Thunderstorms of Blessings

Throughout the spring and summer we have felt like we were driving in a blinding, windy thunderstorm. The kind where you slow your car down because you can’t see past a few feet in front of you and the wind tosses the car from side to side.

This week we are in another thunderstorm, only this one appears to be a lovely sunny, summertime storm. The kind where you can still see the sun shining through the clouds and it just makes you want to dance in the rain.

Since we are moving to a home with brand new appliances we will no longer need our washer and dryer (which are several years old). I don’t like to waste and storing them wlll only deteriorate them until they can’t be used by anyone. So we asked our current landlord if the new tenants would need them and were told, “no, they have their own.” So I gave Rich the number to call a used appliance store to see about selling them for a few dollars and getting them to pick them up. He received no answer. We then talked about the homeless shelter and wondered if they could use them as a donation. They were very interested and will send a truck out for them this week. I love that win-win!

Later in the evening I went to reserve the truck we will need for Saturday and found that it was half the price for us to rent it than it would have been last month. It’s the same size truck and from the same company but since it is the middle of the month and they are running a promotion we are getting a great deal.

Rich’s parents also talked to a pastor in the town we are moving to and they are going to arrange for men at the church to be at our new home and help unload the truck. This allows us to ask our friends here to just help us load the truck.

We are also having one last meal here tomorrow night with our kids.

Also, thank you all for your continued prayers.

Trust and Obey

Last night one of the evening hymns was “Trust and Obey.” Listening to the words of this hymn brought tears to my eyes as I thought over the last several months of our lives. It has truly been a journey of trusting and leaning on God. Sometimes it was a hit and miss on whether we were obeying since we were sometimes unsure of the direction God wanted us to go.

As of my last post we were looking to make a cute little cottage our new home. God had other plans. The owners’ neice decided she wanted it, so we had to continue looking. We found a beautiful, secluded bungalow. We waited as three siblings decided which offer they would take. Two and a half weeks later we found it wasn’t us. We then found and even more beautiful home in the mountains, but after being on the market for 6 days there were five other applications ahead of us, so we lost another home. Remember, we live three hours away from where we will be living, so the almost weekly trips to find homes has been taking its toll. When we decided to still put a bid in on the mountain home (the one with five other bids already pending), we looked at other homes. Just that morning (last Friday) a 1940 farmhouse had been put on the market. No sign was even up in the yard. The house had just been renovated and had a dishwasher!!

We had planned to purchase a home, but because there was less than two weeks before we must be out, we went for a lease and applied for the mountain home and the farmhouse. Both homes were hoping to sell after the lease is up so that was a plus for us.

Our next step was to commit to God that whichever house was offered, if any, we would accept. Both houses are beautiful and each had their own advantages (and dishwashers). We didn’t expect an answer until today or tomorrow, but our agony ended on Saturday night.

Home, Sweet Home

Our new home is the 1940 farmhouse. It has the original wood floors and the house retains the original charm, but the bathrooms have just been redone—with a master bathroom soaking tub and the kitchen has just been renovated with all new cabinets and apliances—did I mention there’s a dishwasher?

We will sign the papers on Thursday morning and move on Saturday. That gives us a few days in case we have a bit more to do in our current home.

During this time I woke up one morning feeling ready to dive into packing. David had been waking up before 6am each morning and he was sleeping well. But within an hour I was having some severe back pains. At one point I thought I would pass out and knew it was time to tell Rich to wake up David and take me to the doctor’s. As the pain moved from high in my back to lower in my front I thought it sounded like a kidney stone. I had never had one, but, yep, that was it.

After major pain killers I was sent to the hospital for more tests. It finally passed that night but I remained loopy the rest of the day. For the next several days nothing got done as I was exhausted. A week later the doctor had me come in for more tests and found that my iron level was half what it should be—no wonder I have felt drained by early afternoon. Some tests to find out the reason for low iron have resulted in no answers, so after the move I will need to have more tests done. But, they have ruled out some serious causes.

