So So Blessed

We moved!  Yeah, I know.  We do it all of the time.  Really and truly though, we hope that this is the last time in a very long time.  And if it isn't, oh well.  We're pros at this whole packing, moving and unpacking thing.  It builds character.  This was a short move- just 10 minutes up the road from the church parsonage to a home in Taneytown that we now own (well, the bank let's us say we own it).  There are lots of reasons why we decided to move.  It really just ended up being the best decision for our family for this season of our lives.

The new house is beautiful.  It is much  more than what I had envisioned when we first started house shopping-two stories, almost finished basement, garage, on a dead end street- it is really and truly perfect for us.  But the very best part has nothing to do with bricks, rooms and grass.  The very best thing about the new house is the neighbors.  I will post pictures of all of the kids playing together when I get to my camera.

Gene (no idea if that's how you spell his name) and Amanda have 3 children- 2 girls and a boy.  Their daughter Erin is Elijah's age (2 months younger), Elizabeth is Micah's age and Austin is 4 years old.  They play together at every opportunity.  Even better is the fact that Elijah and Micah are getting along with them so well.  They always struggle with change a bit, but this time around, they have felt welcomed and included immediately.  It has been the biggest blessing of this whole move.  Thank you Lord for providing friends.

Community Life Memories

For my Community Life ladies.  Love you Guys!

Graduation weekend

Surrounded by friends.

Caught a friend's birthday party before all of the graduation festivities.

Staying busy with army men and dinosaurs.  Its amazing what becomes interesting when all of the other toys are packed.

They are displaying the Bionicles (sp?) they each built (perched on the boxes and bookshelf).  Elissa, their favorite babysitter ever, gave each of them a going-away Bionicle and became their heroine forever.

Friends

These women (and others not pictured) are treasures to me.  Know that behind these beautiful smiles there are hearts that love God and others.

Table Versus Clock

(My poor attempts at poetry, part 13 -not an exact count- done as an assignment with my students this week) The assignment- "Write about something that matters to you right now."
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Solid and rectangular
We gather around you.
The melodic clatter of forks, plates and glasses
is punctuated by fits of laughter-
symphonic resonance.
Tears soak into napkins, discarded
on your surface.

You support the weight of empty
plates, full hearts, sadness and joy.
You are the foundation
of elbows that support fists on temples
of heads that contain minds
that give voice to words
that change the world
of the women who gather around you.

A clock on the wall bears silent
forboding witness to the beauty,
genius and fortitude that you
are privvy to on this night.

Rank and file hands march steadily onward
mocking this masterpiece.
There is nowhere to run from your force.

Table versus Clock: the two are at war.
But memory of beauty triumphs over
time.
To you, o clock, I say- "Do your worst!"
Our memories are keen
And the table will see us again.

Officially official (its been a while... sorry)

This will be the two younger boys' room in the parsonage.
This is the living room; I'm thinking about keeping the tables and chairs. :)

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We will have a new home. Relief. Excitement. Anxiety. Nervousness. Adventure. All of it, all wrapped up together. Mostly it just feels really good to have direction- to know where the boys will go to elementary school in the fall, to know where we'll live, and just to know.

Now comes the hard part, preparing to leave. I love my people here, and I love knowing where to get a free muffin with coffee before 8am, how to get fresh vegetables all summer long, where the discount bread store is and who to call if I need... anything.

Keymar, Maryland. That's where we're headed and we're excited.
But that's all I can write because there's a lump in my throat for all we'll leave behind.

Best Medicine

"Researchers estimate that laughing 100 times is equal to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike."
"The psychological benefits of humor are quite amazing, according to doctors and nurses who are members of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor. People often store negative emotions, such as anger, sadness and fear, rather than expressing them. Laughter provides a way for these emotions to be harmlessly released."
And it just feels good to laugh. Oh women of Wilmore, my friends, what can I say? I love laughing with you. Thank you for your freedom, your honesty and your openness.