The Big Move and Many Blessings

     We're moved out of our apartment and into our new home in the village!  Even in the midst of a busy and stressful time, we were-and still are- amazed by God's loving care for us.  I wanted to transition well and to say goodbyes well, and yet I didn't know how this would be possible with all of the pressing things that were involved with getting our new house ready while packing up the apartment.  Anneka had shared that she really wanted to say goodbye to a certain friend.  We hadn't seen this friend for several months and her phone number didn't work.  We prayed about it, and then this girl appeared outside several days that week!  They had a chance to play and to talk and say goodbye.  Also, I didn't have time to call or see all of the friends I wanted to say goodbye to, but they called me and stopped by to see me.  I saw God's loving care in these situations, and there were many more!

Anneka with this special friend

      On this day Leif and I got the floor boards on the 2nd floor sanded, prepped, and lacquered so that there would be enough time to coat three layers and have them dry before we moved in. (the boards on the first floor still need to dry for several more months before we can do anything with them)  It took one very long day, and the dust in the air from sanding made us white all over!  This was the white left on my nose after I had used a tissue.  =)  Lisa was so wonderful and went to our home the next two days to follow up with the next two layers of lacquer so that Leif could prepare other areas of the house and I could focus on things with the kids and the apartment.  Many other friends helped as well!  The kids even got their very favorite babysitter to watch them on this long day.

     Friends also helped with getting the bedroom walls ready.  This is the wallpaper Ike chose for his room!

    Lisa helped with the grossest job of all- cleaning a nasty, greasy, sooty layer off of the tops of our cupboards.  I am soooo grateful to her!  As soon as we moved, I promptly taped sheets of old wallpaper to the tops, so next time I can just tear them off and put on clean again.

     It was truly encouraging how many people came alongside us and helped us on our moving day.  Bruce prepared a big meal to serve to everyone who pitched in, and there were so many guys who came (several from another church and not all pictured) to carry our heavy furniture and to travel back to our house for the second truck load of stuff.

     The Blakers, the kids, and I waited (and worked) at the apartment until the truck came back for the second round.

And a few more blessings from the week...

*  We had no stove that week, but I was still able to make soup each day for the workers with my multicooker.

*   Ella had really wanted to give her dresser away to a a person she knew instead of putting it out by the dumpster for someone to take.  It was old and falling apart, so this was stressful for me to know what to do.  Our neighbor stopped by one day and was THRILLED to have the dresser.  We merely had to carry it across the hallway, and Ella was happy to know it had a good home.

*  The week of the move we were helping some visitors to get connected with local church leaders.  One of our friends was soooo helpful in helping to make these connections for us and to find translators at the last minute.

*   warm, nice weather for the kids to play outside while our apartment felt chaotic inside.

     It is both wonderful and a bit overwhelming to have all of our things inside of our new house.  Everything is so dirty and all of the furniture is dismantled.  But the most stressful part is over, and the rest can be done a step at a time.

     We're all sleeping on mattresses on the floor until we can get our beds assembled.  The girls looked so sweet cuddled up our first morning in our new home.

    Something is wrong with our pump/well, so in the meantime we have been getting water from the well and meeting nice people along the way.

     We bought this handy little sink that we nailed to the garage wall.

... and this temporary toilet until Leif can dig an outhouse.

Leif, putting up our kitchen cupboards

Ella, showing Ratty Pie to her new friend

 
     One of the biggest blessings to my heart was that our kids made friends with the neigbor kids our very first day in our new house!

     At one point, Leif and I were working on setting up the kitchen, and it was really quiet outside.  I looked on the street and saw these bikes laying all over.  I wondered where my kids went.

     ...but they weren't far!  They had all found a stray puppy and had decided that the kids would take turns caring for it.  While the kids were playing, I met a couple of moms and we stood and talked out on the street.  I was thankful for how normal it felt and how friendly they were.