Help Has Arrived!

Our first wave of up help came last Friday when my mother took our 5 kids in exchange for 1 of her own, my brother Micah. Micah is 17 and LOADS of help! He spent Friday night and 13 hours on Saturday working with Don. Don's boss was out again working on the electrical. It's soooo nice to have someone heading up that project!

I was able to get some organizing of thoughts and house done in the absence of kids. I walked with my good buddy Shannon, and did a supply run for Don. After fixing lunch on Saturday I ended up working with the boys until 10:30PM. Micah and I built a retaining wall, which was nice to see done. Sadly in filling it, it got covered with dirt and doesn't look as pretty as it did. All in time.... Sunday night Don and I were ALONE!! It was bliss to have quiet and fall into bed with out having to get 5 kids thru the night time routine first.

We now officially have a toilet at the house. There is no water hooked up indoors, but thanks to having our well hooked up, we have a bucket we can use to fill the back of the toilet to flush it. This is HUGE!!!! Not having a bathroom on site was hard enough, and with the local gas station closing down after the flood, it's been even harder to "function".

We also got the pump hooked up on the well so we have running water!!!! (out of a hose) I had to laugh when I saw Don so delighted to have running water, he was washing..... a tree stump!

This week found me EXTREMELY overwhelmed. I am trying to fill 3 roles.

#1~Normal mom/wife stuff

#2~Packing expert

#3~Construction worker

I was drowning. The discouragement of constantly having things to do, and doing them, but yet never seeing any progress had taken a strangle hold on my heart. I was lonely. I cried, a lot. The more I cried, the less I got done and the worse I felt.

Looking upward was what I knew I needed to do, but felt like another thing on my "To Do" list, but I did it anyway.

Many thanks to all who pray for me. Special thanks to a precious "almost sister" Trisha. She followed God's prompting and gave a day to me. Her help was great, but just having her here was even better. Her presence was a soothing balm to my frantic heart.

Attending Bible study was another "hurdle" in my week. I so wanted to just call it a night and crash, but I picked up our sitter early, took a walk, and went. This group of ladies is a lifeline for me. Another evidence of God's care in my life.

Finally, Don's parents (from MI) were talking of coming out Tuesday. Tuesday rolled around and there was some uncertainty as to whether they would be able to come out or not. ( one of the times I cried, and cried, and cried, and cried, and ....... you get the idea

But JOY they made it out at 2 AM this morning. There are now 3 people for the 3 jobs, and Don's burden has been eased as well. My dishes got done, my kitchen cleaned, my floors swept, muffins made, laundry folded, and my youngest entertained WITH OUT T.V., and all this while I was having Devotions and organizing our building finances! And that was just this morning!!

Oh, and I even have a few minutes to blog!!

(why won't blogger give me paragraph breaks in the 2nd half?!!!)

Strength and Encouragement

I spent all morning yesterday on the couch with a wicked headache. It is hard to rest when there is so much to do, but it was needed. As I tried to ralley and prep for supper and spending the evening working on the house, God brought me to His word and strengthened me with:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 MSG

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

I also dug out my Selah: Hiding Place CD. Every song on it is a blessing, and I find it lifts my gaze to God when I don't feel I have the strength to look up on my own.

An added bonus was a friends post on "This is the day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" It seems like an "old hat" concept, but it is truly foundational and crucial to remember EVERY day!

Of Boys and Water

As I break from sweeping all the dirt we track to the rental from "The Property", Jesse is in the shower. He has been for 20" and he will be until the hot water runs out! It is fantastic! He is confined, happy and most importantly not making a mess! What a deal!

A couple of days ago our little friend Jakob came over, and I mindlessly requested the boys water my fast fading mums. What was I thinking, or more appropriately, Was I thinking?!!! To top things off his own mother had just posted this 2 days earlier!

It never dawned on me that I had directed the attention of a 3 and 4 year old boy to awater delivery system, they had (amazingly) ignored up until this point, until a few minutes later when I realized things were too peaceful.

This is what I found....



Jesse was skillfully manning the hose. Skillfully in that Jakob was SOAKED and Jesse was high and dry. I was literally WRINGING water out of Jake's shoes! Poor guy! Sorry Sarah!

