As we approach the
anniversary of our move to Minnesota, there is much to reflect on. It has been quite a year, with its ups and
downs, but God has been faithful through it all.
On December 30th we made the
trek north and planned to close on our home later that
day. We had been on the road maybe 30
minutes when we received the call no one wants to get from their realtor. The financing for the buyer of our house in
Iowa was delayed, therefore, so was our closing here. We made the decision to keep going even
though we didn't know exactly when closing would happen. We were confident that the Lord was moving
us, so we continued to step out in faith. As it turned out, we were only homeless (AKA
residents of Holiday Inn Express) for three days and the owners of our home
here let us unload the truck into the garage on January 1st (Happy New Year!)
so we wouldn't have additional truck rental fees. Our residency officially began on January
2nd, 2014. We were relieved and grateful.
January began with freezing
temps, unpacking and settling in.
Despite the frigid winter, we still managed to meet a few neighbors and
get involved in the homeschool community in the Mankato area. The kids were involved in a gym class once
each week at MSU, taught by the students, and we gradually began a new
'normal'. Initially, we made regular
trips back to Iowa for Gabbi to continue to see her orthodontist. It was a good excuse to get back (we only got
stranded in Iowa once by snowy weather) to see family and friends. Gabbi and James were also each able to spend
their birthday weekends with friends from Iowa, which made celebrating them for
the first time living at a distance a bit easier.
As signs of spring began to appear, so did our
impatience to get outdoors, find a church home and many other things that
always seemed to come together too slowly for our liking. Due to the many trips to Mankato house
hunting, then packing and preparing to move and finally the unpacking and
settling into our new home, the kids had about a month and a half of work they
needed to catch up on before closing out Gabbi's freshman and James' 5th grade
year. One of the saving graces for us
was the fact that there were so many make up days due to the below freezing
temps. Gabbi and James only ended up
going about a week and a half longer than the area public schooled kids.
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Just as summer was beginning and we
were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the school year, we had
another set-back. Due to a large amount
rain in a short period of time and the fact that our home did not have a sump
pump (something we had not thought much about in December), Jim woke up one
morning to get ready for work, stepped out of bed and heard/felt, "squish". Our entire lower level was wet. Thankfully, it wasn't more than saturated
carpet, but damage was done none-the-less.
Jim and I spent that day calling our insurance agent, lining up a
company to clean up and dry out the basement, moving everything from the
basement into the garage (a little déjà vu, in reverse) and tearing out as much
of the wet carpet and pad as we could to save on expenses. Another blessing was the man who had replaced
our roof earlier in the year, was able to come over that morning and put a sump
pump into the well where the radon mitigation system was previously the only
thing using that space. It was a long
emotional day and a long seven weeks until we could again use the lower level
space. The summer was certainly
interesting, with Jim and I taking over Elora's room, James and Elora being
roommates and having more than half of our living space unusable. Despite the cramped quarters, we still managed
to host my niece, Destiny for a week and a half in the midst of the chaos as
well as enjoy a visit from Jim's dad, which was a nice break from focusing on
the mess.
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As you may imagine, summer ended too soon and the
school year got underway in September.
Gabbi and James both continue to do well, though Gabbi often wishes she
could go back to the work load her brother has.
Seems that four year difference is a killer every year when you compare
workloads with your younger sibling.
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| Jim and I at the Twins game |
Homeschooling in Minnesota is a little different than
what we had available in Iowa and while there are some things we miss, we have
enjoyed this new experience as well.
There's a new homeschooling co-op this year called Mankato Homeschool
Connection that we have joined. The
group has nearly doubled in size as the year has progressed. We love the community and comradery the co-op
provides, but the highlight has definitely been Gabbi and I co-teaching the art
class for 4th - 8th graders and now, 2nd - 4th graders. I get a fantastic helper and partner in crime
to figure out projects and she gets to use the time, planning and prep toward a
credit for something she loves - art. :-)
James and Elora have enjoyed it too.
James is the "kid whose always talking" as a classmate put it
last week when he was gone as well as the kid who always seems to be laughing and having
fun. Elora delights each week in
"going to play with the kids".
I have been asked to join the leadership team and plan to do so for at
least the remainder of this school year.
In addition to co-op, there is a wonderful group of homeschoolers here
and I have enjoyed getting to know many of the other moms via the Facebook
group, monthly Mom's Nights and summer park days.
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| Elora on the beach at Duck Lake. Gabbi, James & Destiny navigate the paddle boat in the distance. |
Jim's job is going well, though as with anything, has
it's occasional frustrations. On a
particularly bad day, my eternal optimist will say, "I would love my job
if it weren't for the people." :-)
Recently it was a delight for Jim to use some of the rewards points they get from KIA to purchase Omaha steaks for all of his employees for Christmas
and to say thank you for all they do.
The best gift to us was seeing the look of surprise and happiness on the
guys' faces as Jim and his co-worker, Gene, handed out the packages.
As the year comes to a close, I believe we may have
finally found the church family we have so longed for. It has been a challenging year and at one
point, we made the decision to step back for a time because we recognized we
had more healing and forgiving to do over the situation with our previous
church last year. God has been faithful
through it all. I have also nearly
completed the goal I set for myself almost two years ago now to memorize the
book of Ephesians. This particular book
of the Bible has become such a delight and treasure to me. I'm not sure what I will do to stay in the
Word daily beginning in January, but I'm looking forward to embarking on new
learning and discovering.
Moving has definitely felt surreal at times. When we travel back to Iowa, it no longer
feels like "home". Yet, it
sometimes still feels like this move is only temporary. It's as if at some point I'll
wake from a vivid dream or we will soon be headed somewhere new. For me it is a picture of how Abraham and
Sarah must have felt when they left all they knew to go where God called
them. The Bible tells us "...he
[Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer
and builder is God." (Heb 11:10) We
are all sojourners in this place. This
world is not our home. And so, with
Abraham and others of faith, we "look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of
God." (Heb 12:2)
During this Advent season, we remember the joy of His birth, the
purpose of His life, the depth of His love and sacrifice and the power and glory of His
resurrection.
Merry Christmas to you and Happy New Year from our family to yours!
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| Aquarium at MOA |
Christmas image design by Gabbi
