Pondering Everything and a Little of Nothing in March

What are you thinking? - Unknown

Around the House…

Our once busy little home is all packed up with hard brown boxes with each item wrapped individually in light brown paper which was secured with brown masking tape! I am sure  it is close to  300 boxes! (They tagged over 500 items)  It is like a maze right now having to get through the house!  Only one flower vase broke during the packing so I can’t complain. These guys were efficient and quick.  You just never know what type of packing crew the military will send you. So, Beloved and I are always wondering about a week out before the packers arrive what type of experience we will have with them.  I always do a good bit of pre-packing to make it less stressful for all of us. I go around the house grabbing the pictures off the walls and putting them in one room, washing the linens and putting them all in one room, arranging all the toys in large containers, and gathering up all the breakables to make it easier on them and also easier on me to watch them as they are sitting in one room handling them. I have antique crock pots, antique oil lamps, a case of Wilton Armetale, a buffet full of Longaberger and several sets of china dishes that I would perfume not to be broken!  My most favorite being the main gift I was allowed to keep after the passing of my Grandmother – her china dishes.  Also, nestled in a box is my 100 pieces of antique brooches. I individually wrapped them myself and put them in container. Beloved has military coins and a couple of military models that he secures as well.  We prepped so many little treasures!  The Little Ones sat in awe all of last week with their eyes round as saucers as I slowly brought down all the little coveted treasures in which they would love to oodle over – their favorite is the coveted Eskimo Boat made out of whale!  As I slipped it into the extra protective covering the older ones expressed their excitement over all the little lock cabinets that they didn’t know opened up and the treasures that were hiding in each little place.  It made me smile as I too remember being filled with wonder as a young child when my grandma would open up her hope chest to show me some sort of little special trinket!

Outside the window...

The long windows with their burgundy drapes and green and burgundy valance brackets in a 5 feet window on the second story floor of our hotel building! Gazing out of it you will see just below a play ground where I can hear my Little Ones playing as Beloved look after them.  The view outside the window  from the recliner is one in which I only see the tops of a white blossom tree. It is very pretty but if the wind doesn’t calm down the ground will look like snow and the trees will be empty of all the pretty little blossoms. The weather is crazy here – 70 degrees one day and 40 degrees the next.  This month the weather came in like a lion. Kentucky got smashed with very high winds and tornados. Our little area was in a little pocket. The storms swirled around us but there wasn’t much rain.  I was thankful for many reasons.  I had gone into the last month of packing fully aware that my pantry would have to go down to practically nothing in regards to emergency supplies. The packers aren’t supposed to pack batteries, glass, liquids, can goods, etc. So, this puts me in the position of having to use everything up as much as possible several months before you leave!  Around here, February and March are those months where we just sort of wonder what the weather will be like -- Nashville, TN. got slammed with flooding last year with buildings under water and Paducah, Ky. got smashed with an ice storm the year before where it took out their electricity for well over 3 weeks. This made our area the prime target for people to gather up food and supplies to help out the victims. So, if you have anything major going on along with the craziness of shopping madness around a military pay day  it is just best to live off your pantry!   I think this is the only thing that really bothers me about moving  the cost of having my pantry go down to practically nothing and then resupplying it later.

I am hoping...
Once we get to Beloved’s next duty station, I am hoping that we can find a house quickly but if not than we are prepared to live in our camper through the spring and summer. We have heard just in the last few days that the waiting list to get on the military instillation is very long but we won’t know how long it will be for us for sure for a few more days. We might have to get something in the civilian areas. We know we do not want to buy a house there. The time that Beloved is scheduled to be there is only for  a short few years unless we ask to be extended.  Wouldn’t it be nice if it worked out to be a quick door to door move? I am not holding my breath.  Looking back at our last move, I have to say that it worked out really well moving into this past house just two weeks before I was to deliver the Little Miss. I was full of energy due to being in nesting mode gear!

I am wearing...

Pregnancy clothes! All in black! So much for black being slimming! I went to Vanderbilt Hospital the other day for my last check up with my OB before the move. I got on the scale and realized I am only 2/3rds through with this pregnancy and I am only 5 pounds from being at the delivery weight of all the other 4 pregnancies.  Let me just say that my belly is announcing me before  I even get in the room. And, when I leave my back-end  is lingering  a little bit longer than I would like! I told Beloved that if I can be in the middle of a house move and come off the scale with that knowledge and still have a blood pressure of 108/68, we aren't stressed yet just living within the bell curve of a crazy military. He agrees!

I am thankful ...

I have a hubby that makes me go weak at the knees! Lately though, he isn't the only thing that  makes me go weak in the knees! I have been wobbably and waddling this pregnancy and he has to lend me his strength!  Several times already, he has had to help me out of several squat down positions that I got myself into,  help me with tieing my shoes, (Won't he be glad for sandle weather!), and he has had to help me go from the laying down position to the upright position after I have gotten to take a rarely available nap! Very commical! This pregnancy truly has been so different than all the others --  all my other pregnancies, I was climbing mountains and hiking all sorts of National State Parks.

I am currently  pondering...

Those that know me really well know that one of my favorite quite times is to sit and listen to a sermons. It really works for me when it comes to time with the Lord during this busy season. The sermons keep me on target when it comes to staying in the scripture.  It helps me to be disciplined.  I probably listen to 3 to 5 complete sermons during the week.  Lately, I have listened to several that I really appreciated the Lord bringing my direction.  Occasionally, I will come across a few videos interviews as well that support something that God has shown me.  Just this week, I ran across a Russell Moore interview from a Pastor who is adopting his 6th child.  Russell Moore wrote a book that I read two years ago called “Adopted for Life”.  It was a wonderful book.

Beloved and I have considered adopting. We have discussed the subject many times since we have been married.  God just hasn’t directed us to take action in this area and I am not sure what would actually bring us to the decision in acting on it either. However, over the last several years though, the Lord has helped us to understand several things that our family needs to do to fulfill the mandate in ministering to orphans even if he never calls us to adopt.  Practical application was what I really wanted to understand since there were several families that God had brought into our lives who have adopted over the last 8 years.  After reading "Adopted for Life" the Lord gave me a big ole bust of understanding.  His book helped opened my heart more in this area in regards to ministry and it gave me more insight as to how to lead a hand toward several families in our acquaintance circles whom were going through the adoption process.  I was thankful for the opportunity to read his book. And, I enjoyed listening to an older interview which brought the mandate back again to my attention.  The interview is nice and it is here