When Did It Happen?

When did Jaron grow up? This past week we bought a push mower and Sean taught him how to use it. It will be a nice help for Sean so that he isn't having to do all the yard work around here. But I have to say that while Sean was teaching Jaron all the components of the machine I heard Jaron call him Dad. "Hey Dad, is this how you do it?" He has moved from calling his father Daddy to Dad. UGH!!! He is growing up too fast!!
What happened to that little boy that use to have fun pushing his toy mower along side his daddy? I miss those toddler days! I know this is a small step soon he will be asking for the keys to his "dad's" car. I think I will cherish these small milestones in his life!

We're Here!

Finally back home to KY! Kentucky where I fell in love with Sean, graduated from college and buried my first born son. Kentucky where my best friends live. Kentucky!! I may have grown up in Florida and I do love Florida but there is something about being home in Kentucky. We moved to Florida in 1999 and I never thought we would be back. It is great being home!
We have been here a week and the kids are adjusting nicely. The first day of school was terrible for Jaron but the other three loved it. After the week settled down I would call it a successful week and Jaron has gotten more comfortable.
Kris seems to be doing great so far. The school has already implemented his IEP and his teacher and I are keeping in contact via email. She seems like a great person and Kris seems to like her. The younger two are now in separate classrooms and they seem to be enjoying their independence of each other. They have never really been all that "attached" to each other like I have heard others say about their twins. I guess I need to count my blessings for that. We have never treated them like a pair but as individuals.
Our new home is wonderful and the kids love the back yard being fenced in. We have 2 beautiful cherry trees, a pear tree, plum tree and a few holly bushes. LOVE IT! The weather has turned towards fall which is great because honestly this has been THE HOTTEST summer every. The heat index deal over 110 for three weeks was getting rather old! This week we have been waking up to temps in the 60s and on morning it was 58. AHHHH! Fall is in the air! YAY! I love fall!

Kentucky Home

I in general haven't been sharing all that much on here lately and I think it is because I do so much on Facebook. Which is a shame because I always feel so much better after writing things down. I wanted to share a few pictures of our new home today.





























Just a few pictures. Not many! So much to get down. We move in 4 days....YIKES! I have more packing to do and want to clean the carpets and other floors. I have already wiped down all the walls! I refuse to leave the house messy and dirty. It was clean when we moved in and we want it clean when we move out. So we have some projects to accomplish today. I just hope my back holds up.
All this craziness in the house and I have to say Kris is handling it ok. As long as he has his legos he is ok. When we miss place the box he gets a little panicked. Yesterday I had to retell him that we are not going to be taking George (his rat) with us. I was expecting a terrible mess and yes he was very upset but it didn't turn into a crying fit. THANK YOU LORD! To be honest he really hasn't been playing with her this summer like I thought he would. Oh he talks to her but I have to daily remind him he needs to hold her. But he doesn't. I think the novelty of having her is over. Which is sad but it happens a lot. We will taking her back to the pet store and I am hoping they will sell her as a pet and not as snake food. That I am afraid is what will more than likely happen though :(
So today is full of projects and I am already tired...Sara got up at 5:30AM on a Sat. what is the girl thinking?!!

Packing Up

I am learning something as we pack up our house to move 6 hours away to Kentucky....we have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF! Holy moly the stuff seems to keep multiplying! Every time I think I have accomplished a great deal of packing I turn around and there is more to do. UGH! I really HATE packing! I do not enjoy the adventure of packing, unpacking, seeking jobs and the uncertainty in this economy of finding jobs. This does not in the least make me excited! I am however excited about being able to spend time with friends and family and not go on long car trips! Although my immediate family and Sean's do not live in KY they do visit :)
Moving always ads stress to any situation whether happy or sad. I am beyond stressed. But am happy that we have a home to move to, have visited the school the children will go to (which is HUGE compared to their previous school) and we know we have a church that we can attend. All of that I am thankful for.
But the things I am emotionally experiencing right now is more than I expected. Sunday will be our last Sunday service at our church. That is hard! Saying good bye to all that we have invested in and through for the last (almost) 4 years is harder than I thought it would be. I stood in the Children's church room today and just looked around remembering all that I have had the opportunity to do and wonder will anyone step up and take over?! I have enjoyed working with the kids so much! I have poured my heart and energy into ministering to some wonderful children! I am going to miss them greatly! So Sunday we will close the door here and will walk through the door to KY. Only God knows what is waiting for us there. I pray He will guide and direct each step and open doors wide to ministry and to jobs.
This week I believe has been hard on the kids as well! Each one has shown the stress of packing, saying good-bye to friends and pets. Jaron has felt the stress and worry of us not having jobs lined up. Kris has been upset about loosing friends as has Sara. Eli and Kris are very anxious about the new school being so large. They are going from a one class per grade to a 4-5 classes per grade school. Much larger and to them much scarier.
It is affecting Kris the most I think. He really has not done well with all the boxes, changing of schedule and just chaos in the house. The transition from a small school to a large one is weighing on his mind so much that he keeps saying, "Mommy I can't leave CS School!" I have done all I can to encourage him and support him. The next few days and weeks will be tough on all of us. He is on over load Sensory wise! The need for deep pressure is evident and the need to "rev" up his engine to get moving has been needed as well. I think the biggest thing I have noticed with him is the need to build. This summer has been a summer of building using Lego's, boxes, and anything small he could use to create robots. He finds comfort in his building projects and thankfully I am aware of that and have NOT packed his Lego's up. In fact it will be something we take in the van with us and not put in the moving truck.
As for me....I have gone through a gamut of emotions...happy, sad, excited, fearful, and right back to the beginning. Through it all I just keep clinging to my Lord and praying and reciting scriptures of promises!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Well the time has come! Lately I have been pretty scarce on here. The main reason is because honestly I didn't think I could keep from spilling my thoughts. But today is a sad and happy day for our family. Sad because we are (or by the time this posts) stepping down from Creal Springs A/G as the Pastor's of the church. It has not been an easy decision at all! It comes after months a full year of praying and fasting and more prayer. This is not an easy announcement to make! We have made many friends here and some are very dear and near to our heart. But when the Lord tells you it’s time to move on and forward you must follow Him. Saying good bye to friends is hard! Saying good bye and letting go of a ministry that I have loved (children's church) and the kids I have been able to connect with is gonna be difficult. I (we) have poured our hearts out here. So during Children's Church I have to tell the children that we are moving in 3 weeks. That is gonna be so hard! Just thinking about it makes tears come to my eyes.

We are excited because the Lord is leading us back to Kentucky. That we are very excited about! We are not taking another pastoring position at this time. We are trusting the Lord to direct our steps. We have found a place to live that the kids are excited about. It is a 3b/1b home with a full basement and large fenced in backyard. What’s even better is that it has a dishwasher! Yes a dishwasher! Ok so what’s so big about that…..well….I HAVE NEVER HAD ONE OF MY OWN! Never! Ever! Yes I am very excited about that.

We have no jobs as of yet but are believing that God despite this terrible economy will be the author of this story and will open doors we could never of fathomed to open for us. Yes it’s scary! We have 4 kids to think about! But we know God can and will make a way for us! He has to! He promises to! And His Word says, “All of God’s promises are YES and AMEN!” We are standing on His promises!

So if you think about us this month…keep us in prayer for jobs!