Our new home....

So...here I am. Posting my first blog entry in my new home in Blytheville, Arkansas.  It was a long drive and a heartbreaking separation from everyone and everything that was familiar.  The day before we moved I was just overwhelmed by the people who showed up to help.  I can't even begin to thank everyone because there were so many who came that I don't even know who all was there.  Lots of helpers and lots of cleaning and packing and loading and cramming and taking stuff apart..lol.  I just feel so blessed to have so many people who cared about us enough to do that for us.  To those who helped I say THANK YOU. We literally couldn't have done it without you.

We stayed over with Alison and Lance Howell the night before we left Mid County.  It was nice to be with friends and feel comfortable before we left.  We ate a good breakfast and had a nice hearty goodbye (surprisingly fewer tears than I thought) and we went back to the house to finish up before we got on the road. 

My house seemed so empty when it got all cleaned out.  I was sorta sad to have to see it like that.  I know that God has a plan and I know that it is better than my plan, but I have to admit it....I was VERY sad to see my house emptied of all of my stuff.  I guess I should throw in that we had bought our last house when we moved there.  We were supposed to retire there and raise our children there and see them off to adulthood there.  It was sad to know that wasn't what was/is going to happen....but, again, God's plans are not my plans.

Anyway, we finished and pulled out.  It was a long drive with all our stuff in the back of a moving truck.  We stopped in Foremen (where my in-laws live) and rested for the night and got up the next morning and left early to be in Blytheville by noon-ish.  Another loooong drive..lol. 

As we arrived in the town my stomach was just in knots trying to think of what our house was going to look like, what the people would think of us, how my kids were going to react, how I was going to do this.....what had we gotten ourselves in to?  We put the address into the GPS and it took us down a long road to a small house with several church people just waiting for us to arrive.  We had made it...we were here. 

Let me first say, that a member of the church offered to let us live in a house she owns FOR FREE.  We were to pay no rent, just utilities and if we wanted cable TV or internet.  She is a farmer (cotton, wheat, and beans) and owns several homes on her property for her farmhands.  She is a very kind and loving person who is allowing us to use a home on her property for a temporary amount of time or until our house sold back in TX.  We were blessed by this since we had no idea about how this city was laid out or about school districting or anything else. 

So, back to the house.  It was small....tiny.  No garage.  No storage shed.  Cotton field on either side and in the back.  No trash pick up (we have to burn our trash).  No cable, no internet.  To say the least I was a little less than impressed.  I started to feel....spoiled.  Like I was questioning God and asking, "Really?" 

We began unloading and got done in a matter of a couple of hours.  People FINALLY left and it honestly felt good to be alone in my new home.  Needless to say, we slept REALLY good that night. 

We have been here for three weeks yesterday.  It's not a bad place to live.  Currently we live out in the country (like I said before, we have to burn our trash..lol).  Ryan has shot a few doves that eat the seeds left over from the harvested field behind us and we have eaten those.  We live 8 minutes from the main city and about 45 minutes from a mall (or a Target...boo) but it's been a nice time.  Like I said before, it's FREE.

Today has, by far been the worst day.  Since we live basically on a plain there is nothing to block wind so it blows constantly, sometimes up to 20-30 miles per hour regularly.  Today, in particular, was horrible.  I didn't get to go to church because I couldn't get my car started (which I think just added insult to injury this morning).  Then, to make matters worse, the wind knocked over the swing set and shattered the wood coupling the swing part to the clubhouse/slide/monkey bar part.  It looks terrible....and I was just horrified.  I was very angry and just basically griping at God to day about this situation.  Wind, car, swing set....I just was very angry.  I have to say that He was probably really disappointed with me this morning and saw a need to keep me at home....so He did.  I have been home ALL.DAY.LONG.  I have prayed and asked God to remove this attitude of "I deserve better".  I don't 'deserve' anything!!  I mean, what a selfish thing to say to God, right?  Well, you don't have to agree...I don't deserve anything better.  The blessings that He has already have poured out on us have been more than gracious.  I could count them but the list would go on and on and on and on.  No one would have the time to read an unending list.

The point is this:

We are supposed to be right here.  Right here in Blytheville.  Right here in the country.  Right here in this tiny house.  Right here in the center of where we are.  Right here with what we have been given.

I do miss my family and friends and HBC.  I miss my contemporary music service.  I miss things about Nederland/Port Neches.  But, God has filled that feeling with peace and contentment.