We have also had a harder time with David due to all the unexpected change of daily plans. When he began to think of a house as our new home we would have to tell him we weren’t sure and this would upset him. He doesn’t do well with change and was trying to wrap his mind around the changes. We also wanted to get into a house in enough time so his summer wasn’t totally wasted. School starts a week and a half after our move.

Rich’s parents came to visit yesterday and were very thoughtful and understanding about the upheaval in our home right now. They just took us out to lunch and decided not to spend the night.

This has also been a time when new friendships have been forged and, unfortunely, some other friendships have been severed. It’s times like these when you find out who your real friends are.

It had been a real time of testing. As we have gone through these trials I think of Job and realize how blessed we truly are. This has been a time when David has seen us rely on God’s timing and provision. Even last night when he fell off his bike and gashed the same knee he messed up in March he asked me “what is God trying to teach me?”

So thank you for all your prayers and please continue to remember us over the next week. There is much to do and little time, but we are excited about the changes.

God's Laughing

I have often heard the saying “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” Well, two weeks ago I told of my plans to get so much done before David got out of school for the summer and God began laughing before the day was out.

First, on Monday two weeks ago as I was speeding through to get some heavy duty packing done I got a call from the school. David was acting up and I needed to pick him up from school—he was suspended for the remainder of that day and the next three days. I could just hear light laughter.

Then, at ten o’clock that same day our nephew called. He announced his engagement to a wonderful girl in late March. The wedding was held the end of May. We had not been able to attend since it was in Manilla, the Philippines. So they had just gotten back in the states that day and would like to visit on their way to New Jersey.

Sure, when would they be going through? Tuesday night and they would be here in time for dinner—the next night. So the meal I had planned and purchased food for would not be enough to serve two extra people and the guest sheets were all packed up. Tuesday began with a revised meal list and a trip to the store. When I got home I washed David’s sheets and had to scrounge for a top sheet since David never liked having one—it was packed also. David has a habit of using pillow cases for toy bags and there never seems to be any on his pillows. So I had to strip our pillows of their pillow cases and wash the whole lot. Then I fixed the meal and waited and waited.

At 6 pm I called their cell and found they would be another two hours at least. They had gotten a late start and gotten lost. So we ate and I sent David to bed in our room on his old mattress with mismatched coverings. Our guests arrived a little after 8:30 and after eating and opening our wedding gifts to them it was almost bed time. This was the first time we had met the bride and we are so glad our nephew has chosen a wonderful bride.

Wednesday we were up bright and early. We waited on our guests to rise...and waited...and waited. Finally our nephew was up and went for a walk while I began making breakfast. I’m not sure if we had breakfast or brunch since it was after 10 when everyone was up and ready to eat. Shortly after breakfast the happy couple had to leave for New Jersey and I began the kitchen clean up. I was right on time to fix lunch and begin dinner for our Wednesday night kids.

I could just hear God’s laughter as we made plans to go into work with Rich the next day and then Friday was filled with calling doctors and hospitals about why they were billing us and not the insurance company for David’s bike accident. They claim they hadn’t received our insurance information. We had given it all to them at the emergency room and they had never passed it along to the doctor’s billing agency.

Somewhere along the way I had a birthday. One of our good friends, Peg, made me bananna pudding and we went to see the matinee of Night at the Museum 2 – Battle of the Smithsonian. It was a wonderful movie and I think I enjoyed it even more than the first movie. Of course, we have seen the sights from the movie first hand and it was fun to see how they incorporated the Washington, DC, Smithsonians into the movie.

That weekend David developed a bad rash on his back—a heat rash and all last week we had to keep him in and bathed in cold water to get rid of it. David does not like to stay inside so this was a constant battle to watch over him.

So for two weeks very little packing has been done. We have also not received our approval and the cottage is still not on the market. I have left messages for the lady handling our approval and she has not been in. So we are at a stand-still and waiting on God.

This week I have been able to work on packing and our kids are out of town so I won’t have to cook for them. Rich has been very busy with work and even though he doesn’t work on Sundays, he had to this past Sunday morning.

