Matt was finally able to set up the computer last night. One of the joys of old houses is the lack of modern electrical/cable wiring. Matt is not satisfied with the way he has things working, but ignorance is bliss. I can check e-mail again and get on the internet, so I think it's just fine.
The movers came on Friday to move the furniture over to this house. Although it took much longer than Matt and I expected (they only had two guys for the first half of the day) the furniture did get moved and we did get beds set up. I slept better Friday night than I have in a month. Matt's dad had an emergency appendectomy on Friday, so the plans Matt's mom had for helping us on that day dissolved, but the Lord provided. The kids were able to stay at my friend Tammy's house for the entire day (even though she had company coming for the weekend on Friday night). What a blessing this was to us. Tammy also made us a quiche for our Saturday morning breakfast. Wilma, Nila and Nicole were also huge helpers here on Friday.
Saturday morning started early with the men from church and family coming here to unload the trailer loaded with some of the boxes. Jim, Jan, Felicity and Doris came and helped me unload all the dishes, silverware, etc. Later in the afternoon, Shannan, Julie and my sister-in-law, Jessica, helped me finish unpacking/arranging the kitchen.
Matt and the guys made a trip back to the old house to bring back two trailers. I thought I was surely going to be responsible for someone having a heart attack, especially with all the boxes of school books that had to go upstairs to the loft. Thankfully, there were no medical emergencies, although Matt's brother-in-law, Chris strained his knee. He was a trooper on Saturday, making a couple of trips to Lowe's with my dad and Matt so that they could install a new stove fan as the old one didn't work.
My dad single handedly kept Lowe's in business on Saturday. He made four of five trips there, including one trip to buy us a free-standing water cooler for the kitchen. The well water here is a bit above the limit for nitrates, so we're not allowed to drink it or cook with it. The two realtors involved in this house deal bought us the reverse osmosis system for the kitchen sink, but it only holds two gallons of water, so we felt we needed to augment this with the water cooler.
Matt's mom and my mom kept the kids entertained on Saturday. Matt's mom also provided two huge Subway sandwiches and all the trimmings for lunch. The only thing left after all was said and done was a small bag of Doritos. She also made dinner for the evening crew, which consisted of only family members at that point. No one else was obligated to stay that long. Matt and I know we are loved.
Elizabeth has by far had the most difficult time with this move. She hates change of any kind and big change puts her over the edge. Grandma Jane took Elizabeth under her wing on Saturday and it helped a lot. She even played Elizabeth's favorite game, Life, which is not Grandma's favorite. I got my love of games from her :) Anyway, Elizabeth was pleased. Making Elizabeth the official tour guide of the new Macduff home has also helped. Each time she gives another tour, she finds more things to be excited about.
Our friends Brian and Julie brought dinner over last night. Our families sat down together to share a meal as we have so many times in the past. The kids played hide-and-seek and we talked. Even though the location has changed, it's a familiar and comforting ritual. Matt and Brian got my microwave set up. My sister and niece came and spent some time with us. It was such a nice, relaxing evening after so many chaotic days. God is so good.
Yesterday morning, before church, we sat down as a family in our new living room. Matt read the list of all the people who have helped us in the past three weeks--almost 40 names. We are so humbled by the outpouring of love, support and sweat :) God worked through each and every one of those people to provide for our needs.
Matt read us several verses from the Bible concerning homes and houses. Here's the one that struck me:
When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Deut. 6:10-12).
When Matt and I were writing up the offer with our realtor (a sister in the Lord) for this house, I told her this was our dream house. This was the house for which we'd been searching for a full year, the house which would mesh with the vision the Lord has given Matt and me for this family. I also told the realtor that it's just a house. It's going to burn--in and of itself it has no eternal value. Only what we do here (in Christ) has eternal value. Matt and I pray that it will be so--to God's glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment