10 God Moments in 1 month

2 weeks ago I shared how God gave us a bed for Lydia before I said a word to anyone about it, that was only one of the God Moments/Miracles we have had as we transition out of support-raising missionary life to a more settled life in Orlando.  Lets review the last month:  

1. Bob's Job- By some God miracle Bob is able to go back to a very similar job to the one he had a year ago. He loved his job and can't wait to start this week. He had called his supervisor in January when our plans started changing and she didn't know of any openings, and a few weeks later called to let us know someone was going to be leaving after all. 

2.  Medication for me- We changed our plans to move overseas based on the realization that the hard time I was having adjusting was not just a difficult transition but something bigger, post-partum depression from Caleb's birth. Before we left Southern Illinois we were able to find a doctor (on the second try) who would work with us and was able to find a good medication that is helping me right now. I thank God that the first medication we tried, had a very positive effect.

3.  Finding a place to live- We decided to move back to Orlando where we feel most at home but also where a large number of homes are in foreclosure, we were able to find a great place to rent in our old neighborhood through a missionary network, and we seem to have a great landlord. 

4.  Helping driving South- Having family help us move wasn't working out and would delay our return to Orlando. Soon after Bob got the job offer I was talking with a family friend and discovered that they vacation in Florida. We also learned his work is pretty seasonal and hadn't picked up yet for the spring. He and his wife & son graciously drove our moving truck to Orlando for us. They enjoyed a day at the beach before returning home.

5.  Something to Leave Behind- When Bob left his job at Wycliffe last year I got him a cake to celebrate our leap of faith. The small group we were a part of the last 3 months we were in Illinois, surprised us with a identical size cake at our last meeting. They had no idea about the first cake, and that special group of people made leaving Illinois that much harder. 

6. Help loading the truck- We loaded our truck on Friday morning, we had a hard time finding people who were available to help us. We had 2 special families come help us in addition to Bob's family. Everyone who helped came at just the right time so we had plenty of help and were done in record time before the severe weather hit our area that day. 

7.  Weather while Traveling- We rushed to load our truck before a major storm hit our area and succeeded. The storm hit right at lunch time so we didn't waste anytime on the weather. After the storm passed it was immediately clear blue skies and we had good weather the other 2 days of the trip south!

8.  A Place to Call Home- The way timing worked out we were a little risky in not seeing our house before we moved in. I was sad because we knew it didn't have a screened porch. When we arrived, however, we were pleasantly surprised to discover it had built-in entertainment center, bookshelves, and desk and there was treehouse and swings for the kids in the backyard!

9.  Reinforcements- We arrived on a Sunday night at the same time our church has started having evening service so many of our church friends were unavailable to help us out. We knew one of Bob's co-workers was planning to come and when he arrived he brought reinforcements, his 2 teenage sons and 2 of their friends. They were a great team and we were done quickly. 

10.  A Washer & Dryer- 10 months ago when we left Orlando we sold the majority of our furniture and stuff because we had every intention of not returning before we moved overseas. We needed a washer and dryer for our new place and had no budget for one. We started looking and prayed. We mentioned it to our landlord and he remembered he had an old set in his storage garage and if we could repair the washer they were ours. One short service call later we had a working set!

And One more just for kicks:

Friday night we met one of our neighbors as they were setting up a garage sale for saturday morning.  They had a couch and a set of nightstands we were interested in.  We talked it over and planned to return on saturday to give them our answer, again not sure about the finance side of the purchase.  We didn't "need" either one and were content with our choice.  We left for the day and had some great family time.  When we returned the sale was over.  Later the neighbors came over and told us they had a successful sale, better than they expected and the 2 items we were interested in didn't sell so they wanted to give them to us, free of charge! Praise God!

Linking up with:

400 Posts!

Wow!  I have been blogging for a long time.  I started this blog in 2007 as a way to keep our family involved in our lives when we moved away from home as newlyweds.  Its had many transformations and its growing still today.  I'm taking the time to highlight the top ten popular posts on the blog in celebration of my blogging milestone.  Enjoy!