I know that David is feeling as if he wants to just get over this whole moving business and on to our new home. He talks about it constantly and the last two weeks he has not gone to sleep until hours after his bedtime.

When he asks us about the move and when it will finally happen we just tell him we don’t know, but God does. It’s all in His hands and we are doing what we can to be prepared—packing, calling about the approval, and keeping in touch with the real estate agent. But, we are not in control and this is a good lesson for David to see lived out.

I can still hear the faint sound of God’s laughter.

I am encouraged by all of you who are sending prayers and thoughts our way. Please pray that we can be an example to David by trusting in God.

P.S. I had a little chuckle myself just now. As I was saving this post, the internet went out on my computer. Luckily, I had saved it just a few minutes before so not much had to be rewritten.

The Unwelcomed Guest

We have been very busy getting ready for our move, which is the reason I have not been blogging. I have gotten questions about the move and will try to give the information now.

We have not found a house yet, but we should see a home that we think will work this week since it is not due on the market for a few more days. It is a cottage that seems to fit our needs and the agent thinks is perfect for us. She will call us a few days before it goes on the market so we get first crack at it. Unfortunately, it is about 3 hours away from where we live now, so we will have to change our church home. We will miss our "kids" so much, but have been blessed that some have stayed here over the summer and we are still able to see them until our move. It is also a good time to change schools since David will have to move to high school anyway.

I have been working hard at trying to get the basement packed and everything brought upstairs before David’s summer vacation from school begins. Today is his last full day of school and then he has three half days before he is a high schooler. I don’t want his whole summer about packing and unpacking.

So last night I went downstairs to do a little more work after David went to bed. As I walked down the hall I thought David was playing a trick on me. There was a long black snake lying on the floor and it was so still I knew it had to be a toy. I still wasn’t sure since at one time he had a snake that looked like it but David couldn’t find it for years.

When I got a photography background to bring back up I saw the “toy’s” head and upper body crawling up the wall. This was NOT a toy. The stairs were on the opposite side of the snake and I didn’t want to yell for Rich since I knew David wasn’t yet asleep. So I got something to place between me and the snake and s-l-o-w-l-y made my way past him.

I got upstairs and told Rich I needed his help—that there was a snake in the basement. I think I sounded calmer then I felt since he asked me “a snake?”

My brave husband took a shovel and I grabbed a box so we could try to get the snake out of the house without killing it—my husband’s idea, since my attitude is that the snake had invaded my territory so he deserved to die. I know they always say never kill a black snake because they’re “good snakes.” Is there such as good think as a good snake? Yes, I know they kill rodents but since Roger, our pet rabbit, is a rodent I wasn’t going to let the snake stay. I also didn’t want to reach into a box and get bit.

I grabbed a camera and took a picture before we tried the box trick—it didn’t work. Then we did the shovel trick, you know the one where you whack him into as many pieces as it takes to kill him. That trick worked, of course that way did create a fair amount of blood. We left the snake on the basement floor until this morning so that David could see it. We were very lucky that David fell asleep during the killing of the intruder.

I checked online to see what we could do to prevent any more of his family visiting our home and found that moth balls drive them away, which I can understand. So in order to protect Roger I have placed moth balls at the bottom of the basement steps, at the top and outside all the doors. I am very glad so much of the work downstairs has already been done, since I will be on the lookout for more unwelcome guests.

D-Day Remembrance

Today marks the 65th anniversary of Operation Overlord or what is commonly known as D-Day. The planning of this massive operation included military from the allied forces and the landing included over 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and over 150,000 service men. By the end of the operation, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead.

These numbers are mind boggling and can easily become just numbers if we aren’t careful. We are very fortunate that we live very close to the National D-Day Memorial and our visits there have brought home the true meaning of the cost involved.

