Move Prep

For the last two weeks now

my life has become all about

visiting with friends

cleaning

and packing

and more packing

still don't have a move date yet

but I refuse to be caught off guard

with a weeks-notice for a move

and zero packing accomplished

of course, packing doesn't just mean packing

it means sorting

which we did

a lot

and some friends graciously offered their house for a garage sale

so last Saturday our morning began at 5:30 am

and ended with a crash (literally)

the garage sale was scheduled for Saturday 7/14 8am

of course to some people that means Friday 7/13 mid-afternoon

show up at the house unannounced and insist on seeing the advertised bike

NOT COOL BIKE HOARDER

Anyway, browsing pretty much began at 7:45

I arrived with the kids at 8:00

and Haley peeling off price stickers and putting them on herself began promptly at 8:05

more friends arrived at 9:30

and the lemonade stand was open for business

selling strategy and profit distribution was a hot topic

and the team worked very well together

and Haley

well she just made herself comfortable

one of the larger items for sale was a pottery barn toddler bed

I was sure that it would be picked up by a mom with a 3-year-old

to my surprise

it was sold to a man

with a dog

apparently this little guy required a much fancier bed

than the average pup

I was a little disappointed to see my daughters bed go to an animal

but once he handed me the cash

i got over it pretty quickly

our customer returned again

to pick out some more items

and that's when it happened

upon his leaving there was an accident

Praise God, there were no injuries and

minimal car damage to our friends car

And the Lord was over the entire situation

protecting the kids

keeping the adults calm

and causing the grace of God to be poured out to this man behind the wheel

making sure he was ok

sitting with him

walking him home

inviting him to church

not responding in anger but in love

I don't know where this man is at spiritually

but my prayer is that he recognizes the grace of God

through the love of Jesus

and he returns to our friends house seeking to know more

We came home that day exhausted to say the least

after a short rest time

Jason turned on the movie Up

and as a family we watched the movie and ate our pizza

there's a scene at the beginning where the couple, Carl and Ellie, are saving coins in a jar for their dream trip to Paradise Falls

and throughout the clip they keep having to break the jar

to pay for other things like the car, or the house

and they start saving all over again

we have such a jar

actually its a car

a love bug

it was a wedding gift

and as cheesy at it looks

from the very beginning its use was decided

to save up change to help fund a second honeymoon for our 10th Anniversary

and this is the second time its being emptied

in this case its for moving expenses

cause moving out-of-state ain't cheap

sometimes you save up for one thing, but God has something more important in mind

and His purposes are far better than ours