Settling In

The boys are upstairs in the toy room playing with trucks.  The girls are outside riding bikes up and down the driveway.  Rachel is napping in the downstairs bedroom.  And I finally find myself without a long list of things that need to be done yesterday.

For a month now we have been moving at approximately 100 miles per hour.  Claude and I have kept very late nights trying to get through all that needed to be packed, cleaned, tied up, set up, unloaded, or put away.  In between the packing and unpacking stages we managed to drive our little family from Texas to Virginia without any major issues - not even a bout of motion sickness to report.  Praise the Lord!  :)

It has certainly been an exciting month.  And stressful.  Let's not leave that out!  I don't think I have ever felt more stress than I have during this move.

Now that the house is pretty much set up and our relocation is essentially complete, I have time to think and pray about re-establishing our routines and schedules.  Usually I love working on things like this, but today I'm not wanting to tackle the issue.  Hence the blog post.  ;)

While many things can remain the same, there is much that must change in order to fit our new normal.  The problem with making the changes is that I don't yet know what the new normal looks like.  I'm still figuring it out.  And the adjustments necessary to make a long-distance move work seem to never end.

For one thing, we find ourselves living in a semi-rural setting.  I say "semi" because we can see neighbors on both sides of us and across the street.  We are not truly isolated, but neither are we close to amenities like shopping, doctors, libraries, and the like.

We will have a lot of practice riding in the car since pretty much everything is 45 minutes from home.  I can't really complain about the driving, though, since most of it looks like this:

And once we get near to our house, it looks a little more like this:

We can drive 45 minutes and find ourselves at Walmart, Sam's Club, or church.  But we can also visit places like the Appomattox Court House National Historic Park where, just about 150 years ago, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General U.S. Grant and the Civil War came to an end.  And it's "just down the road".

Other adjustments have mainly to do with how our household runs.  Laundry is changing some because we now have two different baskets for dirty laundry - one on the main floor and one upstairs.  Chores will change since we have a different setup than our previous home.  Even sleeping arrangements, and therefore bed times, have changed.  Our upstairs bedrooms are gigantic (a good "problem" to have) so we decided to have a bedroom for all five kids and a toy room.  And with that come more and more adjustments.

The funny thing about all of these changes is that I feel like we have never lived anywhere else than here.  It's surreal to think that just a few weeks ago we were Claude was dragging a very heavy washing machine up the front steps, into a house that was cold, dusty, and full of unpacked boxes.

Is it telling that the first thing that made this house feel like home was having that washing machine and dryer hooked up and running?  You know you do a lot of laundry when...  :)

Yesterday as the kids and I drove home from taking Gramma to the airport, I felt a sense of relief as I saw the sign with the name of our little town.  It may be new.  There may be dozens of adjustments to be made, but this is home and it feels great to be settling in.

Snapshots: Visit with Gramma

I'm sure she's ready to be back in her quiet house, but we sure have enjoyed having her here!

Thanks for coming, Mom!

 

Snapshots: Sunday S'Mores

I know, I really owe you an actual post with more than two paragraphs of text excuses.  Sorry...this post will not be it.  But rest assured, I have been blogging in my head for about three weeks.  Eventually some of that will translate into some real writing.

For now, please enjoy some pictures from our backyard "camp out".  I'm not sure why we called it that because we weren't camping out at all.  But we did have a nice fire going and we enjoyed plenty of hot dogs and s'mores.  Yum!
 

Snapshots: The Big Move

There is much that I would love to write.  The past two weeks have been incredibly stressful, exciting, exhausting, and also bittersweet.  I feel like I am recovering from some major life-altering experience...wait a minute.  I am recovering from a major life-altering experience!  ;)

Anyway...I don't have the time at the moment to write all about how we packed a 20-foot truck, a minivan, and Big Red to drive 1,300 miles across the country with five children in tow.  There are things that we did that really worked.  And things that didn't.  There are thoughts about the endurance required in a move of this type and thoughts about leaving behind a group of loving friends.  And, as can be expected, the crazy stories of life with a handful of littles abound.

In place of writing I'll include some photos and (Lord willing) sometime in the near future before I die or Christ returns, there will be opportunity to write more.

Our first day driving.

Logging in driving hours while everyone was asleep.

Final day - driving through Central Virginia.

First family hike.  This trail is only 15 minutes from our house.  Amazing!

And for those who are particularly brave, here is a video from the last hour of the drive.

 

Happy 1st Birthday, Rachel!

Wow, I can't believe it's already been one year since this little girl made a very dramatic and very quick entrance into the world!

  

A few things about Rachel:

She won't go to sleep at night unless one of her sisters is in the room with her.

She wakes up with gusto - wriggling, kicking her legs, and talking up a storm.

She is incredibly independent.

