Changes...

So much going on and so many changes.  We are moving, but not the way we had planned it nor when we had planned it.  We have lost the house and they will pick the trailer up any day now.  We will be moving in with a friend for a short time.  She's actually giving me a year to get back on my feet, but I'm aiming for 6 months.  We shall see what happens.

We are about 99% packed and should be moved out completely by the 5th.k

There are days I want to curl up in a ball and sleep away all the mess, but I wake each morning pushing forward.  Grief and nervous break downs are no joke.  I'll begin counseling soon again.  I shouldn't have stopped, but I'll get back on track.

I'm still in school, actually have a final tomorrow and then the next semester starts up on the 10th.  I'll be taking 2 classes and then Fall classes begin sometime in August.  I'm going to be BUSY!!!!  

Tasha

Thanksgiving

While the holiday itself has come and gone, the art of being thankful is here year round.  We had a wonderful time with friends yesterday.  I'm so thankful to have them in our lives.  God knew exactly what he was doing when he purposed our meeting.  These friends aren't just mere friends, they are our family now!!!!  I love it!

Well, I didn't have time to update on the house situation.  The mortgage company extended our time to get the money together due to the holidays.  Tuesday no later than 5 pm is THE LAST day we have to get the money.  I in my own eyes don't see this happening.  I know that God is able and His view point is much greater than my own.  So it could be 4:59 pm and God bless us with the funds needed.  Yet, it could be God's will to close the door on this house all together.  Then I trust He has another door waiting to be pushed opened with our next place of residency.

I'm trusting and yet still a bit nervous as well.  God is able and I will rest in that.  He will care for me and my children and I most definitely will rest in that!

Sewing Area Organization

I debated over and over about reorganizing my sewing area since I don't have a new deadline to move out.  I really contemplated not doing it because I know we'll be packing it all up soon.  However, as I tried to sew Christmas gifts, I was getting totally frustrated with the area and the lack of organization.

So today, instead of sewing....even though I so wanted to just sit down and sew, I took the entire day and reorganized and rearranged my sewing area.  The girls are not sewing so I had them pack their things up and utilized their area, getting rid of my larger sewing desk.  With this setup, I even have a place for my laptop so I can watch video demonstrations while I sew.

I didn't take any before photos, but here are my after photos.  Excuse the stuff on the cutting table.  That's part of my Christmas gifts.

Now I'm too tired to sew.  So, I'll be sewing tomorrow when I get off work.  Some time in there I'll squeeze in cooking.

UPDATE on my Update

The mortgage company has called me this morning. They of course don't want to forclose on the home, as this is an extra expense for them. 

They will accept $1086 between the end of today and Friday in order for us to stay in the home. They will defer one payment (Nov. payment) and start me off owing Dec. payment of $369 on Dec. 5th. 

I need a serious miracle. I can't imagine being out in the cold with my children living in our van. That or a shelter will be our only options if we don't have a move of God in our situation. 

I can worry about the conditions of our home later if I can deal with at least knowing we will have a roof over our heads.

Please be in prayer!!!!!!

Update on Housing Situation

Well, we have approximately 3 weeks to come up with $1600 and then begin making our regular payments of $369 beginning Dec. 5 or prepare our departure.  I'm a bit down, as I am not sure what we will do.  Nothing has happened at this point, no open doors or windows.  I still know that God is able, even in the final hour.  So I'm trying to remain focused on Christ....it's hard but I'll keep pressing forward and trusting.  My children remain so brave and their faith is unwavering...believing God will provide us a home.

Please continue to lift us up before the Lord.

Thank you!!!!

Weary...Depression...Blessings...

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9

Sadly, this is where I find myself today.  Among the praise, the provisions, the blessings...I find myself weary with our housing situation.  We still don't have a deadline and I am ever thankful for that.  We still have a roof over our heads and that is a blessing all on its own.
I'm one of those people that likes to have all my ducks in order and the limbo setting is nerve racking to me.  One of those, if I at least knew we would have a home to move into soon, then I'd have at least one answer.  I could move my mind to something else.

