Thankfulness, Prayers, Encouragement, and Glimpse into the future! It is time to go FORWARD.

Phase III is almost accomplished.  Everything is just about ready to go.  The movers come next Monday.  The kids and I leave Saturday morning with Brian to drive to Vegas and then fly out the next morning to VA, as Brian takes care of the last minute moving details (well, he is handling the last step all on his own!)…I am trusting that the Lord will be there with him…to help him remember all the most important things 🙂

The past week has been another filled with nausea…more than I remember with Lewis and Hannah….it has literally knocked me out.  I went to the ER this morning, as there were no available appointments to go to before we leave…3 hours later, I received the meds I needed.  I’ve never had to be on meds before in pregnancy, but I know these ones will make the rest of the first trimester much better for me during this move.  I am SO thankful for this provision to feel better and be able to do all the things I need to do–to help the kids feel loved and stable and safe during all the changes, to help my hubby prepare for the movers, to say goodbye to sweet, tender friends, to close up everything on this side of the move.  I feel much more useful now!  🙂

I was so thankful for my last moments with Jiyeoung Laue, walking together, rejoicing together at the work that God has done in our hearts to fall in LOVE with the desert, and knowing, just knowing, that our paths would cross again sometime in the near future.

I am so thankful for the sweet coffee from PWOC ladies to say goodbye and the tearful goodbye and prayers on my last day of PWOC–such precious faces that have been so meaningful to me during my time here.  You all will be deeply missed!  I have LOVED praying with you and for you and have been SO blessed to have all of you in my life.

I was so blessed to see my little Lewis have his last fun playdate with his friend Aiden Moran…to sing him an early birthday song, and celebrate with him…and hug him so tightly, telling him he would miss him.  What a sweet, deep love this little boy has for his friends.  (I told him this when we got home and he said that everyone is his friend…and that he has a lot of love to give).  And what a sweet moment for us to say goodbye to Kelly, Aiden, and cute little Braden.  We have been so thankful for our playdates at the Morans!  Kelly knows how to show the little ones a BLAST!  Thank-you Kelly–I have loved getting to know you and watching our littles play so wonderfully and tenderly together.  They really are such wonderful buds!  I shall miss all of this.

As I was laying on the couch last night…as the nausea came to a pinnacle…I prayed the Lord would give me a thankful heart…a heart of praise…and that He would help me suffer somehow with joy for my sweet family.  He changed my heart immediately and began to show me so many things for which to be thankful.  I love when a prayer changes my heart.  I know I cannot ‘will’ it to change.  He changed it for me, and my heart flowed with praise.  As I laid there, I heard the pitter patter of Hannah’s feet as she ran back and forth, swinging her arms so quickly, between daddy and I, giving us tea and making sure that mommy was feeling better.  She patted my back, put covers over me, and sang me “night night” songs.  Her sweet, soft voice and beautiful smile cheered me up right away.   Buddy said prayers for me every night and was so obedient and respectful to mommy.  Lewis and Hannah kept telling each other that they loved each other and played giggling, fun games together.  Buddy sang “love songs” to all of us.  And tonight, Buddy told me that he was so excited to celebrate Jesus’ birth soon!!! (How to celebrate advent during a move???–another answered prayer, that the kids would still get to feel, understand, and rejoice in the special meaning of advent and Christmas this year!) As I laid there, I heard my sweet husband reading and retelling bible stories to Lewis–ones he loves, and ones he is still trying to understand.  He loves bible stories.  And Brian loves telling them.  I loved hearing them share the stories together!  I realized how MUCH I had to be thankful for.   My heart began to get SO excited!!!  I knew this sickness would end…and my JOY HAD ALREADY COME!!!  Just like He said to me–‘My joy is right there available for you, reach out and take it!  I came to give abundant life!’

Today, I felt good all day, without taking the meds yet, and I knew it was a gift.  We were able to have a sweet dinner with precious friends here, the Symonds, and laugh and enjoy each other’s company until late in the evening.  The kids were delightful and filled them up–another hope and prayer come true–for them to fill others up with love and joy!  I was so thankful for the gift of feeling well too, so I could treasure our last time together.  I love this couple!  What sweet, genuine, loving hearts they have.  What a blessing and true joy they have been to us.  Tina comforted me and made me laugh during my rough first year here…and now I can comfort her as well.  I love how God uses friends to lift us up and rejoice with us.  I love God’s beautiful plan for friendship!  It is a sweet dream come true when God gives us those gifts.

Lewis has told his swim teacher, gymnastic teacher and all his special friends that he is going to take them with him to Kansas in the back seat…and that he will make noises for them so that they know he is still there with them 🙂  He really does know how to say a sweet goodbye 🙂  I know he will miss his teachers, as he always connects deeply to those who teach him and pour into him.  Just today a sweet watch care worker from church and PWOC (Jo) dropped off the most beautiful card, pictures, and note for Lewis to keep with him always.  It had words on it that I know will fill him up for years to come—a precious mark he has made in someone’s life–a special heart who he connected to and loved so deeply, and who loved him so beautifully and patiently!  As others pour God’s love into him, He is able to already begin to fulfill God’s purpose for him to be a light and to love others so deeply.  Thank-you Jo for this special gift to Lewis, for pouring into him and loving him so joyfully and deeply, for making him feel SO special, and for sharing with us the precious impact that He has had on your life.  This fills my heart with joy!

Today, I made a picture of our journey from California to Virginia to see family, then Daddy’s journey from California to Kansas with Big Blue, his flight from Kansas to VA, our reunion in VA, and then our trip to North Carolina to visit our precious grandmas, and then our final destination from North Carolina to our NEW HOME in Kansas.  It was a bit complicated, and it took a lot of paper, but I know it will help the kids process all the trips we will be making in the next few weeks.  I shan’t post it because I am a terrible artist, and you might say, as Brian did “Is that a picture of an elephant?…or as Tina did “no, it looks like a trailer with a truck attached.”  It was a picture of the United States 🙂 .  A visual aid will help them process though, and it will help me process what is about to happen too!  We are excited.  We can’t wait to be with family.

As our time here really does come to a close now….I am left feeling so thankful and encouraged…I am leaving filled up with love by such precious friends…leaving with a whisper from the Lord of encouragement in several areas…and concrete direction into our future…a prayer prayed so raw and continuous throughout my time here.

When God speaks and gives direction and encouragement, my heart is lifted up to praise Him.  He has gotten me through everything, provided in EVERY WAY for this move (just like He said He would!), poured out His love to me, and has made a way forward for us to move into the next step of our journey to Kansas.  He is beckoning me forward now–It is time to go now.

As Brian and I reminisced the other night and talked about our time here and what we desire together for the future, we both came to sense the Holy Spirit speaking to us and giving us more spiritual direction.  He is saying to us…as you leave, step out of the old wineskins and into the new ones…so I can pour the new wine into your new wineskins.  As we leave the old here, we step forward into new bodies, with new transformed, renewed minds, to accept the “new wine” He has to give us to speak into our hearts, to learn and apply to our lives.

We are ready!

See you on the other side–in Virginia…or perhaps Kansas!