New adventures every day

Every day brings a new adventure around here. I'm learning and experiencing new things every time I turn around. 

Saturday we had to go into town to try to switch to a new cell-phone provider because our last one just didn't give us enough signal out at New Song or anywhere outside of town, for that matter. It made me nervous about driving on all these long country roads with no way to get a hold of anyone. First we had lunch out at good old Bob Evans, then we went to Verizon. We also got a device to provide internet in the RV, so now I don't have to go in to the school to work on the computer. It took pretty much the whole afternoon to get everything switched over to the new phones, and then we still had a bunch of issues getting the providers completely switched over. 

Sunday we went to church with Matt and Chrissy, then spent the afternoon hanging out with David, going back to Verizon to help with the glitches we were having and dealing with issues in waiting for everything to transfer fully. We are all happy with our new phones now, finally, and we are in a much better situation with getting signal. 

Sunday night we joined Matt and Chrissy and the boys at Chrissy's dad's house for a rib fest/potluck. We had some amazing food, enjoyed good company, hung out on a BEAUTIFUL deck and waited out a pretty big rain storm. His desk would make an amazing writer's retreat, and Chrissy told me he would literally let me come any time I ever wanted! But honestly, I think New Song is an amazing writer's retreat, as well. And I think I'll be here nearly every day for a while. 

Monday I popped in to meet the incoming campers around three in the afternoon, hung around for a couple get-to-know-you games, and then walked back to the camper to relax with Mike for the evening. I also met my new little friend, Abi, the granddaughter of the girls' houseparents. I had given her grandma a copy of my first book just a day or two before that because she said she really wanted to read it and know our story (didn't know they had a similar story of their own!), and little Abi saw it and read through it first! So when I met her, she felt like she already knew me, and she just kept saying how much she loved my book. We found her a copy of the second book, and she's already devouring that one, too. Love her. :)

Later that night, Mike and I walked back up to the campus to join the campers in their first campfire. 

Yesterday I helped with camp, made some new little friends, we opened a bank account with the option period money we got out of the first contract on our house that didn't go through, I found a new place to get my hair cut, and I drove around town a little to get more comfortable and find the best routes to one of the cutest coffee shops I've ever been to. 

Today I went to the school house to take a nice hot shower and do some laundry, and I ended up being there just in time to help out with craft time. Then the girls' houseparents invited me to join them all for lunch before the girls headed out on an outting. It always takes me a bit to warm up and take in my surroundings before I feel comfortable somewhere, so being here alone last week and then being able to help out with camp this week is really just what I needed so I can start the school year more confidently. And who knows--maybe some of this week's campers will return as students for the year. 

A week ago yesterday, I sold my house. Just a few hours later, I found a house and rather large property at a good price just ten minutes from New Song, but it definitely needed a face-lift and then some. More than anything, Mike wanted a house with a lot of land. Where he can build things, fabricate things, fix things, play with his "big boy toys", use for recreation, etc. Matt drove by it on his way to see us that night and was just giddy with excitement over all the possibilities. That night, Mike called about it and set up an appointment to go see it the next morning. A week ago today, we showed up with the whole remodeling crew from Tipton Home Services (Matt, David, and Matt's father-in-law) to not only see the house but also to do our own "inspection" of what kind of repairs it might need. 

I left feeling quite overwhelmed. It's not at all the home I envisioned. They left optimistic and excited. I saw lots of work and a longer time before I could unpack and settle down. They saw amazing potential with never-ending fun. That's where I realized just how different we see the world and how much I completely underestimated their talent, expertise, and experience in this area. Mike was ready to make an offer that day. I wanted to walk away and keep looking. David warned me that I'd really regret not jumping on the location, knowing the odds of finding something that close to New Song in our price range were very slim. I was torn. I had envisioned myself finding a house ready to settle in to and make my home. Mike saw the potential to take the shell of this house and transform it into whatever we want. With a whole crew working together, we could turn this little old house into a cozy haven for many years to come--at a fraction of the price that someone else would have to pay someone to do. With even just a few of the more major repairs and a minimal face lift, we can increase the value of the home by a ton. 

