Life as we know it
As you probably know we recently made a very big move. On June 29th we woke up in a mostly empty house in Seattle and started packing up the van for a cross country trip. We discovered that not everything fit in the van...surprise, surprise. My mom and I packed up about 4 boxes of clothes and various things we wouldn't need for the trip out and took them to UPS. We frantically loaded the van with suitcases, snacks, bags, baby paraphernalia, three adults, three kids and a large dog. How did we all fit? Just barely. We took one last drive to Biojunction Sports Therapy and said some tearful goodbyes and then met my cousin Alyssa at Luna Park Cafe for breakfast...but sadly our last minute UPS run made us too late to sit with her and we could only hug, pray and cry. That day we drove out of Seattle with no where to live and no jobs for any of us. It was scary as hell, exciting and sad. As we drive to Ellensburg listening to our "Michigan or bust" playlist one of my favorite songs from Elizabethtown came on, "Hard Times" and the chorus goes like this:
Hard times, hard times come again no more, many days you have lingered around my cabin door, oh hard times come again no more...
Tears were streaming down my face as I saw the Space Needle and Seattle skyline in the rear view mirror because I knew I was saying goodbye to some VERY hard times, but that hard times lay ahead as well. I was also saying goodbye to some very special friends and a church community that we had been a part of for the last 7 years. I was saying goodbye to the city where both of my girls were born. So many memories. Onward...
On our second day Norm received an email from his Calvin housing connection saying that he should look into a house available for rent and speak to the landlord. He spoke with him that day, the owner of the house talked to our previous landlord and all within one day, we had a place lined up to live in when we arrived in Grand Rapids (well soon after). We were in shock. We had stressed, melted down, lost hope and struggled with our "leap of faith" and we had done it not knowing what was on the other end. I just knew that some way, some how it would work out...that God would take care of us. Did. He. Ever. Not only did he provide a house for us to rent (without any of us having jobs yet by the way), but a house much bigger than we could have dreamed of and at a price we could afford. It was a complete miracle.
I won't go into the details of each day but the following 10 days were adventurous for sure! We drove through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Until this trip I had never been east of Colorado (in the US). We saw some spectacular sights, spent time with family, good friends and new friends. We saw Mt. Rushmore, the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota, the Mall of America, some great breweries, an absolutely crazy thunder storm unlike any of us had ever experienced (in Minnesota). We survived the road trip and each other and made it to Michigan!
As soon as we got into town and settled in our home for a week (a hotel), I called the place I had had a phone interview with in Seattle and thankfully they had not filled the position yet. I had an interview with them on my birthday and was feeling okay about it but not sure I had it in the bag so the next day I went to a temp agency. That day I was offered a position through the temp agency and as soon as I had gotten back to the hotel from doing the drug test I got a call from the Chiropractic clinic saying they wanted to have me come in for a "working interview". Long story short, I had a job within a week of being here...another complete miracle.
The following weekend we moved into our house with the help of some of Norm's amazing school friends and one of our old school (undergrad) friends came to help us unpack. The support and love we were shown when we arrived was overwhelming. We have a church just blocks away that we have started getting involved with, the kids school is walking distance as well. Kieren and Zoe ride their bikes in the neighborhood (Zoe just started riding a two wheeler last week) and it brings me so much joy to see them having that freedom and fun. They were never able to ride their bikes like that in Seattle on our busy street, or just take a walk down through the neighborhood and explore. Things have been pretty incredible...but don't get me wrong, the "hard times" are right there, wherever you go. I miss my friends, terribly. I miss the salty air smell and the view of the Puget Sound. My heart aches for the times I sang in church with the worship team. Our new church is pretty traditional, with an organ and no worship leader. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a mean organ...but I get bummed out when I'm not able to be involved in that way. I am the only one working right now and things are tight. I have had to adjust to a new role in the family and it's pretty different. Not long after we settled in, Freija stopped nursing...not because I wanted to but because my milk just dried up. That was very emotional and hard for me and my hormones are still adjusting. Needless to say there have been some pretty amazing things that have happened and some pretty hard things as well. Such is life! Just gotta roll with it right?
Next week Zoe starts Kindergarten and to be honest I'm not too worried about her. It's Kieren I'm freaking out about. We pulled him out of second grade after his first semester because he had a tough time. He did a little home school and a bit of a "break" from school. We asked him what he wanted to do once we settled and he wanted to try out a new school so we went for it. I know for a fact that I am more nervous than he is. I'm worried he's still behind where he "should" be, I'm worried he will be bullied again, I'm worried he will be overwhelmed by so many kids, I'm worried his tender spirit will be crushed...I'm just plain worried. Thankfully I have been reading (slowly but surely) an awesome book called The Way of Boys which has given me incredible insight into who my son is, how to respond to him and how to help him through the challenges of life. I am sending these precious babes out into the "world"...hard times are gonna come, whether we want them to or not. What matters is how we face those hard times and who we seek out for help and comfort. I would not have made it through the last few months if it weren't for Jesus. He is my rock, He is constant and He is unfailing. If I can somehow show a tiny glimpse of that to my precious babes...maybe, just maybe they will be okay. I can't protect them from the world...the world is going to hurt them no matter what I do or don't do. All I can do is show them Jesus, that He is a strong foundation when everything else is crumbling and that He will love them and accept them when kids are mean and cruel.
