We are in the tumbler...

This past week was a doozy!  I realized the other day that I have been so busy and tired that my personal hygiene has suffered!  My toenails have been unpainted for most of the week.  Although I could just be satisfied that the old paint is off, but I just haven't had a spare moment to paint them anew.  I should also apologize to my small group because I realized (much after the fact) that when I went on Thursday night I hadn't bathed in two days.  Couple that with the fact that I had mowed the yard and done other manual labor in said two days and I am pretty sure I was not looking or smelling too pretty Thursday evening.  Oh well.  Most of the world's population doesn't bathe daily or even in clean water, so I can survive a 48 hour stent.  Later I realized as I went downtown Saturday night that I didn't know if my clothes matched or not, or if I had brushed my hair.  Good times.  Perhaps this made me look cool in the hipsterish crowd that usually occupies the downtown restuarants on the weekends in Champaign.  That is my hope anyway.  I should have worn a pair of thick-rimmed glasses just to seal the deal.  I'll have to remember that next time.
     This week did have it's fun though.  Wednesday we got to go on a tour of Curtis Orchard with a homeschool group.  The girls got to learn a lot about bees and how apples are sorted, cleaned, and made into cider.  Then we all got a snack!  I love Curtis Orchard's apple donuts!  We all got honey sticks too.  Then the girls played on the playground, fed the goats, and loved on all the kitties that live at the Orchard.  Gwyn and Celee kept saying they wished they had a kitty.  I kept reminding them that we DO have a kitty, but they want one of their own.  OhhhK.  Poor Moxie, she did choose Jason as her favorite so I guess that's what she gets.  Just joking.  I think they just loved that the particular cats at the orchard would just come up and jump in their laps and stay there.  At least I'm always able to put them off with "One day when we have our farm...."   If we follow through with all the times I say this, we are going to have quite the menagerie one day.  It was a lovely day to be there.  Lyla got to sit with some of "her people" for the snack and play later so she was happy.  As long as I sat/stood in the sun I wasn't cold and there wasn't a lot of wind.  It was a great day to go there, be with friends, and enjoy being outside. 

Friday and Saturday we had our garage sale.  We got rid of everything big that we were going to sell except a TV.  I got rid of a lot of little stuff too.  Then Sat. we got to take all the remains to Goodwill and wahlah!  a considerable load of things is gone!  Now I can tackle the packing and staging in earnest.  It's weird to not have a couch and I'm still not looking forward to packing up the homeschool desks that we just got the way we liked it, but que sera sera.  Each of the girls has a crate to keep their stuff in and the plan is to pick the crates up and leave if someone comes to look at the house.  That's the plan anyway.  I'm hoping it works out that easily.  :)

Sunday was a special day for us all.  Gwyn and Celee each made the decision that they wanted to be baptized and they wanted to do it together.  We had talked with our children's minister about it and the girls had decided they didn't want to do it in front of the whole church and they wanted me to do it.  Now, I grew up Southern Baptist so this was a little weird for me.  But tradition aside, biblically the first churches didn't have certain people who could or could not baptize.  That was a responsiblitly of all believers.  And they did it in small groups home churches.  So that's not weird either.  So I decided since there was no scriptural reason to deny it and the church was cool with it (apparently this happens often there and isn't a big deal at all but a viable option) we had the baptism after church on Sunday with just our small group and a few other people who knew and care about Gwyn and Celee.  It was a sweet moment.  What a privalege to welcome my own daughters into the body of Christ.  It's neat to think that now they are my daughter/sisters.  My friend Robin told me I probably shouldn't say that when we get to Maryland, and I thought wouldn't that be funny!  "Hi!  I'm from Mississippi and these are my daughter-sisters."  What a great stereotype that would play on.  Anyway, Jason and I are so proud of Gwyn and Celee.  They really took this upon themselves and took it very seriously.  I just love to see the buds of strong Christian women growing in them!  Praise Him! 












The whirlwind bathroom remodel is mostly done.  The big stuff is done anyway.  I feel like we did the Mobile workers' slogan proud, "No one gets hurt!"  Thank goodness.  We (more like Jason) took out some walls, moved some wiring and plumbing, sheetrocked, and we didn't get hurt!  Now the work is pretty much cosmetic.  Let's hope that goes better than the previous tasks.
So we've been in the tumbler this past week.  I feel like we are just being rolled around and beat from every direction.  It's not all bad stuff, but it just keeps coming!  I told Justin, our children's minister, on Sunday we are going to come out shiny though!  God doesn't promise us an easy or comfortable time.  Thankfully He does give us that sometimes!  Just for now, in this season, that's not the reality.  And I'm ok with that.  I think I can do just about anything if I know there will be an end, when I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.  And there will be an end.  And He will give us the strength to perservere because He is so faithful!  And He has given us such a wonderful community of friends here who make it all so bittersweet!  I am so thankful for the countless times a day when I am encouraged and strengthened by others who may not even know what their words or actions meant for me in that moment.  The Lord is good and He sends what you need when you need it.