News

The weather here in Virginia can be so fickle. One day it's summer and the next you need a winter coat. Friday was nice and I decided to wear my sandals to school. It didn't take me too long to remember why I never wore them to school before. I was in a kindergarten class and had my toes stepped on at least a dozen times. Today and yesterday have been filled with April showers.

The more exciting news of the week is that my daughter Hannah got her learner's permit today. I now have 2 teenagers with their learner's permit. Oh help! Gabriel will be getting his license soon and Holly has another 5 1/2 years before she'll be old enough to drive. Maybe they'll raise the driving age by then!

In the cyber world, there's a great birthday party going on. Marsha is having a bloggy birthday bash and giving away gifts. So click on over there and wish her a happy birthday.

I've got to finish up lesson plans for tomorrow and run Gabe and Hannah to their final drama class for the year. Their performance was last Thursday and they did an awesome job. Tonight's class is the end of the year celebration. That's about it for my busy day. How's your day been?

Moving Misadventure

Shortly after I posted my blog entry last Saturday night, John came into the room where I was and said that he couldn’t sleep. So we decided to go on over to the storage building to sort through our belongings in the “cool” of the night. I think it was only about 80 degrees or so at 10 PM. We had to go through some of the boxes and decide what needed to be stored there in Alabama and what needed to go to Virginia with us. Because we now have an apartment, things like the lawn mower and wheel barrel wouldn’t be necessary. Those and other things were moved into a smaller unit. While there, I turned around and kicked a huge jack and it felt like I broke my pinky toe. It didn’t swell or bruise but it sure hurt for a few days.

The drive to Virginia was smooth and uneventful. It was tiring because I had to follow the van and drive most of the way. Gabriel drove for about 30 minutes but that stressed me out and it was easier to drive. He’s a good driver but hasn’t had much interstate experience. I would prefer that he practice with his dad!

We moved in on Tuesday as planned. It was hot as predicted and besides a friend my age and Jonathan, a teenage boy, it was just us to unload everything. I made sure everyone was drinking plenty of water and Gatorade and we managed to get everything in. We even got everyone’s bed set up except for Holly’s. The pegs to the bunk bed were hiding somewhere and she slept with her mattress on the floor.

Wednesday morning we woke up surrounded by boxes. Anxious to get this apartment to resemble home, I started right away. One of the first things I did, however, was to whack my barefoot pinky toe, the same pinky toe, on a wooden chair leg. This time it swelled. This time it turned black and blue and purple. It’s better now but still needs healing.

The apartment is looking more like a home too, but like my toe, it’s going to take time to get it to where it needs to be. Hannah and Holly are sharing a room that is about one third the size of the room Hannah had to herself in Romania. The pegs were found and the bed is set up. I am going to go in there in just a few minutes and try to organize a few more things. Gabe has finished unpacking and settling in. It is refreshing to go into his room and realize that there is hope for the rest of this place.

Packing - again!

Our short visit to Virginia went well and if all goes as planned, we will be moving on Monday – this Monday. Thankfully most of our belongings are already packed and in the storage building. I am sorry to say however that it’s not as simple as loading it all on a truck. We are moving into a small apartment and everything won’t fit. So some things will remain in storage. John and Gabe worked on organizing that today and Hannah and I packed things up here. I am done in! There is a still ton to do to be ready by Monday morning. We’ll get some more accomplished later. Right now, besides taking a bloggy break, we are going out to eat with John’s sister. We’ve been blessed to visit with her. She is the only one of John’s eight siblings that lives in the same town with us. Next week, we will be family- less again. Just like in Romania but much closer and almost everyone speaks English!

Hannah finished her quilt while we were gone. Check it out!

Virginia - The Search

We arrived here in Virginia Saturday evening and had a great time visiting with a sweet friend. Her husband died of cancer last year, her children are grown and she is excited to have some company and someone to cook for. We went to church with her yesterday morning and then after lunch we drove around different areas of the city. I lived in this area for about 8 1/2 years but we left 14 years ago and so much has changed.

Today we are job searching and apartment hunting. John has an interview tomorrow but we are knocking on as many doors as we can. We only have a few days here so our hope is that our searches will be successful in a short amount of time. Please pray that God will bless our endeavor and open doors for us.

Gabriel, Hannah and Holly seem to be doing fine in our absence. We left them in good hands of course, but have hardly ever left them. I am not sure if leaving them more often would be easier or not. Last year, Gabe and Hannah went to camp with John in the mountains of Romania. I was glad that they were with their dad, but being a mother, I still worried. The comforting verse from Psalm 23:1 came to my mind The Lord is my Shepherd . . . and the Lord spoke to my heart in that still, small, inaudible voice, "I am their Shepherd too, Karen, and I love them even more than you do."

I will keep you updated as our journey continues. Stay tuned!

Something is Bound to Happen

Today I have been trying to get things ready for our trip to Virginia. I don’t feel like I have accomplished much. The kids are staying here with my parents, so I have been working on getting things in order so my mom and dad will know who does what when. We have been here for three months, living with two of the most generous, patient people in the world, trying not to drive them crazy or tear their house apart. Add five people to a house and something is bound to happen and today it did. John brought our printer/copier from the storage building and set it down temporarily in the living room. Sometime later, Holly happened to be in there and saw something that looked unusual underneath it. “Daddy, what is that stuff?” The answer was ink and lots of it! John picked it up and in a moment of panic, instead of taking it out the nearest door, he carried it down the hallway and into Gabe’s room where the box was, dripping ink all the way. Can you feel our hearts sinking to our feet? There we were looking at those dark black dots and spots of ink on the light beige carpet and praying it wasn’t the super-indelible-never-come-off-until-your-dead-and-maybe
-even-longer kind of ink. John immediately got my mom and she found some take-everything-out-even-ink kind of carpet cleaner and showed John how to use it. She and I worked on blotting as much of the ink out of the carpet with paper towels and John had the tedious task of cleaning it all up. Thankfully, most of it came out. There are a few spots that need some more scrubbing but you probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t said anything. Now if we could only get the ink off of our hands!

Moving!

My life in the labyrinth continues but I think that we may have finally found the way to go. It wasn’t the way I imagined, but God always does more than we imagine. It wasn’t the way we had planned but His ways are higher than our ways.

We are planning to move back to where we came from. We have claimed Alabama as home for the last 13 years but Virginia is where we are from. Well, it is where we were from before we moved to Alabama. Anyway, John and I will go up there together in a week or so to check out job and housing possibilities. We are in awe as we watch God’s plan unfold.

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:4-6