Our First Week!

As we wrapped up our first full week in North Carolina, we are reflecting back on all that transpired during the week!

Last Monday we arrived to our home in North Carolina around 6:00pm. It was a little later than we had wanted but traffic was somewhat slow as we moved south down the east coast. We were thankful to finally arrive! The kids had no desire to look in the house as they immediately began tramping around in the outdoors, exploring the woods, opening the shed doors, discovering a snake shed inside one of the sheds, and just being happy children. I had already known that the house was going to need some work, so I had tried to brace myself for whatever might be waiting for me. Roger had already spent a significant amount of time cleaning bugs out of window sills, wiping down fan blades, cleaning windows, etc, but the walls definitely need some cleaning and painting! The floor is nice throughout the whole house. It’s a nice color, but its not as durable as I’d like it to be with a family of seven! However, it’s not going to be changing anytime soon! We need a refrigerator, the water iron count is too high, and the air conditioner system being replaced are our priorities! However, Roger had left his vehicle at the airport in Raleigh when he flew out to Maine to pick us up, so that was the first priority! We spent Monday night unloading enough of the u-haul to find beds for everyone to sleep on. We were all exhausted and a bit overwhelmed, so it wasn’t the funnest time ever but we got the job done. Wyatt had the job of opening and shutting the door for the rest of us that we unloading. He’s having a hard time giving his hand a break, so we gave him an easy job. After about 45 minutes of opening and shutting the door, Wyatt told me, “I always thought that the easy jobs were fun, but this is like the most boring job ever!” It was a good reminder to him that the easy job is not always the fun job! 

Roger had off on Tuesday, so we left early Tuesday morning to go to the airport to pick up his truck. It was a good time for us the two of us to talk on the way to the airport, and I was thankful. The kids were already up and running around the property by the time we returned home at 7:30am. We had told them not to ride the dirt bike until we returned, so they were happy to see us pull up in the driveway! Tuesday was a full, full day of unpacking the rest of the u-hual, returning the u-haul truck, and trying to make some sense of the madness/chaos of the unpacking! We had thought that Roger would have off on Wednesday, but a fire had sprung up so his boss asked him to come back to work on Wednesday morning. 

We really did need to get a refrigerator, so Roger and I got up early on Wednesday to go to Lowes before Roger went to work. Who knew that there were so many refrigerator options?! I just knew that I needed a big one, and the rest didn’t really matter. We were on a budget though, so that did affect our decision. We picked one out and arranged to come back in the evening to pick it up. It was the last one available, so I’m thankful that we went and picked out a refrigerator in the morning. Roger went to work, and the kids and I worked on many, many things. It was so overwhelming to even know where to start, but I know that bathrooms and the kitchen are two very important areas! I cleaned and scrubbed one bathroom while Chandler worked on putting together some shelves for the storage shed, and Garett and the other boys worked on picking up trash, exploring the yard, and building dirt bike trails. Roger came home from work around 6:30pm, and we ate supper and then headed to pick up the refrigerator. I hadn’t originally planned to go, but since we were getting a refrigerator, I decided I might as well do some grocery shopping. So Emma and I went in the van and the boys in the truck. Well, the refrigerator wouldn’t fit in the back of the truck with the topper on! So guess what? The refrigerator had to go in the van! We probably looked like some type of crazy people as we worked to shove a refrigerator in a mini van, but we did it!It was another late night as the older boys, Roger and myself worked to get the refrigerator in the house. I’m telling you that this refrigerator had better last for many, many years!! But, praise the Lord, we have a refrigerator! 

Roger flew a lot of hours this past week as he was patrolling the fire. On Thursday evening, we made a trip down to the neighbors. Roger had spoken with them earlier about the boys possibly fishing in their pond or riding their dirt bikes down the farm lanes. The neighbors had said “sure”, but we wanted the boys to go meet the neighbors before using the pond or the farm lanes. The neighbors are very friendly, and we enjoyed our conversation with them. They showed us the house that they are working on remodeling, and while showing us the house, the neighbor was pointing out all the old features of the house that they had preserved. “Look at this fireplace,” she proclaimed. “Y’all are familiar with air heads? Do they have those up thar in Maine?” I was completely baffled as the only airheads I’m familiar with are in candy form or when my children act like they don’t have any sense. Thankfully, Roger was able to bail us out, “Arrowheads, yes, we have those in Maine.” Oh, arrowheads!! Yes, I know what those are! I explained tot the neighbor what I thought she had said, and we got a good chuckle out of that. They were happy to let the boys fish in their pond and use the farm lanes for the dirt bikes, so that is a huge blessing for our children. Our home is in the perfect location for loud children and noisy activities. 