She loves to be in the middle of the action, and there is plenty of that around our house!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Blessings Abound: Big Red

It's huge.  It's red.  And it's amazing that it is sitting on our driveway.

We, the Chew Crew, are pleased to present to you the newest member of the family.

Big Red.

After accepting a job offer at University of Virginia, Claude's and my thoughts turned toward the lack of heat in our van.  One day, as I drove past a large car dealership in our area, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be great if God just bought us a new van for our trip?"  I laughed about it then.  But I'm laughing even more now!

As some may remember, last week we came to a crisis(ish) point with our Chrysler van.  I left that post with an addendum saying that the car was going to the mechanic because the repair might be about half of the original quoted cost.  It turns out that the mechanic was hopeful but not accurate.  Once he had a good look at the van, he gave us the news we knew to expect.

Everything.  Absolutely everything, from the dashboard would have to be removed.  The HVAC needed to be taken out, and one or two small, inexpensive parts would need to be replaced.  It would take 10 hours of labor to get it all done.  The mechanic even asked Claude if he really wanted to pay for this work since the van was barely worth the price of the repair.  But we didn't have another vehicle, so what else could we consider?

The question still remained, though.  How were we going to pay for such a pricey repair?

In the midst of all of this, Claude had emailed our church community and asked them to pray.  The problem needed some big intervention from God and we needed a lot of wisdom to make appropriate decisions.  So, our church prayed and we prayed and after a couple of days we thought we came to a solution.

We would get some heated blankets for the kids, rig up a space heater to warm the inside of the car in the mornings, and wait until some funds that we hadn't considered using before would be available to purchase a different vehicle.  This seemed like a reasonable solution that would work within our means.

On Sunday evening we were about to make an online order for electric blankets for the car when we received an email.

The Lord had provided a very generous gift to us to be used for the repair or to go toward a car that would fit our needs.  We were stunned.

As we prayed to thank God for giving so abundantly through His people, we started asking how we should use the funds.  I'm not sure what happened, but something switched in both of our thinking.  We sat down, ran some quick calculations, and realized that we could probably get a new van before we left Texas.

Claude hit the ground running on Monday morning, calling a dealer where we had found a van within our price range.  By the end of the day we had put a deposit on it and were getting our Toyota Corolla ready to be traded in.

Come Monday night, I was feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing.  What if we weren't supposed to be going through with this?  What if the cost ended up being too high?  What if the wheel covers for the Corolla didn't arrive in time for the trade in?  What if...what if...what if???

We even realized that we had a gap in our moving budget.  A gap that we couldn't close on our own.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't stressed out about this!

So, we just kept praying, knowing that God would do something.

About 11:00am on Tuesday morning I got an email from Claude.  His department at work had won some award or recognition and everyone in the department could expect a bonus in their next pay check.  The amount was for nearly the exact amount of the gap in our moving budget.  I couldn't believe it!

Five minutes later the doorbell rang.  On our doorstep were the wheel covers Claude had ordered just two days prior - wheel covers we needed to put on our Corolla to help out its trade in appraisal.  Again, I was blown away by God's timing.

Then came Tuesday night.  Claude came home to tell me that more had been added to the monetary gift we received word about over the weekend.  He put down two checks and an envelope of cash.  We were amazed!

Before the week was over, God provided again and again.  Envelopes from people at church, an email saying that someone was giving toward our move/car needs, and support from family and friends.

 
Needless to say, it is incredible that just one week from writing a post about coming to the end of our resources, there is a monstrous red van on our driveway.  For a few years Claude and I have been talking about our next "move" with a car.  We would love to have more children, and if the Lord gave us more then we would need more seats in our vehicle to accommodate them.  But we never imagined that it would happen like this or at this time.

This process has reminded me of how God gave me a violin back in college.  He could have been conservative in His provision, but He wasn't.  His gift, through a very generous believer, was extravagant.  With our heater situation He could have also been conservative.  We could have been driving to VA with electric blankets and a space heater.  We would have been warm and we would have been content.  But God didn't stop at just providing a working heater.  He blessed us above and beyond our needs and our expectations.

We praise the Lord for His abundant blessings!  And we are incredibly grateful to each person who played a part in the pouring out of His provision to us.  We don't even know who most of you are, but we want to thank you for being a part of God showering His love on us.  It has been overwhelming and so amazing!

The kids are calling the new van "The Big Red Van".  Jeremiah has deemed it "The Big Red Bus".  But I have been thinking of it as "The Blessing Mobile" to remind us of this time, when receiving the Lord's blessing has been like standing at the foot of a breaking dam.

And who knows.  Maybe one day the seats will be filled with blessings.  And no, that's not an announcement of more additions to the Crew.  ;)

 

Blessings Abound: The Story of My Violin

There are times in life when God steps in and does something unexpected.  Usually these divine interventions coincide with a situation in which we can do absolutely nothing for ourselves.  We have reached the end of our resources, strength, or wisdom and God is the only one who can do anything in the situation.

