Life as we know it.

It's been a while since I've made the time to sit down and blog, but for good reason.  We have been in our new home for about 3 weeks now.  We are, for the most part, settled in and adjusting to this new place.  We get asked often how we are enjoying being here, and I can honestly say we love it!  The new church we are at has gone above and beyond to make us feel welcomed.  The entire first week we were here we had meals provided for us.  I didn't even go grocery shopping until the fourth day we were here!  Yes, life is pretty good here and I am very much looking forward to see what the future holds for us.

On a related note, let me tell you all what happened to me yesterday.  From the beginning:

As any mother can attest, Sunday's can be hard.  I can't, for the life of me, get all five of us in a routine that makes getting ready for church easier.  I try very hard to go the entire morning not raising my voice, but I just don't always make it.  Why do the kids move so slow?  Where do all the shoes disappear to on Sunday mornings?  Why does that cowlick pick Sundays to be the most stubborn and pronounced?  The struggle is real, folks.  Regardless, we did make it out the door and to church on time for the kids to go to Sunday school, with little to no permanent scarring.

For worship we enjoy having our kids sit with us.  We feel it helps to teach the kids that it's okay and necessary to learn to sit still and quietly.  Zach took part in the service so I sat with our kids alone.  At one point, Ryann hit her head on the pew and began crying.  I told the other two to stay there and I got up to take her out.  I am almost to the back of the sanctuary when I realize Noah has tagged along.  Somehow, within the 2.5 seconds I left them, his sister had found a way to seriously offend him.  Sigh.  When the closing song begins, Noah, Ryann and I make our way back to our seat.  Jeez, who was sitting here?  Animal crackers strewn about, colors on the floor, two bulletins seemed to have multiplied to countless pieces of paper.  Sigh, again.

With Zoe's help we get everything picked up and gathered.  I grab my purse, Ryanns diaper bag, the church bag, and the baby, and head out to the new Prayer Garden where we were having a blessing and dedication along with taking communion.  Again, Zach is participating in this service so I stand there, in the sun, with my arms full of the above mentioned items.  The baby is hot, tired, hungry (despite the number of animal crackers she partially consumed during church) and is squirming to be put down.  Noah keeps wanting to stand with his Daddy in the front.  Zoe is bored and restless.  Double sigh.

Then, do you know what happened?  This sweet older woman, whom I'm sure I've met but can't remember her face in the sea of faces I've encountered these past few weeks, witnessed my plight from across the garden and made her way to me.  "Can I please help you by holding your purse and bags for you?"  I'm not sure what she thought of my expression, but I felt overwhelmed with relief and gratefulness. "YES!" I practically shouted it.  "Thank you soooo much."  She held my belongings, literally taking a burden from my shoulders, allowing me to enjoy the moment a bit more, to take communion without struggling.

One small, little gesture.  It meant so much to me.

Being part of the church for most of my life, I have heard it countless times: "How can we get young families in the church? How do we reach the millennials?"

Here's my answer:  I couldn't care less about the type of music you play, the clothing your congregants wear, the type of seating, if the pastor robes up or not.  I have enough struggles and worries to let those types of things bother me.  I want to be a part of a place that shows me and others the Love of Christ.  If you want to get young, busy, stressed out families in your church, then love them.  Easy as that.  If you see a young mother struggling with her kids, offer to help. Say something encouraging.  Love her.  If you know a single mother who worries about her car making it to work, to school, to the babysitters, then fix it for her.  Take away that burden.  Replace it with love.

I've been accused in the past of looking unapproachable.  It angers and saddens me when I've heard these comments, always from people I've gone to church with, because I want to ask them, when you see me looking like that, is Zach there? Do I have kids hanging off me?  Have you given any thought to what may have happened in our home, just to get us there?  I'm counting it a victory to just be here sometimes, I'm sorry if I don't appear happy and carefree all the time.

So, moral of the story and of this rant, be aware of what other people may be going through.  Offer to help, even if it's a small, little gesture.  Even a word of encouragement or understanding can go a long way to show other's what LOVE means.