I slept on it, and after a very prayerful day the day before, I woke up in the morning with enough peace to send Mike a text saying I trusted him with whatever he decided to do. God's really been working on me lately to get out of the way so Mike can rise up to be the leader God designed him to be. To look up to him and respect him and stand by him. He didn't want to move here so we could just find a cute little house and settle. He wanted to move here to pursue the things he's always wanted to do but couldn't while we lived in a large suburban community outside of Dallas. He doesn't want to be like his dad, who waited so long to build the huge garage he wanted and then never got the chance to use it. He sees all the cool projects his brother has been able to have fun with while living on a good chunk of land, and he wants to be able to do the same. Not only is this chunk of land a dream haven to him, but also the ability to work with his brother to, in essence, flip this little house. I'm sure it can only help give even more credibility to Matt's business, too, because they can experiment and have fun with it and then advertise their success each step of the way. And, hey, there's plenty of room to build whatever else we want on the property in the future. 

He calculated a lower offer based on the quotes Matt gave us for materials, and they accepted it! Now here we are under contract again, in the middle of e-signing documents for a new mortgage, driving by the property every chance we get to envision how we can make it our own. 

My new job at New Song is literally out in the middle of nowhere, a good 30 minutes from town, at least 20 minutes from the nearest store or gas station. It's also about 20 minutes from Matt and Chrissy. And I'm not looking forward to driving in any kind of ice and snow. So our goal was to find a house as close to here as possible. But everything we found in our price range was either too far from New Song (meaning a longer drive for me) or way too expensive. This property is a super easy ten minute drive from here, ten minutes from the nearest store or gas station, and only 20 minutes into town where Mike will be working at least a couple days each week. And the land is amazing. We'll be closing in early September, just in time for the leaves to start to change and we'll see spectacular displays of color all around us. I heard that people come from all over the world, literally, to take pictures of the trees here in the fall. I can't wait to experience that. 

I'm purposefully not showing any before pictures right now because it's OUR project, no one else's. It will be OUR haven, and it will be done on OUR timeline. I don't want other people's opinions about what we should and shouldn't do and when we should and shouldn't do it. It's all going to depend on time, money, resources that become available through Matt's business, and how the repairs go. Plus, Mike is not a big planner. He starts a project and just goes with it, sometimes letting the project lead itself. He may say he's going to do one thing, and then end up doing something completely different. Just like when I start a poem, I have no idea where it's going to go or how it's going to turn out. I just follow the rhyme of the words. So I will show before and after pics together as each step is completed. But like I said, we've still got about five to six weeks of living here at New Song in the RV, which yes, is cramped, but super convenient, affordable, and comfortable enough for now. Then once we close on the house, we will probably just take the RV there to continue living in until we remodel enough of the house to start living in it. 

Here's the only sneak peak I'm going to give, a quick pic I snapped yesterday as I drove by. Yes, I literally stopped driving and sat parked in the road to take pictures. Not much traffic passes through that way. That's just the front of the property, where they currently have a couple horses. The land goes WAY back from there. 

Stillness

One thing I have struggled to find over the last few months, or even the last two years, is stillness.

I think that's what my soul craved in my short six week summer last year as I got on my bike and rode to the nature trail every day, taking time to stop and sit by the small pond with a fountain at the middle. 

Different bodies of water cause the water to act in different ways. In the oceans, it rolls in waves. In the streams, it flows. In the rivers, it rushes. But in a pond or lake, it just sits there still, occasionally showing a trace of movement with the wind. 

There's something about sitting out here on a deck right above the New Song classroom, overlooking a quiet pond, that brings a natural sense of peace and tranquility. 

It's much easier to be still while sitting out here. I'm making it a point to try out all the different picnic tables and spots to sit, whether it be in my egg chair in front of the camper in the morning, at the picnic table right in front of the pond, the one on the deck on the other side of the pond that looks over toward the school house, or the one on the deck just outside the kitchen upstairs. 

There's a reason the Psalms say our Shepherd leads us beside still waters. They truly do have the power to restore your soul when needed.

There's also something about a campfire that just beckons you to sit down and rest for awhile. To sit and stare at the crackling flames and give your body and mind a break from the constant movement and need to be productive. A campfire is automatic permission to just be still.

Mike has been working non-stop since before Christmas. First in trying to get ahead enough at work to be able to take 3 weeks off to help his mom. Then in dealing with his dad's funeral, his mom's surgery, and cleaning out a house that had not been tended to in a long, long while. After that, it was all he could do to keep his head above water trying to catch up after being gone from work for three weeks, plus trying to sort through all of his dad's tools and belongings he brought back with him, and reconnect with me after a long absence, with no bit of free time or down time.

Then when we agreed that God was calling us to move back to Indiana, it was non-stop cleaning out , purging, and sorting through our own belongings of the last 19 years in Texas. With his hobby being an outdoor, mechanical one, he had a lot of tools, parts, and things I couldn't even recognize strewn all out over the driveway and shoved onto trailers, shelves, corners in the yard, and all over the garage floor and driveway. It was not a light task to go through it all and prepare to move.