I usually think that these situations will only be dire needs, and Claude and I have certainly been on the receiving end of God's gracious provision for many of our needs.  What strikes me, though, is that sometimes God doesn't stop at providing for the need alone.  He goes above and blesses us abundantly beyond what we ever dreamed or imagined.

Why does He do this?  Why in some situations does He leave it at meeting the need and other times heaps on blessings for no apparent reason?

I don't really have answers to those questions, except that I know God is omniscient.  And, surprising as it may seem, my knowledge is very limited.  I don't understand, but I can tell the stories and pray that God will be glorified and that His people will be encouraged.

One story that always sticks out to me as a blessing for the sake of blessing alone happened while I was in college.  Currently, Claude and I are experiencing God's abundant provision on steroids.  Just when we think the huge way He has provided for us is "it", He piles on more...and more...and more!  And each time throughout the days as I am blown away and reduced to tears over His great gifts, I remember a summer day back in 2001 when I was left to try and comprehend God's goodness.

Of course it goes almost without saying that God's greatest gift is the salvation He offers through His Son, Jesus Christ.  And I can tell of a spring day back in high school when I received that amazing gift.  But again, the thing that really gets me about God is that He doesn't stop there.  He just keeps going and going on the blessing front.

When I was in high school my parents gave me a wonderful gift - a new violin.  I had been renting one from the school for a few years, and after showing that I was committed to studying violin and had been in private lessons for a while, they decided it was time to own one myself.

Fast forward to my college days and I was "outgrowing" that violin from my parents.  If you are a musician, you have probably come to this stage with your instrument as well.  Every instrument has limitations and some are great for intermediate students, like I was in high school.  But I came to a point where a new violin was in order.

The problem was that I didn't have the money for it.  My parents didn't have the money for it either, and by this time I was becoming more responsible for my financial needs, so the ball was really in my court.  My resources hardly made a dent in the price of a new violin.  So I started praying about it.

The solution was to rent a violin from the university.  That in itself was pretty amazing.  The violin I had in my care was one that I couldn't have dreamed of playing, ever!  The rental, however, was for a limited time and once summer rolled around I was back with my own instrument.

I was planning on attending my all-time favorite music festival that summer, but before the semester came to a close I had the opportunity to play some new instruments for a friend who was in the market to buy.  She wanted to hear the instrument as well as play it herself.  I probably played 3-5 instruments for her but there was one that really stood out.

Even though I had no idea why I said it, I told my friend about this particular instrument, "You can't buy this one.  This one is mine!"  I know, it sounds pretty selfish.  Maybe it was, but I don't think I intended it that way.  Something about that instrument felt perfect under my fingers.

In the end she bought a different one, and that was the end of that.  While I didn't forget about the violin, I didn't think about it much because the price was way out of reach.

So, after attending the music festival, someone I knew fairly well approached me.  She had heard that I was in need of a new instrument.  We chatted about it for a while and then, as the conversation turned toward the cost and my lack of funds, she looked me in the eyes and said, "I'm going to buy you a new violin."

And then, she left the room.

I remember sitting there, wondering how to process this.  One minute I had a need, had no resources to meet that need, and was really just waiting on the Lord to do something.  The next minute I was left to figure out if I was dreaming or if I had in fact just heard someone say that they were going to fill this need.

Within a couple weeks of that conversation I was practicing on the violin I had played for my friend in the spring.  The one I had claimed was "mine" was actually mine!

I do wonder why God did that.  He could have been more conservative with His provision of an instrument.  He is all-knowing, and He knew that 15 years down the road I wouldn't be playing that violin very often.  He knew that my life would take a very different direction and focus than the direction I was headed in my college years.  And yet, He still blessed me with an incredible gift of a beautiful instrument.  Just because He could.  Because He is good.

And that, I guess is the crux.  God gives because of who He is, not because of who we are or what we've done.  I certainly hadn't done anything to deserve such an awesome gift.  While my violin playing had advanced to a certain point it wasn't as if I was some superstar.  I had prayed here and there about a new instrument, but I wasn't fasting or anything like that.  If I thought of it, I just put up a short prayer and moved on.  I hadn't given such a gift to anyone else that I deserved one in return.  And the person who reduced me to silence with an eight word statement had no reason that I could see to choose me to be the recipient of her extreme generosity.

That violin has been a reminder to me of just how much God delights in blessing His children.  It taught me a lot about His character - He doesn't just stop with the basics, He exceeds our needs and expectations because His love knows no bounds.  And what an expression of God's love that instrument has been over the years.  Over a decade later I am still stunned by God's generous gifts and the willingness of His people to be the means through which He provides.

It is humbling, astounding, and simply incredible!