I know God hears me, I know the answer is already done in heaven and must come forth on earth.  I'm in the phase of wondering "how long"?  Everything just seems to be in limbo and I don't do well without stability and routine.  I'm wondering if I am out of the Will of God because I have no peace, only chaos and uncertainty.

I'm also dealing with some depression.  I feel it creeping in slowly.  I've been doing my best to think of the months in numbers and not names, but then someone reminded me that this is November and with that came the realization that we are coming up on the 1st Thanksgiving without my mom and then just weeks later the 1st yr. of her death.  I'm dreading it all and I'm wishing these months would just vanish away for this year.

With all of that going on, we have been blessed beyond measure in the last few weeks.  People from all over have blessed us with prayers, finances, and kind words.  I am so thankful for each of them.  This is what the body of Christ is supposed to look like!!!  To see the outpouring from so many has been mind boggling.  I can't even grasp a full understanding of it all.  Thank you just seems so inadequate to express how I feel.  My heart is overwhelmed.  Yet, I praise God for each of you!!!!

Ok, off to kinda think of some gifts for my sisters for Christmas.  I'm thinking lap quilts with some of the scraps I have around here or maybe matching napkins and placemats.  Any ideas?

We Have Water, The House Is on the Move!!!

Well, things are STILL coming together. I had many plans for this past weekend, but not one of them transpired.
I woke up on Saturday morning with Joseph at the door, ready to put in the water/septic lines. As we did when we first moved to the country, I got out there and helped dig and cover up the lines as he got them connected and laid in the ground. Digging & Covering up…not fun at all!!!! But well worth the convenience of having water in our home. No more hauling the water from one house to the other. No more going into the other house to use the restroom. You do what you must do, but oh when you have the convenience back, it is a HUGE relief.
I turned the water on shortly after it was connected and was overwhelmed with how we take things for granted. We take it for granted that we will always be able to turn the knob and have water flow from the faucet. We take it for granted that we will always be able to flip a switch and have lights. We take it for granted that we can take a bath and use the restroom in the comfort of our own homes. When you stop and think about our ancestors and realize that they had no switches, no faucets, and no toilets; we are truly blessed and take these things for granted.

Then by Saturday evening my son is feeling not so great and running a fever. There go my plans to attend church. Ok, this will be the 2nd Sunday in a row to miss. Bummer!!!!!
Well, now with running water, I spent the day cleaning EVERYTHING…there was a layer of dust a mile thick. (I haven’t figured out where this dust is coming from but it’s there)
I wash every stitch of laundry that needed to be washed, including sheets and blankets. Then I mopped the kitchen floor. It looked like a brand new floor! LOL
It was so white and clean. I stayed up way to late rearranging the living room and getting the children set up with space for their school work and their computers. They will each have their own since they will have several subjects that will require the use of the computer and I didn’t want to have to deal with scheduling who would be on the computer at what time…God is good in that I only purchased one computer, one was given to us, along with an extra monitor and I need to purchase only one more CPU tower. Then they are all set. Oh…I’ll upgrade the memory and install new CD Rom Drives and that’s it!!!

Monday proved to be another SURPRISE! The mortgage company was to call and let me know the date they had arranged to pick up the double wide mobile home. UGHHHHHHHH,
They didn’t! So as I was sitting down to eat my breakfast burrito, I notice these large trucks in the front yard. Then it dawns on me…they are here to take the house. Thank God it was a holiday and I was off or else I would not have known a thing until I got home from work. They begin to work and get things taken care of and then as my daughter is on the phone SNAP goes the phone line and I am livid. I put the new line in myself, so that’s no big deal. What made me mad was I had just walked around the home telling them that EVERYTHING was connected to the single wide NOT the double wide. They clearly said they all understood and one guy rips the phone line out and then uses the cord to wrap around the door knob and hold the door open so they could throw the skirting from around the house inside. When I asked him why would he do this, he was very rude and asked me what did it matter it was no longer mine anyway. Clearly he was clueless to the fact that the telephone line was not to that house. Anyway I was livid and they ended up calling the owner out and he came to oversee the remainder of the work. As I talked to the owner towards the end of the day, I learned that the guy who pulled the line is the owners brother. So because of his rudeness, they cleaned up the area, which they don’t usually do. I was most grateful for that because it was a lot to clean up and I was feeling overwhelmed just looking at it.

