The "can you believe it" Chapter
In the crazy book I have been told to write some day, this next chapter has several titles. Possible suggestions include:
"7000 Miles and Still Homeless"
"Gordon Nomads"
"Frequent Crier Miles" (my dad's idea)
"He Who Pukes Last"
So where to begin? I'll get to the main prayer point first, in case you just can't believe this and have to stop reading.
We need a home!
Back story- Housing is part of our new job and being provided for us. It appeared a house had been located just 1/2 mile from the Retreat Center and it was basically a done deal before we even left WA. Unfortunately on Wednesday, an "ex" spouse came out of the woodwork and refused to sign the papers. Perhaps it was always in the works but unknown to people here. All that to say, everyone feels bad and is doing their best to remedy the situation. We aren't upset because it is what it is, right? Who knew . . . I'm trusting that there is a BETTER housing situation out there for us. It would have been a tight fit and was fully furnished. Which might be nice as newly-weds but as a family, we would have felt much more comfortable with our own things. And yes, that's my perpetually optimistic take- I completely trust God has something better out there.
So where are we now? The first week we stayed in one of our beautiful guest suites. Seriously, book your vacation to Massachusetts now! These rooms are beautiful! We have a queen bedroom downstairs, bathroom and living room/kitchenette area. Upstairs in our suite are three bunk beds and a trundle/daybed. The kids have plenty of place to spread out. Unfortunately after a week, we had two back to back groups. Good for camp finances, bad for housing, ha! Soooooo we moved in with our co-workers. No joke. We've known them a week and are living in their apartment. We had the upstairs bedrooms, they were downstairs.
4 adults. 5 kids under age 10 (Shannon had a birthday!!!). 2 dogs.
After five days together (during which the next crazy part happened), we are back in our suite. Hopefully for 3 solid weeks or a housing miracle happens.
Please pray for God to work miracles. The right house- close to camp, big enough for us to live comfortably (we don't need a mansion but enough bedrooms/bathrooms and space for school stuff would be nice). Forest wants you to pray for a yard and a stream. Shannon would like an upstairs. Mommy would love a pretty kitchen with a window over the sink. But those are the frosting! We pray for them in faith but will rejoice with the basics! And let's pray for a miracle with timing- we all know how real estate tends to drag on and have hidden surprises around every corner.
So wanna hear more? What would be more interesting than living with your new co-workers that you barely know? Enter . . .
the stomach bug!!!!!!! No joke! The day we move in, people start slowly dropping like flies. Two days after we are together, my poor new teammates are sent to bed by Nurse Erika while I take care of their little ones and keep everyone functioning. Over the next five days it goes through everyone except Heidi. We are still wondering if she's going to drop suddenly or is a robot! Some managed to avoid the puking and just have horrible fatigue and pain. Not the Flu thankfully, but a strange 24-48 hour stomach/body bug.
The night Forest got sick, I cleaned him up and climbed into bed . . . and started laughing and laughing. I couldn't stop and I think Jer thought I had lost my mind. But seriously. How can you NOT laugh at this situation and these crazy events? An editor would reject them as being too "absurd." Never mind the 60 Ukrainian and Russian men and teens here for a retreat this weekend. Oh and the day the two dogs (our husky and their golden doodle) decide to run off down the (frozen) lake and go visiting neighbors- resulting in our husbands driving around and all of us shouting for these crazy dogs!
Tired yet? One last thing . . . anyone wondering where our personal belongings are? Oh, we are too!
About a week ago I noticed the website tracking our stuff across the USA had gotten "stuck" in Montana. After a few days I contacted our move coordinator- our driver had gotten sick and gone to the hospital- he was immediately admitted with a serious case of pneumonia. He has been upgraded to critical condition and it is very serious. Please pray for Driver Dan to be healed. Our belongings are now in the care of another driver (Driver Oscar and his wife Monaca) and will be delivered on Thursday. But guess what? It's ok! Since we are homeless anyway, I was trying to find a storage unit and it was going to be a long drive to one AND lots of money. Because of the house situation, we can now store our stuff in the basement of the Retreat Center. Saving money and meaning our boxes are here- when I need to run down to get school supplies, winter clothes we need or toys! Our kids haven't had anything to play with for the last week and a half.
So there you have it! Our big prayer requests, recapped:
1. "Perfect" housing for our family
2. Safe delivery of our belongings and healing of Driver Dan
3. Our transition and adjustment, especially with crazy circumstances
We are enjoying our new team- it's a small but good one. Director and his wife (have a 16 month old darling and 3 1/2 year old new BFF for Heidi) and a temporary "all around maintenance" guy who is super fun to feed all my leftovers to! Despite the sickness that everyone had, it was fun to see everyone all pitch in when groups are here and do what needed to be done. Felt good to work hard and work together. We have a little break from groups now- a chance to step back and get a bigger picture of the coming months, goals, plans and ideas.
The weather has been winter-cold but sun! I'm so happy how sunny it is here. The hills (ok they call them mountains but after Washington? The highest peak is barely higher than where our home was located, ha!) are beautiful and I'm in heaven with the historic homes of this area. So on we press!