I am finding that lately it is hard NOT to be happy.  I used to find trying to be happy as a chore, a task I tried to force my self to do.  The past year has had a lot of challenges.  It was a year ago this weekend that Zach moved to New Boston, leaving the kids and me in Plainview.  I have a difficult time believing it was just one year ago.  In this past year we have moved twice, both times to homes I had never seen, gotten pregnant, then lost a pregnancy and had the task of acclimating to new home, new town, new jobs, new church, and new friends...twice.  Wow, just typing that makes me weary.  Yet, even while reflecting on all the trials we have faced, I know that we have been so blessed.  I know, without even the shadow of a doubt, that we have gone where we were supposed to go, done what we needed to do.  I can also say that I am probably at peace more now than I have ever been before.

On another note, life has been trucking along as usual.  We are trying still to get used to some kind of routine.  With our busy schedule I have to remind myself to have fun too. Saturday, even though there are about a million ongoing projects at the house, we chose to delay them a little longer and enjoy the beautiful day with our children.  We drove up to the Organ Mountains and enjoyed a hike and picnic at Dripping Springs.  Once we got it through to Zoe that the hike wasn't about the destination or about the time it took to get there, we had a nice afternoon, relishing in God's mighty creation.  Zoe even claimed to have seen "Baby Jesus" in a rock formation. :)

Sunday was Wesley Sunday at our new church home.  I was very impressed with the services put on by these students.  I know that Zach was very proud, which he should be, he has some amazing kids in that program.  The Wesley student president gave the message, reminding us to not wear our religion as an accessory.

Catching up on cleaning and laundry today.  We are planning a trip to Plainview on Thursday and it would seem prudent to have clean clothes to wear. ;)

Wishing you all peace and happiness...

Do you hear that? Silence!

I don't know about everyone else, but life has been crazy around here! Zach has been super busy with work, having many more meetings and other activities than he has had before.  Many nights he is not home when I put the kids to bed.  We are hoping that soon we will get used to some kind of schedule.  Thank goodness for Fridays off!

We have had much difficulty in finding doctors here in Las Cruces.  Zach spent most of his time Thursday calling doctors, clinics, and people we know here to see if they could recommend a doctor for us.  We got a doctor for the kids (the wife of a board member) even though they weren't accepting new patients and got well visits scheduled for October (the soonest they could get in).  No such luck for us.  Thursday afternoon was spent in the ER to see about some stomach pains I had been having.  The diagnosis is a probable ulcer and I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist on Wednesday.  Thankful that we had someone to call that afternoon to come and get the kids so they didn't have to sit there with me (though they are no strangers to an er unfortunately).

Saturday was Zachs and mine anniversary. Six years! Doesn't sound so long but I have a hard time remembering my life before Zach.  We had a Wesley student come sit for the kids while we went to a movie and out to dinner.  It was a great day.  I couldn't love my family more!

Sunday my parents stopped by for a quick visit on their way home from Arizona.  Even though Zach had to work we enjoyed their visit.  Noah was so sad to see his Weazer and Riley leave Monday morning that I didn't think he would ever stop crying.

Monday we had some friends over for a cookout and a friendly game of Mexican Train.  Good times were had by all.

Even among the chaos that is our life, it is so easy to see how much we are blessed.  Sending prayers out to a wonderful family I love as they are anticipating answers tomorrow....

Thoughts...

It's been a crazy past several days. Noah was in the hospital and this momma was alone for several hours with him. Zach was hours away along with all family. Thankfully some church members were able to come and get Zoe for the night and drive me to meet Zach in Dallas after Noah was airlifted. I know it was hard on my mom to be far away and unable to help. She has some amazing friends that live in the area and they were at the hospital when we got there. It was a source of great comfort to mom that we had someone there with us. I have an amazing son who because of his great personality was able to be released from icu early.

We are also awaiting some news that could potentially be life changing and the not knowing is driving Zach and me batty. Ready to know for sure the path that is meant for us.

I feel ready for a big change. I feel the need to expunge some people from my life. Tired always of people not living up to what they claim to be; not doing what they say they will do. Be honest with yourself about who and what you are and then you can be honest with others. I try to do the same thing but others may not agree. :)

Enjoying a quiet afternoon with my son catching up on much needed rest and Zoe at the church with Zach.