He worked non-stop until the very day we proposed to move, into the next day and all the way till that evening. Then here he jumped right in to all things camping related (things I'm so thankful he knows how to do because I'm completely helpless) while also working full-time between two different jobs. Needless to say, he's been busy. 

But last night we finally had a quiet evening back at the camper, so we were able to rig up a fire ring to start our first little campfire.

And once it got going, we both had a chance to just sit in the stillness and tranquility, stare at the flames, talk about life, and just "be" together. For as long as we're here in the RV until we move into a house, I look forward to the evenings we can just sit in front of the fire. Almost a forced rest, a given permission to be still. A great way to have a chance to connect. 

 

Taking it all in

I left Texas on the evening of July 8, thirteen long days ago. It hasn't even been two weeks, though it feels like it's been at least three or four. We slept in a Motel 6 that night that a blown trailer tire led us to in Hope, Arkansas.

We pulled into my brother-in-law's driveway (well, actually, he was the one that pulled US in, literally) around 1 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 10th. 11 days ago.  I slept on a cot in his basement to finish out that night. They started to show our house in Texas again that day, with three showings scheduled.

The next night, I started to move a few of my things into my mother-in-law's motorhome, parked right outside the basement of my brother-in-law's house. That's where I slept for the next five days, but I still went inside the house for any bathroom/bathing needs. Mike went to work with Matt, and I went driving around with Chrissy and the boys to several places. A cash offer for our home came in that day, and before we got home for dinner, Mike and I had already electronically signed a contract accepting the offer. They did not request an option period, and we set to close on July 29th.

Both Mike and David went to work with Matt all week long, while Chrissy let me hang out with her and the boys, doing fun activities every day, like riding bike, hanging out with the horse and goats, going swimming at the neighbor's house and also at the community pool, getting donuts for Matt's birthday, etc. She's an incredible mom and a great hostess. I'm super thankful for her and for how easily we connect. She loves animals and nature and works hard to take care of any living creature in her care. 

Saturday morning we got up and drove the motorhome to New Song to set up camp. It took a few nights to get adjusted and make it our own, but I think we've got some kind of a rhythm going. I'm so glad that I didn't wait till later in July to move. I really needed this quiet week with nothing going on here to just relax, breathe, have some down time, explore, and take it all in. Evenings are still pretty rushed and unpredictable, as we've still spent every evening either at Matt and Chrissy's or with them visiting us. I'm hoping tonight we can finally make a bonfire and enjoy a more relaxed evening "at home".  

I've found that I can get my mile walk in just by walking from the camper all the way up to the playground and back. It's a bit more hilly than I'm used to, so that should make it count for a little more, right? Walking from the camper to the classroom is about 8 tenths of a mile. The first few days I drove here (especially when I had laundry to bring with me), but today I decided to grab my backpack and walk here. My leg is finally feeling and looking like it's healing enough for me to get some exercise again. (The move really aggravated it, at least the swelling around my ankle, so I made it a point to take it easy this week).

Everyone has been gone this week except for the new office manager, who happens to also work at Matt and Chrissy's church, so Chrissy was able to introduce me to her. She's been super nice, friendly, and helpful, and I really look forward to working with her. Yesterday she helped me out with printing some things I need to start working on my Indiana teaching license, and she took some mail into town for me. 

At the end of last week, we found out that the buyers of our house had interest in closing earlier, either on Tuesday the 19th or the 26th. We all agreed on the 19th, so Tuesday morning Mike and I went to a local bakery to meet the mobile notary to sign the papers for closing. An hour and a half later, they signed theirs in Texas, and the funding appeared in our bank the next afternoon after they got our papers fed-exed to them. Between the day the house showed and the day we received the funds, it all went through in a total of ten days. Not bad. Not without a headache the night before when we found out we left too many things behind and had to get them out immediately. Mike tried contacting a few people who normally would have done that for us, but they were out of town. Thankfully Juan came to the rescue for us! It's not like we weren't warned--the realtor specifically told us we needed to leave the house absolutely empty when we moved out. And in talking to a realtor here, I found that their request at the last minute is a very common and legit thing, even when the house is listed AS IS. We knew we should have gotten it all out, we just literally ran out of time. It all ended well, though, and the closing went smoothly. With the money in the bank, it will be one less headache now in looking for our new home. So far, we've seen a few that have caught our eye, either for the house or for the land, but I know God will make it clear when it's the right one. And hey, it sure is nice to have a whole crew of hard-working, experienced home remodelers ready to work together to get us into the right place. Seeing Mike and Matt (and David) work together so selflessly is pretty amazing.