Tagged

Dear 12 arrows friend,
I know you tagged me over a week ago. I am so sorry I haven't done my part yet. I was so excited to be "tagged" for the first time!
I know I'm not doing exactly right, no rules or new tags, but this is all it can find time for. My house(S) are screaming at me!
Much love,
Sarah

1.

I am a freak about customer service. I am willing to pay a bit more to ensure I am well cared for. My dad was a salesperson for a time and I waitressed, and loved it! Treat me well and I will be generous. Brush me off, or worse, insult me and me and my $ are gone! It's pretty sad when the sales lady in the kids department knows me by name, but what can I say, she's good at what she does!

2.

I sat in on a class on arranging flowers YEARS ago, and they said to arrange using odd numbers of the most prominent flowers for the most pleasing look. I was relieved to know exactly why some things look nice to me and some looked off. Of course my dear engineer doesn't quite get this, especially when say, I put 2 pendants over the kitchen island rather than 3 like over the dining room table because 2+3=5 and 3+3=6.

3.

I REALLY like people! My husband feels more comfortable in the confines of machines, but has really opened himself up to caring for others despite the risks.

4.

Before we got married Don appreciated that I tended to be less emotional than most girls around me...... In his own words "I thought Sarah was a rock, then we got married I found out she was the rock that Moses struck, and water gushed out!"

(what can I say, I got pregnant 18 days later plus I never trusted anyone enough to be that open with them. He had committed his life to me, I figured I could trust him)

5.

I am really tempted DAILY to just watch movies all day to help me forget all the work I have to get done by the end of this month. Yes I know, like that would help.

6.

Most often if I find someone I don't get along with it is due to them being too much like me.

Family Work Day

On this "Day of Rest" we as a family got some things done that will help me rest A LOT easier tonight. All this between services with our dear church family of course!

Don's former tool trailer is now parked in front of the house for me to load as I get things packed. Don washed it and the Camry and mini van. The girls helped by loading the assortment of "stuff" that has accumulated in the van. We spend a lot of time driving back and forth, but there isn't much time to drag the stuff we need for each trip back into the house. This has worked pretty well for me, with the exception of the time Don left with the van and my purse was in it. I was planning to put fuel in the Suburban while he was gone, but.....

Here is Jesse getting coached on using the power washer. He LOVED it, but was quick to tell me he can only do it with dad's help.

Though Jesse and Don are the only ones featured in pictures, we were all working together. Funny thing how the kids tend to slink off and play VERY nicely together when I am obviously delegating jobs.

The below picture is evidence of the rest of us at work. I have been meaning for some time now to sort thru the seasonal clothes, but with the whole upstairs covered in clothing and my not getting much time upstairs, I just never got to it.

Today I told each child to bring down their dresser drawers and the boys brought down the dresser frames. The dressers are now loaded in the trailer, I have sorted thru the seasonals and each child has a Rubbermaid tub to house their clothes for the next month. They never put them away anyway! Oh, I am keeping them down here too so I can verify that the clothes are put away.

Happy 6th Birthday, Princess 2

Birthday Breakfast

(no worries, she got her birthday donut on the way to school)

Birthday Dress

Birthday gifts from Grandparents Mc (including the dress)

School

Today is Delphia's 6th birthday! I was able to spend the morning with her in Kindergarten. It was fun and I may even be able to remember the 24 students by name next time I go!

I am off to cram into the next hour as much cleaning as I can. I need to get changed too, I put on a tee shirt and pajama pants for my cleaning.

If...

I'd be a better blogger if..


~I didn't take Jesse to story time
~I didn't take extra time at the library to hold a baby
~I didn't "let" my grandma take me out for lunch
~I wasn't making soup and cupcakes for almost 30 people
~I wasn't making treats for 40+ kids for kids club tonight
~I wasn't packing one house and....
~I wasn't helping build another
~I wasn't CONSTANTLY processing laundry
~I wasn't shopping for light fixtures
~I didn't make a couple of calls to chat this AM. (something I am VERY backlogged on! Sorry Adah! you are on the list, but my phone is dead!)

And finally..

~I'd be a better blogger if I weren't so busy reading up on everyone else!!

So, sorry dear bloggers if you feel uncared for. I tend to be a much better "real life" friend, I think... (smiles)