Today marks four weeks since we’ve moved to North Carolina! On one hand, it seems like it’s been a really long time, and on the other hand it feels like yesterday. Roger enjoys his job, and it’s been a good fit for us. We’ve tried out a few churches, but we will continue to do so. There are a lot of churches to visit, so it can be overwhelming!
This past week was a busy and full one as my parents drove from Wisconsin to NC to see us. While it’s closer than Maine, it’s still a hike. We were happy to spend the week with them as the boys enjoyed working on projects with my dad, fishing, tinkering with the dirt bikes, and lots of other things. My mom worked with Emma on some school work which was not Emma’s favorite thing, but it’s good for her. We did get some rain this past week, so we are so thankful for that. It’s been a dry summer here, so every little bit of rain brings a tiny sigh of relief from the farmers that are wanting to harvest crops in a few weeks.
Three of the boys continue to stay busy working for the neighbor. This past week they had the opportunity to sell corn in our small local town. They enjoyed it, and Garett said he much preferred it to picking squash! The farmer parked his truck in a gas station lot, and the boys would take turns asking the customers pumping gas if they’d like to buy some corn. An older gentleman came up and offered the boys a job stacking wood, and the boys were a little confused as they already have a job. The man told him that he has had such a hard time finding workers and if the boys wanted to stack wood, he would pay them. Well, none of the boys have a cell phone, and they knew that they weren’t just going to go off with someone! I suggested to the boys that next time (if there is a next time) they could suggest that the person call their parents to see about work. For now, the boys are plenty busy with working for the neighbor. Another man gave the boys a $20.00 tip because he said that there are way too few young people out working and it was good to see boys working! Needless to say, it was a fun experience for the boys. Our small local town is a little bit like stepping back in time as everyone seems to know each other, and when the neighbor dropped off the boys, he just told them to go into the gas station and call him if there was a problem. Roger and I are working hard at teaching the boys to be independent, wise and discerning, and part of that comes with learning to figure out problems on your own. The boys didn’t have any problems or concerns while selling corn and they came back happy from their interactions with people. (It won’t always be that way, so we are thankful for a positive experience for them.) Also, I highly doubt the boys would’ve sold as much corn if they had been sitting there looking down at a cell phone for three hours! I do not have a problem with technology, but the more we can teach our future generation to actually INTERACT with people, I think the better we are preparing them.
We went to the western side of the state on Saturday to visit with my mom’s sister, Lisa. My parents stayed there for two nights, and then left early this morning (Monday) to head back to Wisconsin. My parents and two of the kids left around 8:30am on Saturday morning to head to Lisa’s. I puttered around a bit, cleaning and packing and left around 10:45am. Roger had been planning on going with us, but he was on call this weekend. That meant he needed to be within two hours of the airport, and we would be farther away than that. It’s wasn’t ideal, and I don’t like being apart as a family, but all the kids were excited about seeing their second cousins and swimming in the pool. We ran into a lot of traffic on the way to Lisa’s house, and it took longer than anticipated to get there. When we turned onto Lisa’s road, I noticed that the brakes were making a funny sound as in a grinding sound. Great! It’s 4:00pm on a Saturday evening and the brakes on the van are bad! I didn’t know what to do, but thankfully God always has a plan. My uncle, Ryan, has a garage where he works on cars (much nicer cars than our minivan!). Ryan’s employee was getting ready to leave for the weekend, but he agreed to look at the brakes and the rotars and the brake pads were bad. Thankfully, he was able to find a parts store that had the right parts, so Lisa and I went to pick up the parts for the van. God’s timing is always perfect. By the time we came back with the brake parts, John (the employee) had the van hoisted up and was ready to put on the parts. Thank the Lord! It would’ve been a challenge to find a place to take the van on a Saturday evening, and it wouldn’t have been good to drive home with the brakes grinding. I don’t like situations like these as I find them stressful and overwhelming, but God always shows Himself strong. We ended up safely at Lisa’s house; my uncle was able to get the van fixed with the help of John; the parts store had the parts; just a lot of “God” moments! We are thankful!
We went to church with my aunt and uncle on Sunday morning, and we enjoyed the opportunity to worship with other believers. Their church service is at 9:00am as the building that they are meeting in does not have air conditioning. The church people were friendly and kind, and it makes me long for the opportunity to become rooted and grounded with a church family again. We will keep at it, but church shopping is definitely not on my list of fun things to do!
The kids and I headed back to the east side of the state on Sunday afternoon. I had gone with my Aunt Lisa to visit another aunt that is currently in a nursing home. It was a quick visit and then back to get packed up and headed home. It’s about 3.5 hours, so it’s a bit of a hike. But it was good to see family, say good by to my parents, and see my sister (Jen) who is coming to our house in a few days.
It was a busy week but full of memories. I’m thankful for all my dad’s work on various projects around our house, and my mom working with Emma. We are blessed!
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