I knew before I got here to New Song that the girls' houseparents were leaving at the end of July. They saw me pull in yesterday afternoon and followed me to the camper to say hi. They're super nice (and even lived in Texas for awhile), so I'm a little sad I won't get to work with them--though I know God is drawing together a new team for me to work with, one I have been praying for faithfully since I accepted this job. Anyway, I asked them where they were headed, and they said, "Warsaw, a little town up in northern Indiana." LOL. They were pretty surprised to find out this Texas girl used to live there and that my husband's family all still lives there. They're headed up there for the same reason we left Texas, to be closer to a widowed mom. Anyway, they'll be around for another week for the last week of camp this summer, so I will probably see more of them next week before they leave. We exchanged cell phone numbers, and they told me to holler if I need anything at all. 

Today I didn't have a thing planned, so I've been taking time to just sit and be still and realize all I have to be thankful for. I remember my first days in Texas, standing outside by my portable classroom, breathing in the warm Texas air, so in awe of how God got me there. I can honestly say I feel the same way now each day as I walk around this campus. I'm really here, I feel so at home, and I'm truly in awe of how God led me here. I can't believe all I left behind and the peace that I still feel despite that. I know it's not all going to be fun and games, that a lot of new challenges await me that are different than I've experienced in public schools, plus challenges with being so far away from my boys, challenges with finding a house, moving, remodeling when needed, figuring out a new financial rhythm, finding our church home and community, driving on country roads without getting lost, going through a not-so-Texas winter, dealing with cold temperatures for longer than a day or two, etc. There's a lot of challenge ahead. But I have this incredible peace that I am right where I was always meant to be in this moment. 

The sign hanging in the kitchen above the classroom, in the main building. 

The verse that gave them the name for this campus. 

My view yesterday while I was reading, right in front of the pond.

Two little tiny toads that my nephews found near the gravel road.

The dry-for-now creek that I cross over every day right by the classroom.

The bridge I cross over every day on the campus. 

It's called Bridge of Hope.

My morning visitor today while I sat outside on my egg chair to read and pray. 

Well, it's really nice outside, so I think I'm going to go sit and continue reading Waymaker, by Ann Voscamp. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. With campers coming in a few days, I better take advantage of the tranquility around here while I still can. 

New Song Leadership Academy

Last night when Mike went to take David back to Matt's house, I decided to stay back at the camper and just sit outside to read. It was still light out, and the temperature was very pleasing. I think it may have started to rain very softly while I sat outside, but I was under the awning, so it was like sitting outside on my covered front porch.  

As I sat there, a car pulled onto New Song Drive and slowly passed by my campsite. It was Bob, my new boss, and when he saw me sitting outside, he pulled in to say hello. He gave me the keyless entry information to get into the house where the classroom is, and he gave me the wifi information so I can work on my computer any time I need to. He also gave me some contacts to help in our house search. I was thankful that I stayed back so I could get all that needed information before today.

So this morning, I slept in till Mike left, showered, did some more organizing in the camper, took care of a leak that I found from the rain (our own fault), read some, worked on an online Bible study, had my prayer time, made some lunch, and then drove the rest of the way down New Song Road to get into my classroom. Sure is nice to have wifi again and to not have to wait long for my pictures to download! I took some pics of the classroom so I can start envisioning ways I might want to decorate or set things up. I've never taught in this style before, so I'm just trying to take it all in for now. Lisa told me to be thinking about what I want to do and that there will be a budget to cover that. Now that's a first! 

Last year they all pitched in (houseparents included) to decorate it all like a castle with a Super Mario theme. They want to completely redo it all, though. I can't do anything until after NEXT week because there is another week of camp here that week, and they've got things all set up for camp right now. This week Bob and Lisa are taking some of the previous students on a trip to Michigan, so it will be quiet around here--a perfect opportunity for me to just get comfortable with my surroundings and start making myself at home. Interestingly, it already feels like home. Here are some pics of the classroom as it is right now.

When you walk down the stairs and turn to the left. This is the boys' side. The kids will each have their own personal cubicle to work at.

Still on the boys' side.

One door (on the right) closes off the stairway, and the other door opens to a utility/storage room. 

The door here goes to the garage, where I will be entering and exiting. Then there are eight storage lockers that I am assuming will be for each student.

This is the girls' side, and also where they have a small section of books. I brought several personal books from my old classroom that I plan to donate to this library if needed/wanted. And how cool to have a fireplace in the classroom! No more need to find a digital one to display on screen.

