Welcome Home

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Part 1: Where will we live?????
To quickly share the amazing facts about finding a place to live, let's travel back in time about 2 months...May 2nd. We don't know how things will end up with Ryan's position at Redeemer Church because we aren't actually sure if there will be a Redeemer Church. This date was the deadline for renewing are lease. We prayed about it a lot and decided that we both had peace about not renewing our lease at our old apartment. We decided that we wouldn't renew it because we weren't sure where God would call us to serve and we wanted to be available to live in whatever community we served in. We made this decision knowing that we would have to live somewhere else by July 2nd.
During our time of transition we did visit several other apartment complexes in the area. Too big. Too small. No units available. Too expensive. Wrong location. Nothing that quite fit us. Then about two weeks ago (umm, was it really only 2 weeks?) Ryan was asked to be the full time Youth Director at Bara Church! We knew that we definitely wanted to stay in the area we were in. There was a townhouse community that we liked in Trophy Club but there was no way that one would be available, right? Wrong! Our new pastor (who happens to live in the same townhouses) told us that he saw someone moving out the day before they offered Ryan a job. What? So we came to check it out. The leasing lady said that it was in fact available. Here is the crazy part - this complex rarely has openings because it isn't huge and people that live here do so for the specific location and tend to stay a while. The person who lived in this townhouse before us was a pilot who was building a home in Trophy Club. The leasing lady knew that he was planning on moving out soon (his lease was flexible) but was surprised when he stopped by the office to drop off his key the day before Ryan was hired. This apartment was not even technically listed as available although they would be able to have it ready quickly for us to move in. We decided to make our big move June 19th. And so the crazy mad pack-a-thon began for me the week that Ryan went to camp.

When we look back at the timing and how circumstances turned out, we stand in awe at the faithfulness and sovereign provision of God. It is often said that God may not be early, but he is NEVER LATE. All of our needs were met in the exact perfect timing and in a way that was so much better than the options we tried to come up with on our own. Some may read that and think that it is a nice coincidence, but having lived out this time I can say with complete confidence that it was God answering prayers.

Part 2: Moving Day
This was the best moving day experience we've ever had. Our new church family reached out and helped us out so much! We had people of all ages helping move furniture and boxes. We had dinner provided for us. We were shown love by so many people. THANK YOU to everybody that came out to help! 

Part 3: Cleaning Out
Today we went over and cleaned out the old apartment. I am a clean person. I keep a clean home. So it was shocking the amount of dirt and grime everywhere! Housewife shame. We spent hours and hours scrubbing and dusting and mopping. It was probably the worst part of this whole move. But as I was cleaning out I was also reminded of the wonderful memories we had there. Memories of hosting Christmases and Bible studies - memories of  playing with Cosby and cuddling him and telling him goodbye when he was sick - memories of where my brand new sleeping baby slept after bringing her home from the hospital. I told Ryan it was kind of like the scenes in Titanic where you flash back in time and can picture everything live and in full color even though just the empty shell of the place remains. I really loved our apartment.

Part 4: Settling In
And now I will really love our new home. I look forward to the memories that we will make here - things like Eva's first birthday and hearing her little voice call out my name for the first time. I have shared with a few friends that this townhouse is bigger and more beautiful that I would have expected. Eva will have lots of space to play and we can fill it with friends and family since that's what homes are for. We have unpacked most of the boxes. The first few nights in a new home are always strange, sort of like staying in a hotel that happens to have some of your furniture in it. One cool moment came when I realized that I can see the airplanes headed in to land at DFW through the window in our upstairs shower.  As we continue to settle in, I just want to praise God each day for this safe, beautiful home that we get the privileged of living in. There is a phrase in Swahili that says, "Barikiwa mpake ushangae." It means, "May you be blessed until you are surprised." This has happened to me. I am so astounded at the blessings God has poured out on us.  Pictures coming soon :)