Overwhelmed

Morning sickness has hit me hard. It is actually all day sickness and no amount of crackers or protein or you-name-it will make it go away. Wearing Seabands has helped some, but most days it doesn’t matter. I’ve been spending a lot of time in bed or on the couch, looking at my bare walls that need decorating and house that needs cleaning. It is hard not to get really blue and have a pity party about it. There is a wonderful little reason that I going through all of this, and I am SO blessed to be a homemaker so that I can be at home during this time of nausea instead of having to go to work and suffer like many of my friends have.

Feeling overwhelmed has been my state of mind over the last several weeks. I have so many things that I’d like to get accomplished and things that desperately need to be done. Sadly however, most days I’m glad if I can get up and be dressed and have a few things done before my husband comes home. I’ve been sick a lot over the last several weeks and I tire easily. I feel like I am barely getting by, struggling to keep up running our home and all the things that go with it. I have felt like I’ve been neglecting my husband, he’s had to fend for himself and care for me so much lately. This a hard place for someone who likes to take care of everything herself to be in.

  Having just moved into our new home, it makes me even more eager to get things how I want them. I was battling with morning/all day sickness while we were moving so only the bare essentials were unpacked.

Jacob has been such a trooper through all of this and I know he is looking forward to the end of the first trimester as much as I am. He has taken such good care of me and treated me like a queen and looked past all of the unfinished, untidy things around the house. I am very blessed to have him.

My mother has come to see me a few times and made me sit while she cleaned my house and cooked for me. That was such a blessing to me and to Jacob—I didn’t want her to leave! ;)

It is days (and weeks) like these that make me remember I can’t do it alone, that I must draw my strength from Him. I cling to verses like the ones below and encourage myself that this will pass and soon I’ll have a clean house again and eventually a baby in my arms and it will be all worth it.

Matthew11:28 (KJV)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 61:1-2 (KJV)

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Tiny Packages

It has been said that the best gifts come in tiny packages—engagement rings, house keys, etc. The quality of the gift is not in the size or quantity. Tiny packages often hold the biggest surprises and change your life the most.

Next June we will be welcoming a tiny gift into our home and our names will change to Mama and Daddy. Glory to God!

A Miracle Baby

 

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. – Psalm 113:9 KJV

  Babies are very, very dear to my heart. My heart aches for women who are unable to have children, or who have lost children. I think of Hannah in the book of I Samuel and ask the Lord to give the ladies with empty arms a baby, as He did Hannah. He did it for her and He can do it for them. I wanted to share this story of an aching heart and empty arms that were filled.

We have some dear friends from our church who are missionaries to the country of Honduras. They are a wonderful couple in their early thirties. Last Sunday while they were home for a visit, they shared some of what the Lord has been doing for them and their ministry. They also shared some very exciting news about the wife.

Five years ago, she was  diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and endometriosis and told that she would never be able to have children. So they began to look into adoption.

  At the beginning of this year she felt impressed that the Lord was going to give her a miracle. She had been sitting in her rocking chair, praying and reading her Bible and got up to open the front door and the Lord spoke to her and told her that He was going to give her a miracle.  She felt that the miracle was a baby.

   Earlier this summer, a baby became available for them. They were so excited and shortly before the baby was born came back to the States to get the things they would need. Sadly, the baby was born and did not survive. Two weeks later, they learned of another baby that was available, but that adoption fell through as well.  She told me that they decided to take a break for a little while—the emotional roller coaster they’d been on for the last month was almost more than she could bear and her heart was breaking.

Two or so weeks after the second failed adoption, she got very ill. She thought she had a parasite and was going to take a pill for it, but something quickened her and she thought, “I’d better take a pregnancy test just to be safe.” She did and she was pregnant!

When she had the first ultrasound and they got to see the baby for the first time, she asked the doctor to show her all of the cysts and endometriosis that she had. He looked at her a little strangely and said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. The only thing there is a baby.”

Not only did the Lord give them a miracle baby, He completely healed and restored her womb.

They are expecting a healthy, perfect baby boy next spring. To God be the Glory!

Rehoboth, or How the Lord Blessed us with our House

Genesis 26:22
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

  The Lord carefully orchestrates and orders the lives and steps of those who love Him and strive to serve Him completely. His timing truly is perfect and He has ways of preparing us for the next level and season. Jacob and I have seen this continually in our almost two years of marriage.  In our quest for a house, He continually placed people in our path to help us and share their wisdom.

  For most of this year we have been talking about and desiring a home of our own. Our little apartment had fulfilled its purpose by providing us with a place to live after we were married, but it seemed to grow smaller everyday. It was time for more room. My sewing business alone had caused us to outgrow the apartment.

Last July we began tentatively looking at houses. We never actually scheduled any viewings a realtor, we just looked at houses online and a drove by one or two of them. We were more than a little overwhelmed at the prices of most of the houses. We didn’t want the Taj Mahal, we just wanted a little starter home.