My view outside the classroom windows, also where the kids will go outside to play for breaks/recess. 

The current library. I immediately noticed the Left Behind books. I'm sure they will like the Left Behind for kids series that I brought from David's old library. I read every single one of those books with David when he was younger. 

The storage closet for all the supplies. Nice.

Back on the boys' side, looks like a little reading nook turned into a castle. Very cute. 

My view right now as I write this blog. :)

I'm still in awe that I'm really here and that God chose me, prepared me, and equipped me for this. He really is a Waymaker. 

"Home"

Saturday morning we woke up, made sure the camper was set up to drive, and we drove it out to New Song Mission to set up camp until we're able to find a more permanent home. I've been wanting to go camping again for quite a while, so it looks like I got my wish, sort-of. It all feels so adventurous until you have those moments when it hits you that you're not going back to where you came from. It's only moving forward from here. Not gonna lie, those moments can hit hard. This morning as I sat all alone in the little camper (well, alone as you can be with two curious little cats), I thought, "Wow. I'm really here, and I'm really doing this. Living out of a camper in the middle of nowhere, just on the other end of New Song Road, just a windy road's drive away from my new classroom at New Song Leadership Academy. And how exactly did I get here?" Crazy feeling, for sure. 

It literally took us the entire day to get set up, when you consider all the driving between Matt and Chrissy's house to New Song, hooking all the electric and water up, driving to town in Columbus (about a 25 minute drive from here) to eat lunch and then go shopping at Walmart to stock up on everything we'll need for at least a week or so, driving to Chrissy's mom's place to get some things out of storage, including more clothes, pots and pans, tools, and outdoor furniture, and then back to New Song. Then after we got all set up, we still had to drive 15 minutes to Matt and Chrissy's house to take David back since the camper only sleeps two. It was a late night for sure.

I think I got to bed a little before 1 a.m., only to be awakened by issues with my CPAP machine not being set up right, then two cats making a bunch of racket while RUNNING into our little bedroom because a storm freaked them out, then listening to a storm pound down on the camper and just imagining all of our camping chairs and things we left outside blowing all over the place. Somehow Mike slept through all of it, but I sure didn't. I think I slept about 2-3 hours total. 

I got up in the morning with Mike and checked everything outside to find out that nothing blew anywhere, it was just all a bit wet. Whew. Looks like we'll be okay!

However, I skipped out on our first week to attend church together because I was exhausted. Mike met the rest of the family (including David) at church, and I stayed back to sleep. Then Mike and David stopped to get us some lunch before coming back to hang out in our new "home" for the rest of the rainy day. We sat and played cards and drank coffee and just enjoyed a quiet day. We ended the night cooking hot dogs on the stove and eating some chips and potato salad. Now that the rain has passed, I'm looking forward to Mike cooking for us in the evenings out on the grill and the smoker. Bob (my new boss) also said we could build a little firepit, so that will really make it feel like a long camping adventure. 

Just pulling in to start the hook-ups.

After we brought back all the outdoor furniture, though we forgot the chair for the patio table, so we'll need to get those another day. We did get the kitty cage/table/fireplace, my egg chair, and the smoker, plus a small table top grill. 

Tight quarters for a bit, but it's definitely manageable, especially now that we're figuring out better ways to organize everything. 

All set up. We're pretty close to the road, but that row of trees behind us make it pretty quiet and comfortable.

We even have a dumpster right there, so trash isn't an issue. 

A closer look at the set-up for now.

One curious little cat. We put a harness on him, and it settled him down a little bit. 

We also got him a leash for the harness and hooked it up to the chair. Then he can get his outside time with me when he doesn't want to be caged. 

The view in front of the camper on a gray, cloudy day.

Trying out his new leash. LOL.

He wasn't quite sure about walking on that gravel. 

Enjoying dinner. 

Spazzie hides most of the time, so we likely won't get many pictures of her. She's happy, though, and seems to be pretty well adjusted now. She still doesn't like Boots very much, though. 

So, our house closes tomorrow morning, then we'll be jumping into the real estate world here to find just the right house that God has already prepared for us. We're getting to know the area a little bit more and have a little bit better idea of where to look, but so far we've only found houses a bit out of our price range. It's fun looking and imagining the possibilities, but I can't complain about our current living situation. I don't mind being a bike ride away from my classroom, and it sure is peaceful out here. Yesterday may have been the most restful day I've had since school ended. I think I'm going to try to soak it up while God has me positioned here.