No matter what I'm saying now, I'm sure I will still be having a panic attack next Tuesday as we drop them off at school and Norm will have to talk me down.
Well there you have it. This is life as we know it right now. It's hectic, drastically different as we adjust to living in a new state, not knowing many people and basically winging it...but it is where God has brought us and for that I am thankful. He has brought us so far, literally and figuratively. All I can say is...Praise God.
Hard times, hard times come again no more, many days you have lingered around my cabin door, oh hard times come again no more...
Tears were streaming down my face as I saw the Space Needle and Seattle skyline in the rear view mirror because I knew I was saying goodbye to some VERY hard times, but that hard times lay ahead as well. I was also saying goodbye to some very special friends and a church community that we had been a part of for the last 7 years. I was saying goodbye to the city where both of my girls were born. So many memories. Onward...
On our second day Norm received an email from his Calvin housing connection saying that he should look into a house available for rent and speak to the landlord. He spoke with him that day, the owner of the house talked to our previous landlord and all within one day, we had a place lined up to live in when we arrived in Grand Rapids (well soon after). We were in shock. We had stressed, melted down, lost hope and struggled with our "leap of faith" and we had done it not knowing what was on the other end. I just knew that some way, some how it would work out...that God would take care of us. Did. He. Ever. Not only did he provide a house for us to rent (without any of us having jobs yet by the way), but a house much bigger than we could have dreamed of and at a price we could afford. It was a complete miracle.
I won't go into the details of each day but the following 10 days were adventurous for sure! We drove through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Until this trip I had never been east of Colorado (in the US). We saw some spectacular sights, spent time with family, good friends and new friends. We saw Mt. Rushmore, the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota, the Mall of America, some great breweries, an absolutely crazy thunder storm unlike any of us had ever experienced (in Minnesota). We survived the road trip and each other and made it to Michigan!
As soon as we got into town and settled in our home for a week (a hotel), I called the place I had had a phone interview with in Seattle and thankfully they had not filled the position yet. I had an interview with them on my birthday and was feeling okay about it but not sure I had it in the bag so the next day I went to a temp agency. That day I was offered a position through the temp agency and as soon as I had gotten back to the hotel from doing the drug test I got a call from the Chiropractic clinic saying they wanted to have me come in for a "working interview". Long story short, I had a job within a week of being here...another complete miracle.
The following weekend we moved into our house with the help of some of Norm's amazing school friends and one of our old school (undergrad) friends came to help us unpack. The support and love we were shown when we arrived was overwhelming. We have a church just blocks away that we have started getting involved with, the kids school is walking distance as well. Kieren and Zoe ride their bikes in the neighborhood (Zoe just started riding a two wheeler last week) and it brings me so much joy to see them having that freedom and fun. They were never able to ride their bikes like that in Seattle on our busy street, or just take a walk down through the neighborhood and explore. Things have been pretty incredible...but don't get me wrong, the "hard times" are right there, wherever you go. I miss my friends, terribly. I miss the salty air smell and the view of the Puget Sound. My heart aches for the times I sang in church with the worship team. Our new church is pretty traditional, with an organ and no worship leader. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a mean organ...but I get bummed out when I'm not able to be involved in that way. I am the only one working right now and things are tight. I have had to adjust to a new role in the family and it's pretty different. Not long after we settled in, Freija stopped nursing...not because I wanted to but because my milk just dried up. That was very emotional and hard for me and my hormones are still adjusting. Needless to say there have been some pretty amazing things that have happened and some pretty hard things as well. Such is life! Just gotta roll with it right?
Next week Zoe starts Kindergarten and to be honest I'm not too worried about her. It's Kieren I'm freaking out about. We pulled him out of second grade after his first semester because he had a tough time. He did a little home school and a bit of a "break" from school. We asked him what he wanted to do once we settled and he wanted to try out a new school so we went for it. I know for a fact that I am more nervous than he is. I'm worried he's still behind where he "should" be, I'm worried he will be bullied again, I'm worried he will be overwhelmed by so many kids, I'm worried his tender spirit will be crushed...I'm just plain worried. Thankfully I have been reading (slowly but surely) an awesome book called The Way of Boys which has given me incredible insight into who my son is, how to respond to him and how to help him through the challenges of life. I am sending these precious babes out into the "world"...hard times are gonna come, whether we want them to or not. What matters is how we face those hard times and who we seek out for help and comfort. I would not have made it through the last few months if it weren't for Jesus. He is my rock, He is constant and He is unfailing. If I can somehow show a tiny glimpse of that to my precious babes...maybe, just maybe they will be okay. I can't protect them from the world...the world is going to hurt them no matter what I do or don't do. All I can do is show them Jesus, that He is a strong foundation when everything else is crumbling and that He will love them and accept them when kids are mean and cruel.
No matter what I'm saying now, I'm sure I will still be having a panic attack next Tuesday as we drop them off at school and Norm will have to talk me down.
Well there you have it. This is life as we know it right now. It's hectic, drastically different as we adjust to living in a new state, not knowing many people and basically winging it...but it is where God has brought us and for that I am thankful. He has brought us so far, literally and figuratively. All I can say is...Praise God.
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