Another Monday

I can hardly believe it’s Monday again, and yet it is.

Our last Monday in Indiana.

It’s going to be an emotional week. I know this because I was already emotional all weekend. “This is our last Saturday here…” “This is our last Sunday here…” “This is our last time visiting this church…” “This is our last chance to fellowship with our new friends Karla and Gene, whom we have come to love like family…”

I can’t wait to just be in our own home, sleep in our own beds, run around in our own yard, even shop at our own Cub Foods (no offense, Kroger, you were swell), but man, we are really going to miss this place.

The Lord has been SO good. He has been so faithful. Not only has He raised up an army of prayer warriors from every state and around the world, but He has blown us away with the army of local saints, the people that make up the precious body of Christ, that came together to bless a family of uprooted strangers, for 8 weeks.

A local church’s small groups took turns blessing us with food each week, practically more than we could eat. We are a big family, that’s a lot of food. They also threw in some gift cards, some of them quite large, I was rather speechless. The food, the Walmart gift cards, the Kroger gift cards (which came in so handy for things like lots of milk and fresh fruits & veggies), the BP gift card for gas, have all helped us so much during this time when our budget is stretched so thin, making payments on two homes, and spending a small fortune on gas. I thank the Lord for the cheerful givers at Emmanual Baptist Church.

A local homeschooling mom stopped by several times and picked up the middle 6 children, taking them out for ice cream and over to her home to run and play outside and collect geodes in the creek, so I could take Ian to one of his many daily appointments with only the baby in tow. She was such an incredible blessing to me, and the children just adored her and her girls and couldn’t wait for another chance to visit with Miss Kristy. I thank the Lord for Kristy.

A sweet lady we met at the small start-up church we visited brought me a bread knife and a nice big cutting board, as there weren’t any here at the condo we have been renting. She also brought us the most incredible chicken avocado & black bean salad. I thank the Lord for Irene.

A blogging friend arranged for an amazing meal from the Olive Garden on one of the Saturdays when my husband was able to be down with us for the weekend. I thank the Lord for Megan.

And Cheryl, and Sherry, and Phil, and Nancy, and all of the other people whose names I don’t remember, many of whom I never even actually met. I thank the Lord for them.

We have been SO blessed. It’s humbling, it really, really is.

Would I do that much? For strangers? THAT much?

I hope so.

 

791. gifted homemade cookies

792. fall color

793. cool breezes

794. the kindness of strangers

795. when strangers become friends

796. an amazing doctor (who flew to Minnesota this weekend to speak to the group of surgeons my husband used to work for about the wonders of proton beam therapy! My husband is quite the networker!)

797. a generous gift of money that enabled us to get a badly needed new set of tires on the van before our multi-state road trip back home, Lord willing, on Friday. I feel much safer now, they were getting way too bald…

798. modern medicines, steroids, that saved the day, more than once, when Ian was having brain swelling issues

799. every baby step of improvement, physically, for Ian

800. thoughts of Minnesota