chosen to give back. It is in the little things and the big things. We have opportunity daily to give back, and we should give back because there is always a need. I can think of several people in my life that are need right now, and because of what I know has been a blessing to me, I absolutely choose to pour back into their lives so they can know that blessing of being part of a community of believers too. We cannot keep it to ourselves, we cannot be selfish. We are all in this together, and we need a great big God and a community of believers to make the best of this life we have been given!

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16NIV