Well, with the house being moved, we had to redo the septic line. It was sitting above the ground because we could not dig until the double wide was moved. So Joseph came after work to do this and once again I was out there as I was 8 years earlier helping to dig the trench to lay the line in and covering it up as well. We didn’t finish until well after 10:30 last night. Needless to say my body is sore and I’m tired, plus I think I am coming down with what my son has; yes he is still sick and yet he was out there in the cold insisting that he help his mama as much as he possibly could.

Is the Saga with the house over? Hmmmmmmm, almost. I’ll keep you posted.

Night One in our NEW home!

I so wish we had thought to take pictures, but in trying to prepare for and deal with the cold, that was the farthest thing from our minds. If you can envision, the house was moved out in September. All my furniture and things were moved in shortly after that. It’s been like a model home without water, electricity, etc. The only things missing were the few necessities we had in the double-wide. The things left to move are my exercise equipment, which I just might have to sell, and our clothes. The children have done a remarkable job getting things in order.
Well, I get home last night and it was colder in the house than it was outside!!! It really was cold. So we went to work putting up blankets to seal off the hallway and around the front door (LOTS of air gets through around the door). We won’t be going into the hallway area and back 2 bedrooms until we redo those rooms. Anyway, I digress. So we will all be sleeping on beds in the living room and utilizing the kitchen and master bathroom once we have water.
Only 2 rooms to really keep heated up at this particular time.
The children had all the beds made and TONS of blankets on each of them, along with sleeping bags. My oldest reheated dinner-Nacho Soup and we were ready to eat and snuggle in for the night.
But we get a phone call. My mother (yes, for those that know about that…you read that right), told my son to go over and get one of her small portable heaters. We get that set up and it really isn’t putting out much heat in that large of an area, but it’s something. Maybe 5 minutes later she calls again. She tells me to take her debit card and go purchase 1 heater at Wal-mart.
So two of my children go sit in front of her fireplace and one goes with me to Wal-mart. We pick out the heater and head home.

We get home, change into jammies, sit around eating our nacho soup and then prepare for a bit of talking and television. It was still very cold, but the heater did knock off the chill a bit. We just thought we would burrow down into our blankets and deal with it. Around 1:30 or 2 this morning, I woke up sweating!!!!! Yes, I was sweating. Looked over at the children and they had thrown their blankets off them as well. I thought well, this is now and it'll be freezing when I get up for work. WRONG. They sorta woke up a bit to tell me bye and to tell me how hot it was. All I could do was PRAISE the Lord yet again. We went from being able to see our breath to sweating.

Isn't God good?! He'll take simple things like that to bless you and you know it's no one but Him