The memorial has been built to give you a sense of what it was like to be on one of the beaches. There are sculptures of the men as they fought and died trying to manuever across the beach and up the cliffs in order to fight the enemy. Expecting an attack on the beaches, the Germans had built hedgehogs—structures whose sole purpose was to rip apart the bottom of boats if they attempted to reach the beach. The allies were aware of their presence due to the air recons they had been doing. So they were able to avoid these traps by arriving when the water was at low tide.

The memorial is a beautiful tribute to all those who fought for the freedom of others. It is also a reminder that as a nation we have a proud tradition of fighting for the rights of others. But I think it is also important to remember that we were not the sole defenders of this fight.

I thank all those men and women around the world who fought off evil so that we can remain free.

More Amazing Pictures

Since I didn't get any of the birthday boy’s pictures up yesterday I am going to treat you to double the pictures today. It is funny because David doesn’t take a lot of pictures. When we have gone places and spent the entire day, Rich and I will take hundreds of pictures and David will only get about ten. But as you can see—his ten are beautiful.

When we went to Joe and Abigail’s wedding last year David took more then his usual number of pictures. He was waiting for “The Kiss,” and once that happened and he had taken the picture, that was the last picture he took for the day. But we arrived at the church early and David was able to get this beautiful picture of the church empty. He went up to the balcony to take this picture and the lighting is wonderful.



Shortly before the beginning of the ceremony he was made to sit in the pew and he leaned over the side of the pew to get this picture of the votive candle that lined the aisle.



The next two pictures were taken on his eighth grade field trip. Following the official tours we were given free time and of course his desire was to see the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The first is one of my favorite pictures he has taken.





David loves architecture. When he was in first grade he told us he wanted to be an architect until he found out they aren’t the ones that bulldozed the old buildings before they built their vision. In some of his pictures you can see his love of the buildings and their details. This was also taken on his field trip to Washington. Can you guess what building this is?



It’s Arlington House that stands proudly behind the Tomb of the Unknowns. These last three are all from Mount Vernon. You have to admit if I hadn’t told you, you would never have known. You can just see the top of an outer building in the bottom of the first one.



This ornamentation was on a wall in the garden.



This last picture shows different point of view. While visitors are not allowed to photograph the inside of Mount Vernon’s mansion, they are allowed to photograph inside the out buildings. The tour begins inside the kitchen and David is probably the only person who has ever photographed this view at Mount Vernon. Can you guess what it is?



It’s the view looking up from the inside of the fireplace! He stood inside the huge fireplace as the guide explained the rules and gave us a brief history of the building. Rich and I were on the other side of the room (since we are not big fans of standing in fireplaces) and I had to giggle when I saw the flash of light.

When David opened his portfolio that contained these and a few more of his pictures he loved it. It made him realize that his work is good and will let him show it off to others.

Exploring the World

David loves to do close up and unusual pictures. It is interesting to see him get just inches away from a fruit or vegetable and then see the results.
The first three are from our local community market.







This last one is from the garden at Mount Vernon. It is funny watching the faces of other tourist as they happily snap away at the house and outer buildings when they spot David taking 10 minutes kneeling in the dirt to get just the shot he wants of a carrot top.

Budding Photographer

This weekend David will be fourteen years old! I can’t believe how fast he has grown since I still feel like it was last week that we brought him home from the hospital during a terrible thunder storm.

Last year we had a huge birthday party so this year it will be a family celebration. This has always been our plan since I don’t think it is necessary to have a big event each year. What with the packing and house hunting it would have been hard anyway.

One of the gifts we bought him was a Kodak photo album. I had fun making a portfolio of the many wonderful pictures he has taken over the last several years. He has an eye for it and is very creative.

I decided that over the long weekend, each day I would post a few of the pictures I included in his album. I hope you enjoy his work as much as we do.

This picture was taken at Stratford Hall. We had just crossed a bridge and David snapped this one. He was only about seven and was (OK is) in perpetual motion. The effect was one that gives a covered bridge look.


This was one of the many ponds at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The water is so calm and the captured reflection of the clouds and the trees is just perfect in the picture.


