February 22nd, 2012 by Kim

“Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence” Psalm 42:5

This is the verse the Lord gave me yesterday. I had had a very bad day on Monday. Zac was gone, the house was overwhelming me, the kids had so many questions and I did not have answers.

So yesterday morning, out of despair, I decided that I had to set aside first thing for some Bible study. These are the verses God gave me. Is it surprising they are perfect and just what i need! I also studied about dependence on God (instead of ourselves). It was so good for me to hear this message again.

I decided that when the kids got home from school, the first thing we would do, in the midst of our chaos and messy new home, would be to write verses on the walls to remind us of the great things God has done for us. A testimony and reminder of his love and power for us. Also to encourage us and keep us focused on what things are important. So no boxes got unpacked or cleaned or moved until there was a verse in every room. It was perfect! The kids LOVED doing it.

House: We moved in the snow on Saturday! It was really a day we won’t forget. Zac was terribly ill, Hampton not too far behind him. From 9 am until 4:30 pm around 15 people from our church and friends worked so hard to get all of our things moved from storage into our new home. It snowed a lot and the sun was shining through at times. For sure we won’t forget this move!

Moving in: There are several reasons we have not slept in our new house. First, it is incredibly dirty; Not the house, but all the boxes and furniture that was in storage for 9 months. Some of it was outside in a barn. I really was not prepared for this. Everything is so very very dirty. I am spending most of my time washing every surface. I actually scrubbed bird poop off of one of our large wardrobes!

Another reason we aren’t in yet is since there is no kitchen. Hopefully today or tomorrow they will get started on that.

Zac away: Zac is in Czech for the week at the Advance conference for church leaders. Although it is a difficult time for him to be away, we are so thankful for this time of learning, encouraging, and casting a new vision for the future of Slovakia’s churches.

Sicknesses: Hampton is slowly recovering. Sometimes I get nervous with his cough. I rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to speak to me regarding when I need to take him in. All that is left is a runny nose and some cough (that is stronger at times). I’m recovering too as well as Zac. Its really hard ti tell at this point what is left from his sickness and what is new as a result of all the dust in the house.  Sam continues to be healthy as does Emili. Gwyneth fought off her illness and is going strong too. Tomorrow will be the real test. We plan to sleep in the new house!

Still moving: Today I am working on getting all of our things from Kompas. It is overwhelming. I keep reminding myself of the passages I studied yesterday and telling myself (and God): I can’t do this. You will have to do it for me. My dependence is in YOU.

A few things missing: So,  inevitably we can not find some things (already):   Emili’s mattress set. We didn’t use it in the last house, but stored it the basement. That is the last place we remember seeing it. It was not in either of the storage places. Also the rails and slats for this same bed. She is pretty upset about it and I am trying to have compassion. However, in the big scheme it seems so insignificant, although I do recognize she needs a place to sleep! I have to remind myself about perspective of a 14 yo girl. Also missing is the hardware for the dining table (to put it together). So many boxes. So far nothing.

Girls room: When we decided on this house, we knew we would need a cleaver way to make up for the extra bedroom (there are only 3 bedrooms here and we wanted a guest room). One idea was to build a loft in the girls room for extra space (the rooms are small for 2 people. We found a builder and he sent us some plans yesterday. They are very simple, but perfect. However the price is pretty expensive) especially when you consider it is something built in. It is not something we can take when we leave or some furniture we are investing in. We just need wisdom. It is important to the girls to have their own space, but maybe there is a better solution. Help us pray for this wisdom.