PRAISE is what I do! LONG

Can you say Hallelujah?! I have to tell you we were doing a praise dance at our house yesterday!!
Hmmmmmmm, where do I begin? I’ll leave the tidbit about my stomach virus this weekend out. ;-) Saturday morning I was to purchase the electricity pole-box combo, dig a 4 ft hole, and a friend was to come install it and wire the house to the pole for me. Monday the electric company was to do their part and we would have electricity in the new house and finalize our move.
Well, what was supposed to happen and what did happen are two totally different things.
I ended up sick Friday evening and when the children called the friend, her husband was ill as well. WHAT? I don’t know anything about electricity…are you serious. Oh no! Then I had to stop because I was NOT being gracious or concerned for his health. I was being selfish.
Ok, so this means I can dig the hole, install the pole and reschedule everything else for the following weekend and week. Ok, no sweat!
Joseph talks to the sheriff to get an extension on the date we MUST be out of the house. He comes by with a friend and they finish digging the hole my big boy started (He did 2 feet!). Pole is in and then Joseph says where is the wiring? I said, they told me it all came with the pole. Guess what? It was the wiring for the electric company’s end. You purchase your wire separately. Oh My Gosh! Are you serious? I have 0 $. My account is overdrawn as it is and I need more money? Ok, well I go to Home Depot just to price everything that will be needed and a young man helps me out. He says, you can use aluminum wiring instead of copper, the only thing that has to be copper is the grounding wire. Ok great, aluminum is 3 times less expensive than copper. The total…a little over $95 bucks. I head back to the house and tell Joseph. Then I spot something; shingles and a few other things un-used from the new roof. Hey can’t we take that back and get store credit and buy the materials needed for the electricity? He does later that evening and guess what…it all comes to about $93 total!!! Yes, you read that right. There was $97 in store credit, when done we have $4 store credit left.

I don’t know the first thing about electricity, except it can kill you, oh and that’s how lights work and stove, etc.; and neither does Joseph. But we walk to the back of the double wide, look at how it’s done and figure, can’t be too difficult. The worse that could happen is the house burns down. That was a joke..Ha Ha. The electric company checks everything before they connect it. Joseph says he’ll be back Monday.

Sunday was a day of praise. I was literally at the door of the Holy of Holies and knew all would be well.

Monday I called and canceled the electric company coming out. Then I begin to bombard the poor man with 50 questions. He finally said, ma’am I’m going to send one of my men out to look at what you’ve got before you do anything. GREAT!!!! Then he says by the way, you can use aluminum wiring. What people don’t know is it contracts and expands and in doing this loosens up the connections and that is where the fire hazard comes in, but I’ll show you what to do, how to do it, and tell you when to do it and you’ll be safe. Again…GREAT!!!!

Joseph gets there a little after noon on Monday and goes to work connecting the wiring. Just as he is about done, a guy from the electric company drives up. He looks at what has been done so far and says “you’ve done a great job thus far”. He’s shocked to find out neither of us knows what we are doing. He stays there another 30 min. walking Joseph through the rest of the connections and even leaves some of his tools for us to use. We have the aluminum wiring all connected, but there is still that dilemma about the copper grounding wire. He says, you don’t need it. If you want that extra added precaution go for it. He used to do this stuff for a living. He said they did it this way with 3 grounding wires just to cover their butts, but it wasn’t necessary. He said you have 2 grounding wires, you’re good. If you get a little nervous later and have the money, you can add the copper wiring later. We look at him in disbelief, because up to this point we are both thinking me and the children will be without electricity again until Jan. (copper wiring was an additional $40). He again looked things over and said no, you have done a phenomenal job not to be an electrician. You did everything right and all is in order. Someone was guiding you. I’m thinking YEAH…His name is JESUS!!!!!

Sooooooooooo, now I really get into over gear, trying to plan and prepare what needs to be done. The fridge, washer, dryer, all still need to be moved. We can’t connect water and septic till the other house is moved. Inconvenient, but we’ll have to use the double wide for water and bathroom usage, but it’s just right out our back door. It’s not across the street like it was when we first moved out there. We’ve done this before, it’s like camping. The only difference is then it was August, 105 degree temperatures and now it is December, varied temperatures.

Our greatest challenge will be tonight when it is to get down to 28. Remember, I have no more money and we have no portable heaters right now. But guess what? I’m not worried about that either. We have sleeping bags and tons of blankets. We’ll all sleep in the living room and huddle together…we’ve done it before. We’ll be fine. God will provide, I’m sure of it. He already has!!!