20 Years and Counting

20 years ago this month, my husband and I moved up north to start a new chapter in our lives.  My husband was a fresh seminary graduate, and we had been married just two years.  We moved in the hot July humidity, trudging our newish wedding-present-decor and our used, garage-sale furniture into our new apartment.  Several people from our new congregation helped us, and our new life as "Pastor and Mrs." began.

And here we are, 20 years later, still in this place, still with those same people who helped us move in that day, and still excited about ministry here.  When we moved that day, young and naive, I would never have imagined that we would stay in our first call so long; indeed, none of my husband's seminary classmates are in their first call, we are the only ones to have remained in ours.

Yet here we are, and I am so thankful for God's goodness in this place.  From the very beginning, we have been enveloped in love, and that is still true.  I recall in those first weeks the groceries given to us, the furniture, the help getting settled into our new town, and more.  And as time passed, and we began to make friends here, we realized just how blessed we were by the people of our new congregation.

As our family grew, and through both happy and sad times, the people of Trinity have rejoiced with us, cried with us, and loved us.  And we in turn have grieved with these people, ached with them at times.  And other times, we have celebrated with them, hearts full.

On that hot July day 20 years ago, I don't think I could have imagined the blessings God had in store for us. He has provided us with a true family -- one who loves us, supports us and cares for us. I am often overwhelmed with love for God's people here - they are all precious gifts from God.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,  always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Phil. 1:3-6

Live Bloggin' It, Dinner-Style

4:45 - enter the house after a three hour shopping trip with three of the children to Game Stop, Target, the Dollar Store (lots of green/orange items for my newly painted preschool classroom!), and to pick up Bandit the hedgehog from his pet sitter

4:50 - finish unloading everything from car to hear screams of distress that Bandit's cage has dumped out all the care fresh (rife with poop I'm sure, but I can't handle thoughts of that right now) and it's "HIS FAULT!"

4:51 - send vacuum upstairs to the offending party with reminders that it was an accident

4:55 - head upstairs to help reassemble the cage and cut felt for the bottom instead of care fresh, because "none of the scissors will cut the felt"

4:56 - successfully clean up/reassemble the cage

4:59 - look longingly at the couch for a rest since I woke up inexplicably at 5:45 am, but head to the stove to start dinner instead.

5:01 - pour myself a glass of wine and eat some cheese and crackers while I work on dinner

5:05 - whilst making dinner, guide a discussion with my daughter about what she needs to take to college

5:06 - suggest she make a google doc

5:07 - listen to intense teasing from my oldest two about how late I am to the game of google docs, and how I want to make a google doc for everything

5:08 - laugh till I'm in tears

5:09 - switch laundry while hamburger is browning

5:10 - listen to the children laugh/talk/dance in ridiculous ways and realize just HOW LOUD my family is

5:12 - listen to the boys in the basement playing their newly purchased video game

5:15 - remind one boy for the third time that he can't shoot his brothers with Nerf Rival bullets

5:20 - finish dinner prep and sit down at the island, everyone engaged in something and the house now quiet

5:21 - realize just how much I love the craziness of our home