Home Sweet Home

Over the summer, I could sense that our family was stuck inside the cage of a hot air balloon. The fire was blowing and blowing and the balloon was filling and filling, yet we could not take off, no matter how much we wanted to, no matter how much effort was expended. The balloon wasn't ready- we weren't ready. And then, just when I thought the balloon might burst... up it went. So it goes.

Jack got a job with an airplane manufacturing plant, we moved to a new city, found ourselves an apartment with a lease we could break for the cost of about a week's stay in a hotel, and we were connected with a realtor that was so amazing she is now watching Mark with her grandson while I write this blog entry. 

We bought a house! We moved in last week! My family came to help us move from the apartment to the house, which would have been impossible without them. We had flooring replaced, the main level is currently being painted, and all of our belongings are in transit to arrive next week! We haven't seen these things in over a year and a half, before our camper adventure. I am both excited and nervous about what condition all of our possessions will be in, though I am trying to remember that all it is is stuff. 

One of the major blessings we have experienced since moving here is a profoundly Catholic town. We prayed God would send us to a place that would be good for our family, and after experiencing several promising job opportunities that didn't work out, I can most definitely say we ended up here for a reason. We are close to home, I have made mom friends with children Mark's age AND with newborns, found a Bible study, and we even went to a hockey game one night with Jack's coworker and his family! For the past couple years, I've lived in cities where I haven't had a single person outside of Jack who really knew me, and I can tell that here things will be different here, for me, and for our family. Finally. Up in the hot air balloon, it feels like the air is finally clear.

So many blessings, though not without cost. Jack's hours are difficult. He works second shift, and often he is gone from 1:00pm -2am, even later, and he has only had off two Sundays since he started several months ago. He also has the additional burden of reserves training once a month. At his new job, he is a first level manager, which according to someone I met who had worked there for forty years before he retired, is pretty much the most difficult job there. The man I was speaking to said he only lasted in Jack's management position for four months. Needless to say, we would appreciate prayers as Jack adjusts to his new job, as we all adjust to the crazy hours (that are far too reminiscent of his former job in the army), and as we integrate into the civilian world in general. I feel extremely blessed to have a husband who works so hard to provide for us, and I pray that our family can experience peace even in the midst of these difficulties. Even with so much going right, it can be hard to see past the troubles before us!

So there we go, just a little update in our life situation. I am eager to have the work at our house finished, since our kitchen is currently a construction zone and we are eating out quite a bit. I am so excited to have a couch after over two months of an air mattress, as well as the conveniences of a mailbox (packages delivered right to our door!), a garage, a backyard, a big kitchen table, all my pots and pans, a nice, big refrigerator, multiple toilets in the house, a dishwasher, a bath tub. There are so many luxuries I never knew I had before our transitory life, and I promised myself that I will never again take for granted how fortunate we are for these many things. 

But most of all, I am so happy to have a home for our family. Even today, Jack, Mark, and I were outside in our large, fenced in yard, throwing tennis balls to the dogs, and I was filled with so much joy because it really hit that this house is the place where we will gather with our children for thousands of meals, for all our birthdays and celebrations, where we will oversee our kids play together and fight too, where hours of homework will be completed at the kitchen table, where countless baths will be taken, where books will be read over and over again, and it strikes me because all the monotonous routines of life carried out over and over again, will someday be nothing more but a feeling our children have when they think of this house, a feeling that they were cared for, that they were treasured, and that they were loved beyond measure.

That's all I can hope for.