Ways to Help

We have been so blessed by the offers of help from our friends and family over the last few days (I was going to write week, but it hasn't even been a week yet!). For anyone wondering how to help, here are a few ideas:

- Pray! I'll list specific requests below, but we have felt the prayers of so many already and really covet them going forward.

- Bring us food. Clara has swimming lessons at 4pm Monday - Thursday both this week and next. Between trying to pack during the day and being at the pool during prime dinner-cooking time, meals have been difficult. Even on the weekends when I'm here at 4, we are trying to get as much done as possible and often arrive at a meal time with no food prepared. I can work pretty well on very little food, but Luke and Clara both get very cranky when they're hungry! ;)

- Come by! We would love to see anyone who is local. I'm not sure if I'm ready for actual packing help quite  yet, but Clara would love to have visitors to play, chat, or sit and read books with her (her favorite activity!) and it would be a great help to me for her to be happily occupied. If you do visit, though, be forewarned: our house is an official disaster area!

- Save your boxes. We have some plastic totes with a few more on the way and have started gathering some boxes from friends, but I'm not sure how many we'll need. If you have boxes, and can keep them for a week or two until we really need them, that would be wonderful.

- Help us get rid of stuff! We have a couch, a rocking recliner, a glider with ottoman (the ottoman needs some repair), some miscellaneous bookeshelves, a large white dresser with shelves above, an entertainment center, a desk, a large sewing table, lots of clothes, some books and toys, a car, a house, and various other odds and ends to get rid of. We'd love to get money for some of it but are happy to give it away too. If you or anyone you know of could use these things, please be in touch. Ideally we'd like the furniture picked up the last week in March but it can happen sooner too if necessary.

- Loan us a car. We just paid off my car last week and found a buyer for it today. As soon as the lien release arrives (probably around the end of the week), it will be gone. But, it would be so helpful if Clara and I could still get around during the day while Luke is at work. If you know of anyone with a car we could borrow or have one yourself, please let us know. We'd be most grateful.

- Help us find a buyer/renter for the house. Ideally, we would like to sell the house asap but know that may not be a reality. We would be willing to give ridiculously cheap rent to the right person who would keep the house clean and organized and the lawn well taken care of while it's on the market. Bonus points if this person would also be willing to do some of the work on the house we had planned to do in the spring before trying to sell over the summer.

- Provide us with a haven for a few hours. It feels great and productive to get things done around here and we have a lot to do, but we also need some down time and it is not very relaxing at the moment to have down time at home, where the boxes and chores are staring us in the face. We don't have lots of time to kill, but a meal (where I don't have to wash the dishes!), a cup of tea, an hour or two's distraction in your home would be a welcome reprieve

- Pray!

Specific Prayer Requests:

1. Peace. For all of us, particularly Clara. She is such a trooper, but at times she looks at me and I can just tell her little insides are all discombobulated.

2. Patience. Sometimes the "discombobulation" comes through on the outside, too. It is hard to deal gracefully and patiently with her crazy emotions when mine are all over the place as well. We've been praying a lot simply that we'd be kind to one another over the next six weeks!

3. Wisdom. What to do with this piece of furniture, that picture, all our home canned goods, the chickens, the horses, the house. What to take, what to leave. What activities and visits we should try and fit in before we go and when we should simply rest.

4. A buyer or the perfect renter for our house. I outlined some of this above. We know that God has a perfect plan in place and we trust that He will reveal it to us in His perfect time.

5. Rest. None of us have been sleeping particularly well since last Thursday, myself in particular. I already struggle with insomnia, but the racing thoughts and trying to keep track of everything have made it much worse. I particularly need to be well rested for in order for #2, above, to be a possibility!

6. The ability to let go. I am a pack rat by nature. Ask my mom sometime about little boxes and bags. I save, not everything, but almost. You know, just in case! I did pretty well the first two days of sorting, but as time goes on it is harder to put things in the "getting rid of" pile. I really do want to pare way down and simplify, but the letting go is hard for me. Pray that I would be reminded to find my peace, comfort and stability in God and my sweet family, not in things.

7. Comfort. We are all excited, but we are all grieving too. There is nothing harder than seeing the tears in my husband's or daughter's eyes, hearing them say, "I'm going to miss _____." It is particularly hard to watch Clara sob about leaving her friends, the only ones she's ever known. We comfort her as best we can and pray that God would comfort her as well. Your prayers and love are a comfort to us all.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank each one of you for the ways you have loved us well, for the ways you continue to love us well. For your prayers, your words of encouragement, your smiles and even your tears. We love you all more than words can possibly say.