  We discussed getting a larger apartment for the time being. We really needed the breathing room and more storage space. We contacted the apartment manager and she said just to let her know when we were ready and she would set everything up. We were going to have more room one way or another.

  The very next day at church, Bro. Bobby (one of my husband’s mentors growing up) came to him and told him about a house that had become available to buy. Bro. Bobby buys houses, fixes them up and sells them. Jacob has helped him with a few houses before and had asked Bro. Bobby before we were married if he would keep a look out for us a house that we could buy cheaply  and fix up.

  We went with Bro. Bobby after church to look at the house and we liked it. It needed a lot of work to get it how we wanted it, but we were excited and went into it expecting to do a lot. After we looked at it, he encouraged us to get pre-approved for a loan, so that even if this house didn’t work out, we wouldn’t have to start from square one again.

It just so happens that we have a home mortgage manager in our church and he offered to help us through the process and handle everything for us. We decided to go with an FHA renovation loan since the house needed so much work.

And so the fun began! We started looking at flooring, paint, trim, you-name-it. We wanted something that looked like wood for the floor in most of the house and found some nice laminate that was just what we had in mind.  I was finally going to get to paint my kitchen yellow and was thrilled because I’d found some antique-looking cast iron knobs and drawer pulls that looked just like my great-grandmother’s.  Jacob was going to build me a clothesline in the backyard so I could  start hanging out laundry again.

   After we started the loan approval process and were approved, our mortgage company sent us a contract for the house. We read through it and were very confused by most of it. We didn’t know what options we needed or even what most of it meant. We were suddenly very overwhelmed.

    Once again, the Lord provided the help we needed from another one of our church family. There is a lady in our church who is a realtor, in addition to buying houses, fixing them up and turning them into rental property with her husband. Jacob called her and asked if she could go through the contract with us and explain and show us what would best to do. She was happy to and was a great blessing to us. She further went on and offered to come look over the house with us. With she and her husband’s experience in buying houses, she had a good idea of what would and would not pass an inspection for the loan we were getting. Needless to say, we welcomed the help.

     A few days later she went with us and looked at the house. After a lengthy inspection, she told us that she didn’t think the foundation would pass muster, as it was cracked, and that most banks will not approve financing for a house with a damaged foundation. We knew it was cracked, but had planned fixing it as part of the renovations. We didn’t realize it would have to be fixed beforehand. The individual we’d be buying the house from was not willing to repair before it was sold.

  As we were leaving with slightly heavy hearts, she offered to take us by some property she and her husband owned that was almost ready to rent. She said that if we were interested, they would probably sell it to us. She went on to tell us some of the things they just done to the house, such as repairing the foundation and putting a brand new A/C unit in it.

     We figured it couldn’t hurt to go look so we followed her to house. On the way there Jacob and I talked about that at least now we were pre-approved and could go house-shopping. We decided that the first house—although it was a disappointment—was the Lord giving us the nudge we needed to get everything started.

  We arrived at the new house, walked in the front door and fell in love. Throughout the house were the original oak floors—they were gorgeous! We walked into the kitchen and were shocked by what we saw. They had just painted the walls yellow and the cabinets had the antique knobs and hinges that I’d wanted. Then, we looked out of the kitchen window into the nice-sized backyard and there stood a clothesline. Clotheslines are a rare find these days, especially in the city.

The living room was painted almost the exact color we’d picked out and many other details confirmed to us that this was going to be our home. Things that we had wanted to do in the first house were already completed in the second. We have stood back in awe at how the Lord has worked everything out for us.

We had to wait almost three months to begin closing as the house’s title needed to season, but we had that long to prepare and get the rest of the down payment together.

We love our new home! We have been in it almost a week and even though there are still boxes everywhere, it is already home to us. As I get more decorating done I’ll share pictures. The walls are pretty bare right now, as I was sick while we were moving and it is taking a little while to get my feet back under me.

Enjoying cooking the first meal in the new kitchen ;)Thanks to Jacob for the photo.

All things truly do work together for the good of those that love Him! (Romans 8:28)

Settling In

We said goodbye to our tiny first home this week. That little apartment held lots of sweet memories of our first year and a half together. It has been “home” to me to me for what seems like forever and I admit, it was strange seeing it completely empty again.

We are officially moved into our first house. There are boxes everywhere still, and despite my efforts to descriptively label each box’s contents, we are still looking for some of our things we need every day.

My kitchen is mostly set up, though there’s still lots to be put away. Boxes are making their way from the garage to the appropriate rooms. We’ve only been here three nights and I’m wondering if I will ever get everything put where it belongs.

We had lots of help from family and church friends. My mom and sisters came for two days and did so much. I don’t know what I would have done without them. My six year old sister said that her favorite part of helping someone move was getting to meddle in all their stuff.

Soon, I’ll share the story of how the Lord brought us to this house and worked everything out for us and showed us over and over that this was His will. As I get unpacked and start decorating I’ll share pictures.

Stay tuned for more!