David is so observant that he sees things that the rest of us miss. He saw this little lizard sunning himself at his Grandparents’ house.

ROTC Commissioning

One of our regular Wednesday night guests asked us to photograph the ROTC commissioning service at his college. Rich and I were honored to take part in this exciting event. We arrived before 9:00 am and didn't leave until 2:00 pm. We arrived early in order to watch the practice and know where we would need to be during the service.

I have to say that interacting with these fine young men and women gives me hope for our future. We sometimes get so use to seeing young men with their pants pulled down to their knees and being answered by "yeah" instead of "yes." But the young men and women at this event were so polite and respectful it shows that there is hope that manners are indeed not dead. They have been trained and drilled with the characteristics that will serve them and our nation well.

So congratulations to all the wonderful men and women that have been commissioned and are ready to serve our nation. I pray that God will watch over and protect them.

Life In The Fast Lane

Just when I think things will start to calm down they explode! My well laid out plans lie around the ground in bits and pieces. But, yes, even this is well within the plans of God. I may be caught off guard but He never is. This is very important for us to remember right now.

When we moved to where we are living now it was not planned. David needed to be hospitalized for what was to be 9 months and turned into 18 months. So our original plan was for me to be in the area for only a short time. During this time we were able to rent a home and fall in love with our new city. Rich stayed at our old home during the week and only came here on the weekends. Then unexpectedly he was given permission to work from our new home except for one day a week. Such a blessing! So we got rid of the other home we were renting. This occurred just before the fall of the economy, which resulted in Rich losing about 40% of his income due to no overtime. But with tightening of our belts we would be fine.

Now about two weeks ago our landlords have informed us that they have a new use for the home we have been renting and we would need to move. Part of our rent was paid by web site designing for them that Rich did. They have requested that we be out by the end of July so we have been very busy.

Our first question is what is God's will. Are we to stay in our new city or does He want us to move somewhere else? Rich's work now would like to see him more often so we are looking closer to his work. Luckily, Rich won't need to go in every day. But, David needs to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city. When we do travel into a heavily populated area you can actually see David becoming more aggressive and agitated.

So we have been doing some online house-hunting and last weekend went to an area that would fit the bill. We found a house that was perfect in our opinion, but not in God's, since when we scheduled to see it we were told it is already sold. So please pray as we seek God's will in this area.

One of the benefits of the area we are looking for is that it is close to my parents. We stayed with them and David and my Dad really enjoyed being together. I can't even begin to tell you how much of a blessing this is. When David was small there was a severe break in my relationship with my Dad since he wouldn't accept David as his grandson. My Dad had always been very prejudiced and the fact that David is bi-racial was a real issue with him.

In order to help with finances I applied for Disability for David through Social Security. Yesterday I spent three and a half hours filling out all the paperwork online—including all doctors and tests that David has received and school information. When I had the actually interview this morning I was told that it sounds that, yes, he would qualify as disabled, but since he is a child he doesn't qualify due to Rich's income. What really upsets me is that they take the family income and only deduct the amount you pay in insurance. They don't deduct any amount of money that you pay out of pocket for medical needs for the child. That means that if a family made $50,000 a year and medical expenses are $45,000. the child is not eligible. David's expenses are not that high, but at $350.00 out of pocket a month for meds and that his issues prevent me from working, the check really is needed.

This amount also doesn't include the additional medical expenses due to his frontal lobe damage that results in his impulsive behavior—such as his fractured knee in March. It also is very shortsighted since when David was hospitalized for the 18 months the amount of his medical care was just over $500,000.00. When I hear that the Gitmo detainees may be getting a government check when they are sent to the US [news here and here] this makes it hard to swallow that we are denied.

But, I know it is all in God's hands and these events have helped us teach David that we must all trust Him. We have also explained that "And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose." This means to His glory and that doesn't mean the new house will be bigger or nicer then the one we currently live in, but we need to be more concerned to seek the glory of God. We are looking at purchasing and not renting and this is actually a great time to buy.