Finally Home

It's amazing how quickly a month can go by without blogging. Especially when that month includes two trips out of town and moving to a new place.

Last month I went to Wisconsin to see my cousin graduate from high school. Since I was up there and so was my sister, I took advantage of the opportunity to ride home with her and see the place she & my brother-in-law moved into a few months back when they left Michigan for Indiana. So that was a week-and-a-half of fun family time. My sister & brother-in-law are renting a nice house while they make plans on buying a house of their own in the area.

One funny incident while I was there: I realized on Monday (my first day there) while they were both at work that their wireless internet wasn't working. Three days and several phone calls later, Tim noticed that there was a cable outside the house that had been cut. They are the first people to live in the house, and apparently the cable never got buried after the house was built, so when the guys came to mow the lawn, they ran it over!

So besides being a funny story, that is a great excuse why I didn't blog the week I was there.

Then upon returning to Wichita, I began in earnest making the arrangements to leave my lonely apartment and move into a house across town with a couple friends from church. The whole moving process is always quite an ordeal, and this time did not disappoint in that aspect. The week I happened to be moving included a mission trip, a church conference, and two weddings that many friends were obligated to and oral surgery for another friend on the day I moved. So finding help was a little more difficult than usual, to say the least.

For some reason, still unknown to me, I decided to rent a van and do the bulk of the moving on a Thursday. I wound up w/one person helping me from 12 to 2 and two others who couldn't help till between 3 & 4 in the afternoon. Sitting alone in my apartment at 2:30 w/the van almost loaded, but not able to finish by myself, I was totally kicking myself for not waiting till Saturday when most people wouldn't be working. "Why did I do this?!?" I cried out in a very frustrated manner. "Why didn't You prevent me from making this foolish choice, God?"

But the other two friends showed up and we got most of the stuff moved-- as much as would fit in the van I rented plus some more in the cars. And, as usual, God did work things out in mysterious ways that I don't understand, even though I didn't realize it at the time. I decided I would just get a couple friends who had said they were sorry they couldn't help on Thursday b/c of work, and we would finish moving the rest on Saturday morning. Well, b/c of the above-mentioned activities that weekend, I wound up with NO help on Saturday. Think if I had rented the van to move the furniture on Saturday! I would have been in BIG trouble.

So anyway, I have no idea why I rented the van for Thursday, but now I see that was God watching out for me, not just my foolish choice.

And this past weekend of Independence Day, I rode w/my parents down to Hot Springs AR for a family reunion at my aunt & uncle's. They have a house on a lake there, and it was a wonderfully relaxing time. As mementos, I have sore muscles from tubing and possibly the most interestingly-shaped sunburns I've seen. I was very excited about this new concept of spray-on sunscreen, but I guess I got a little TOO excited and wasn't diligent about covering ALL parts of my legs or stomach or shoulders or arms. They were some pretty hardcore burns, too, so I'm sure the results will be visible on my skin all summer long. Live and learn, I guess!

So I'm home!!!!! Next comes the conclusion of the wonderfully enjoyable activity of unpacking and settling in. Talk to you all again soon.

Peace.