Thank you for encouragement and prayers during these past months. You are the strength holding us up and keeping us smiling!
"7000 Miles and Still Homeless"
"Gordon Nomads"
"Frequent Crier Miles" (my dad's idea)
"He Who Pukes Last"
So where to begin? I'll get to the main prayer point first, in case you just can't believe this and have to stop reading.
We need a home!
Back story- Housing is part of our new job and being provided for us. It appeared a house had been located just 1/2 mile from the Retreat Center and it was basically a done deal before we even left WA. Unfortunately on Wednesday, an "ex" spouse came out of the woodwork and refused to sign the papers. Perhaps it was always in the works but unknown to people here. All that to say, everyone feels bad and is doing their best to remedy the situation. We aren't upset because it is what it is, right? Who knew . . . I'm trusting that there is a BETTER housing situation out there for us. It would have been a tight fit and was fully furnished. Which might be nice as newly-weds but as a family, we would have felt much more comfortable with our own things. And yes, that's my perpetually optimistic take- I completely trust God has something better out there.
So where are we now? The first week we stayed in one of our beautiful guest suites. Seriously, book your vacation to Massachusetts now! These rooms are beautiful! We have a queen bedroom downstairs, bathroom and living room/kitchenette area. Upstairs in our suite are three bunk beds and a trundle/daybed. The kids have plenty of place to spread out. Unfortunately after a week, we had two back to back groups. Good for camp finances, bad for housing, ha! Soooooo we moved in with our co-workers. No joke. We've known them a week and are living in their apartment. We had the upstairs bedrooms, they were downstairs.
4 adults. 5 kids under age 10 (Shannon had a birthday!!!). 2 dogs.
After five days together (during which the next crazy part happened), we are back in our suite. Hopefully for 3 solid weeks or a housing miracle happens.
Please pray for God to work miracles. The right house- close to camp, big enough for us to live comfortably (we don't need a mansion but enough bedrooms/bathrooms and space for school stuff would be nice). Forest wants you to pray for a yard and a stream. Shannon would like an upstairs. Mommy would love a pretty kitchen with a window over the sink. But those are the frosting! We pray for them in faith but will rejoice with the basics! And let's pray for a miracle with timing- we all know how real estate tends to drag on and have hidden surprises around every corner.
So wanna hear more? What would be more interesting than living with your new co-workers that you barely know? Enter . . .
the stomach bug!!!!!!! No joke! The day we move in, people start slowly dropping like flies. Two days after we are together, my poor new teammates are sent to bed by Nurse Erika while I take care of their little ones and keep everyone functioning. Over the next five days it goes through everyone except Heidi. We are still wondering if she's going to drop suddenly or is a robot! Some managed to avoid the puking and just have horrible fatigue and pain. Not the Flu thankfully, but a strange 24-48 hour stomach/body bug.
The night Forest got sick, I cleaned him up and climbed into bed . . . and started laughing and laughing. I couldn't stop and I think Jer thought I had lost my mind. But seriously. How can you NOT laugh at this situation and these crazy events? An editor would reject them as being too "absurd." Never mind the 60 Ukrainian and Russian men and teens here for a retreat this weekend. Oh and the day the two dogs (our husky and their golden doodle) decide to run off down the (frozen) lake and go visiting neighbors- resulting in our husbands driving around and all of us shouting for these crazy dogs!
Tired yet? One last thing . . . anyone wondering where our personal belongings are? Oh, we are too!
About a week ago I noticed the website tracking our stuff across the USA had gotten "stuck" in Montana. After a few days I contacted our move coordinator- our driver had gotten sick and gone to the hospital- he was immediately admitted with a serious case of pneumonia. He has been upgraded to critical condition and it is very serious. Please pray for Driver Dan to be healed. Our belongings are now in the care of another driver (Driver Oscar and his wife Monaca) and will be delivered on Thursday. But guess what? It's ok! Since we are homeless anyway, I was trying to find a storage unit and it was going to be a long drive to one AND lots of money. Because of the house situation, we can now store our stuff in the basement of the Retreat Center. Saving money and meaning our boxes are here- when I need to run down to get school supplies, winter clothes we need or toys! Our kids haven't had anything to play with for the last week and a half.
So there you have it! Our big prayer requests, recapped:
1. "Perfect" housing for our family
2. Safe delivery of our belongings and healing of Driver Dan
3. Our transition and adjustment, especially with crazy circumstances
We are enjoying our new team- it's a small but good one. Director and his wife (have a 16 month old darling and 3 1/2 year old new BFF for Heidi) and a temporary "all around maintenance" guy who is super fun to feed all my leftovers to! Despite the sickness that everyone had, it was fun to see everyone all pitch in when groups are here and do what needed to be done. Felt good to work hard and work together. We have a little break from groups now- a chance to step back and get a bigger picture of the coming months, goals, plans and ideas.
The weather has been winter-cold but sun! I'm so happy how sunny it is here. The hills (ok they call them mountains but after Washington? The highest peak is barely higher than where our home was located, ha!) are beautiful and I'm in heaven with the historic homes of this area. So on we press!
Thank you for encouragement and prayers during these past months. You are the strength holding us up and keeping us smiling!
Comments