10. We Made It to Illinois!
9. Cynthia's Thoughts: Change vs Transition
8. ICC - Date Change
7. Cynthia's Thoughts: "I am the same God"
6. The stuff in our lives
5. We're Official!
4. Third Thursday Blog Hop: The Power of the Sun...
3. Birth Story- Caleb Robert
2. What's Next: Dealing with Depression
1. Replaceable

Linking up with

 

We miss you Orlando

Moving to different parts of the country has given us a chance to compare lifestyles and places. Moving back home (to Illinois) has been strange as we've realized how we grew accustomed to things that we never had as kids, but had been subconsciously relying on. As we have settled in to our new home in Southern Illinois, we are reminded daily how much different small town life is from the larger city we left behind. 

Here are the top 10 things we miss from Orlando:

1. Our wonderful playgroup with plenty of playdates and friends for Lydia (and Caleb)
2. The choice of convenient Targets to go shopping.
3. Working with the great people at Wycliffe USA HQ
4. Going to SeaWorld or the beach whenever we felt like it
5. Endless options for restaurants for date night
6. Our connection group at church, sharing life together
7. A paved driveway for Lydia to draw with her chalk with the neighbors
8. Girls Night Out and shopping the outlet malls
9. Once Upon an Child for nearly new toy, shoes and clothes for the kids
10. The Orange County Library with home delivery for library books

Favorite things about being "home"

We have been married over 4 years now and lived in 3 vastly different parts of the country, now that we have returned to "our roots" in the midwest, there are certain things that make it feel like home.  Here are our top ten things we are enjoying about being "home".  

1. Getting to share the little moments in life with our parents
2. We get to reconnect with old friends from college
3. Proving the “Boomerang Anointing” to be true
4. Having 4 seasons of weather. Well, at least we enjoy 3 of the 4.
5. The Big Ten Football, Go Illini!
6. Driving on country roads past the cattle, barns, corn and soybeans. Related: sweet corn just isn't the same in Florida.
7. Seeing deer, rabbits, turkeys in the yard
8. Everyone knows what a Saluki is
9. The international diversity of our church community
10. The Grandparents will babysit for free

Next week we'll share 10 things that we miss from Florida, our last home.

Top Ten of 2010

1. Cynthia discovered Scrapbooking- From some friends and others I explored digital scrapbooking and have found a new hobby.  Its a great way to preserve our memories and use all of the thousands of pictures Cynthia takes.  
2. Lydia learned to walk and talk- Our baby girl has become a little girl.  She learned to walk in March and started talking in the summer.  Its fun to watch her communicate and what words she picks up. 
3. Joining CBS- Cynthia joined a Community Bible Study class this year.  It gives her accountability for her personal study and fellowship.  Lydia has her own class as well.  
4. Teaching VBS together- Something Bob and I haven’t done much of is working together on projects at church since the kids were born.  THis year we worked together to teach the missions session of Vacation Bible School and had a great time.  We brought in guests and told stories about the missionaries the church supports to the kids.  
5. SeaWorld Passes- For Cynthia’s birthday we were given annual passes to SeaWorld.  THey have been well worth the price with trips taken at least monthly and several playdates and meet ups as well.  In October we went to a Sesame Street Character Breakfast and Lydia got to see Elmo up close.  
6. Disney World- Lydia in her short life visited Disney World twice this year.  In February Cynthia and Lydia went with a group of friends from playgroup, and in May someone gave us tickets for helping them out, and all 3 of us went.  
7. Grandpa’s passing- Cynthia’s Grandpa passed away in May, after an unexpected illness with Pneumonia.  HIs 4 children were able to make it home in time, and his Life was celebrated in July when everyone could be together.  
8. Sharing the Holidays with family- this year we celebrated major holidays with both families, here in Florida.  Bob’s family came for Thanksgiving and Cynthia’s family came for Christmas.  It was the first Christmas we celebrated with family in our young married life.  
9. Joining Wycliffe- In March we decided to  join Wycliffe Bible Translators as supported missionaries and pursue an assignment in Nigeria.  THis will be consuming most of  our lives for next year as well, as we prepare and train for our assignment.  
10. Caleb’s birth- We added another member to the family this year, when Caleb was born in August.  He is growing fast already and was rolling 360 degrees at Christmas.  He is well loved by his sister.