Spafford Relocation

Where do I begin? That is the question with which I am wrestling as I sit down to write a post. Occasionally I am at a loss for material to make up a post, but so much has happened in the last few weeks that I am at a loss as to where to begin. I have a folder with 239 pictures and I must pick through them to decide what would be the best ones to put on this post.

Well, I guess the beginning is a very good place to start. So...we first saw the home late on Thursday night, Dec. 3. This was the first time that all of us children, except for Jonathon, got to see the home. Exclamations of wonder and delight comprised most of the noise during the first tour of the house. It surpassed our expectations. We spent the first night in sleeping bags on the Bonus Room floor.

When I woke up in the morning, I walked over to the window sill where I had left my glasses and put them on. This is the scene that lay before me, framed in the window like a picture. All I could do was let out a deep breath and wonder at the fact that this was our home. After nearly two years of uncertainty, God had led us here.

The photos don't do it justice.

These are the scenes from the back of the house. We have two chickens which came along with the house and we hope to add to their number come spring.

And the view from the right side of our home. There is not an ugly view anywhere. Everywhere that you look, you are surrounded by the beauties of God's creation with very little man made creations to mar their splendor.










Well...we enjoyed a morning in our great empty home and then the boxes began to move in and take up their own little spaces, demanding to be emptied. The task seemed nearly overwhelming, but the reward of being settled in our own dear home spurred us on.






We were blessed with many helpers during the moving process. On Friday Pastor Will came over and helped Daddy move two whole storage units (which have held a portion of our belongings for 18 months now) as well as an entire moving truck load of things from our rental home. They got a good head start on the move. Then on Saturday a large group from our church came over and helped us move everything else into our home. What a blessing!

The Entire Work Crew!



For the first week we have enjoyed blue skies and a very icy cold snap. In fact, it was so cold that our little waterfall in the front yard froze over completely.

During the 11 days since we began our move, we have entirely unpacked, sorted, and set up everything from our old home and the two storage units. The only boxes left are book boxes (we are in the process of having library shelves built) and garage boxes. We have made multiple trips to the dump and Goodwill and are completely settled in except for our pictures, which we have yet to hang on the walls. Christmas decorating is completely done and today we did Christmas baking for our neighbors.

This has probably been the busiest 11 days of my entire life. There is a satisfying sense of accomplishment, however, and an overpowering realization of the goodness of the Lord throughout this entire process. All the the glory must go to Him. He has led, strengthened, and sustained us during all these days of uncertainty.

In the midst of this whole process, Daddy and Mommy bought us a dog. This is the first time in my entire life that we have ever owned any pet, except for the three goldfish that I had for a brief time when I was very little before they promptly died.

Anyway on Sunday afternoon, Daddy and Mommy took us to the home of a lady who was selling several puppies and bought us a dog. He is a beautiful little black lab the product of a father who is a golden English lab and his mother a chocolate lab. Go figure! He is the sweetest, most cuddly little puppy I have ever seen; with eyes like a Precious Moments dog. We named him Bear. For now he is Little Bear, although, judging from the size of his paws, he shows great promise of being Big Bear soon.

As you can see, much has happened in the last month. I told Mommy that she and Daddy can never top these Christmas gifts: a new house and a dog. God is very good and has been very faithful.