On Friday, we worked some more- surprise! The boys were up early to go fishing at the pond, and then we painted! We primed and painted both Emma and the boys room. Emma picked out her own color for her room, and it’s not exactly what color I would pick, but she’s delighted. On Saturday, Roger had to work due to the fire, so that was disappointing. We also knew that he would need to work on Sunday, so going to church with the kids would be on me. It’s not my favorite thing to do- visit new churches, but I really don’t like doing it without Roger. However, Sunday came around.

On Sunday morning, the kids and I headed out to visit a local church in our nearby town. The perks would include that the church building is about 7 minutes from our house, the cons were that we knew nothing about this church. I hadn’t been able to find much information on the internet, so I told the kids that I knew nothing about how the service would be. We were early- too early, so we drove around the small town of Faison. For a town of 900, there are about five different churches! Three Baptist, one Methodist, one Presbyterian, and one Pentecostal. We also discovered the town of Faison’s Recreation Center. They have a beautiful baseball field, playground, batting cage, and a Gaga pit. It was nice to discover this little gem not too far from our house. Well, it was time for church to start. As we pulled up to the church parking lot, I reminded the kids that I didn’t know anything about what the church service would be like. The only thing I knew was that they didn’t have a woman pastor so I figured that was a good start. 

The people at the church were very friendly and welcoming. But it’s hard to miss a family of five kids coming into church! The church family was preparing for Vacation Bible School this coming week, so it was kinda hard to get a feel, but we did appreciate the warm welcome. The church service opened with a very, very slow hymn. As we wrapped up the song and sat down, Emma muttered under her breath to me, “That was like the slowest song EVER!’ Shush! Thankfully, she didn’t announce that loudly! We also sang the doxology, which is very traditional, but then before the worship song a few ladies got up to lead the congregation in singing, “You are good”, which is not a traditional song at all! The preaching was on point with what we would agree with, and the pastor was unashamedly preaching the Gospel. He spoke on how we are each created for God’s glory and we are His masterpieces. He encouraged the people to become actively involved in the county’s pregnancy center and suggested ways that the people could show God’s love in action to other this week. In light of the overturning of Roe.vs. Wade, the pastor re-iterated that the abortion decisions would now fall to the states. As believers, we still have plenty to do to be involved in the abortion crisis in our nation. After the service, the kids were invited back to Vacation Bible School that night. Emma was pretty confident that she wanted to go, and the boys were confident that they did not want to go. Emma is a bit of a social butterfly, and she is definitely missing her friends. The boys do too, but they have each other. I told Emma that I would take her to VBS, and that I would stay there. I don’t know these people at all, and I’m certainly not just dropping off my kid! Thankfully, there was also a class for adults so that would work out well. When it was time to go, Travis, Emma and Wyatt all decided to come to VBS. They did have a very good time, and I was thankful. It was nice to attend an adult Bible class, and I appreciated the opportunity to have some adult interaction. We arrived home around 8:37pm, and Roger had just gotten home about 10 minutes earlier. We need some more rain to help put out the fire he’s patrolling. The chief pilot told Roger that he’s never seen the fire season go this late in the year in the twelve years that he’s been on the job. But fires don’t contain themselves to just Monday through Fridays, so it is what it is. 

On Tuesday, we visited one of the areas Christian schools. We are very much in the praying stages, but God does seem to be opening doors for our children to attend at the Christian school. Christian school is expensive! Without any financial assistance the cost would be over 20k to put all five kids in the school! That’s not a feasible option, so we’ve been praying about what God would have us to do. When we visited the school yesterday, we were talking about my previous experiences in Christian education, and what I had been involved with prior to moving. The administrator suggested that perhaps I would be interested in working at the school as a Teacher Assistant. That would provide us with an additional 25% discount for the first year and a progressing discount as the years go on up to 50% off in five years.  Whew! It was a lot to take in, and we were all very overwhelmed. The school is about 325  students, and there are a lot of classrooms, academic requirements, sports, music and drama  opportunities. Roger and I already knew that if we were going to put the kids in the Christian school, I would need to get a job somewhere. This definitely seems to be a door of opportunity to work where the kids are in school, be able to meet a lot of the staff, and be able to pay for the school bill. What I would make would almost pay for the tuition bill of 15k. Christian education is a sacrifice, and is it perfect? No, it’s not, and neither are we. We asked God to provide a way for our children to be able to go to a Christian school if that was His plan. He seems to be opening doors to do just that. We continue to walk by faith, and we would appreciate extra prayers as we make decisions. God is so good! 

I was totally surprised to find that you can buy almost all the pig at the local grocery store! Whatever do people make with pig ears, pig stomach, pig skin and pig tails!? I’m curious to know! This is definitely pig country, and pig meat is cheap. I’m thankful for that, but I don’t think I’ll be buying these parts of the pig anytime soon!