Wherever He Leads I'll Go

"As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest,

So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name." Isaiah 63:14

What a journey it has been!  If someone would have told me at the beginning of 2013 where we would end up at the end of May, I wouldn't have believed them.  The Lord has called us to leave our life of comfort and venture out to something completely new.  We have lived quite comfortably in our big house with a big yard in a wonderful quiet neighborood for the past 5 years.  But for some reason, He is leading us to a brand new place without our family and friends that we love dearly.  My husand's brother and his family are the only ones we know in our new location.

I could sit here and drown myself in self-pity thinking of not having my parents closer, or my only sister, or my in-laws, or our wonderful friends.  However, knowing that the Lord is leading us to a new place makes me a little curious to find out why He's taking us there.

So, just to let you know...everything I have blogged about since I started writing has been out the window the past several weeks!  (My laundry system, my smart shopping, my organization!)  It's hard to do those things when you are packing up a home.  I can't begin to tell you how much I desire to be back to those things by the way!



Clothes, clothes, clothes, taking over the hallway!



I used to have a dining room...now it's filled with boxes!



Where do I start??

Let me begin by helping you to remember how the Lord laid it on our hearts that I needed to be home.  How much less stressful life has been since we followed His guidance in that.  Before, I would have moved all right...but with kicking and screaming!  I wouldn't have wanted to pack up my teaching things and find a new job in a new place while learning how to teach in a new state.  Our kids would be moving to new schools???  I would not have been a happy camper.  But my, my, God has done a work in our family.  He has changed hearts, and He has changed the desires of the heart!

The job search began with lots and lots of prayer.  We wanted to be totally guided by the Lord.  Boy, have we been!  The process of applying and actually finding out my husband had the job actually wasn't that long of a time frame...but it sure felt like it!  After finding out he had the job, we knew we had to put our house up for sale and find a place in not only a brand-new city, but also a brand-new state. 

We prayed continually again.  We looked for rental houses on Craigslist daily.  We were making a trip to our new location and wanted to have some leads on homes when we got there.  When we arrived we stayed with my husband's brother, who also had a lead for us.  After looking at three houses, we knew that the one that my brother-in-law found for us fit our family perfectly.  We paid our deposit and headed home a day early knowing that the Lord had provided for us again!  On the way home I told my husband, "You know...we spent so much time searching for a home daily before we left.  Do you realize we didn't even have to look at one house...the Lord had provided one for us?  We could have come up here without any leads and this house would have still been there for us."  Now, let me add, our new home is not as big or as new as our home now.  But, how can we complain when He has been so gracious??  I'm actually rather excited about our new home!

So, job - check!  House - check!  He has also provided friends and family that are willing to pack us up and drive the 7-8 hours to help us unload.  What a blessing these people are! 

The only thing that is left uncertain is our current home.  Our home is still for sale.  I could again drown in self-pity about paying both a mortgage and rent.  But how can I not trust the Lord?  He has provided over and over again for our family and I know He will provide for us yet again.  It may not be how I would like it or when I like it.  But He will provide.  We may be living a little extremely frugal and tight and not at all how we have been living.  But I rest assured that we will be provided for.  Dry beans may be the main meal at our house through hard times and family outings may now mean staying in and being creative, but what wondeful memories to look back and see that He still provided!

We are loading up the moving trucks (plural) tomorrow and Friday and heading out this weekend, beginning our new journey.  Pray for us, I ask.  We don't know what the Lord has in store for us.  I pray we are faithful to Him and remember the reason we are here, and that is to honor and glorify the Heavenly Father. 

"As a beast goes down into the valley, And the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest,

So You lead Your people, To make Yourself a glorious name." Isaiah 63:14

Happy Birthday to my First Born!

Oh my, where to start??  For those of you that know her, you know exactly what I mean.

I have so many stories about this little sassy momma.  This child is extremely intelligent.  So smart, that she didn't start walking until 15 months.  Why is that so smart, you might ask?  She had a little Radio Flyer wooden horse on wheels.  She figured out that she didn't have to start walking, she could just get on this horse and manuever her way around the house.  It took her parents a few months to catch on.  After we realized and took away the horse, that little girl was on her feet. 

She has always been extremely feminine.  She loves princesses, jewelry, bows, dresses, and stickers:

My goodness, she has always put a smile on our faces. 

Aside from being very imaginitive and intelligent, she loves, and I mean loves, to hear the Word of God.  This child soaks it up and can remember facts that she heard better than me or her daddy.  This is my favorite charaterisitic about her.  I love when we finish reading the bible and she says, "Aw, man, I want you to read some more.  Please?  Don't stop."

She loves homeschooling.  She loves having mommy as her teacher.  Mommy loves having her for a student ; )  She just "gets it".  In all of my eight years of teaching, I never had a student like her.  She gets everything on the first time.  I will plan these detailed lessons and before I even get deep into it, she has mastered it, and I'm like, "Ok...next..."

My Sadee Bug is also VERY honest.  This is a wonderful quality about her.  I make sure to point this out to her regularly.  There is a sibling of hers who would rather try it anyway, and ask for forgiveness later.  Sadee couldn't live with herself if she did something without us knowing.  She will come out of her room, find me wherever I am in the house, and tell me that she did something wrong.  I LOVE THIS KID!  (I hope I am not painting the picture that she is perfect, because she is not.  She just has some great characterisitics!)

I often ask the girls to "stay with me forever".  I jokingly ask them to not get married and just live with me forever.  I had a conversation with her a few days before her birthday that went something like this:

Me: Sadee, you're turning six soon.  Six is getting close to ten. Can you just stay five, please?

Sadee: I can't stay five.

Me: Aw, why not?

Sadee: (Very matter-of-factly I may add) Don't you want grandchildren?

So, I can't stop her from turning six, as bad as I would like to.  I think of her getting older and it's almost too much to bare.  Time is flying.  All I can do is pray for her.  Pray that God will change and soften her heart.  Pray that He will give her a deeper desire for His Word.  Pray that He will give her a godly husband who loves her like Christ loves the church.  As tears form in my eyes, I can hear her silly voice down the hall from her room as I type this.  I know I can't keep her little, but oh that I may teach her the ways of the Lord, and when she is old that she will not depart from it. (Paraphrased, Proverbs 22:6)

I thank God for the six years I have had with this bundle of joy.  We have learned so much through raising this first born.  Happy birthday, Sadee bug!

Love these silly faces!



My hard worker!