The Lord's Direction

Coming to a new town can be intimidating. I spent two weeks missing my friends and family from back home. Then something remarkable happened: God sent us friends.

esterday, the kids and I were outside in the front yard while Chris was mowing the yard, and a woman walked by, saw Tobias in giraffe shoes, and came across the street to comment on them. She saw we had five kids, told me that I had to meet this other woman in the neighborhood who had five kids under age 6 (incl. a set of twins), and she told me where this other lady lived. I drove down there within an hour, but she didn't answer the door, so I left a note. I came back about 3 hours later, knocked on the door, and when she answered it, I told her, "I'm Dorothy." ... And she gave me a HUG! She's so bubbly and friendly--and a BELIEVER! She and her husband attended Bible college in Alabama, and then they got married, had five kids in five years, and all of our children match up with their kids as playmates. (She has 6-yr-old twin girls, a 5-yr-old girl, a 3-yr-old boy, and a 20-mo-old boy!) They invited our whole family over for burgers that night! We stayed until ten, and it was such a pleasure to bump into a solid believing, homeschooling, "procreating" family in our neighborhood. It warmed my heart, and I can see us being fast friends.

Then, tonight, we just returned from visiting our next-door neighbor, JonAda, who has a 6-yr-old granddaughter and a 4-yr-old grandson, and a daughter who is about our age. She doesn't seem from appearances to be much like us, but she is! She knew just what we needed to know about living here, what kinds of things we should do, and we even had a good laugh about hoarding bargains. =) She likes yard sales, too, and her basement is full of furniture she no longer needs, but keeps around in case she wants to switch it out again down the road! She used to attend our church, Highland Park Baptist Church (hpbc.net), many years ago, and I think she's a good prospect for Jesus.

On another note, we're going to the library tomorrow for storytime, and my dinner-a-day cookbook has been much fun. I find that I end up making much too much food, however, and we'll have to end up having leftovers for lunch. I went to the farmer's market today, which is only open on Sundays from 11-4, and I grabbed some farm-fresh tomatoes, including some heirloom varieties. Sadly, none of the peaches left at 3 pm were ripe enough for purchase, and all the blueberries were gone. I did buy some herb plants, though, so I have to remember to plant those tomorrow.

Chris and I visited with the pastor from our church last night, and we caught his excitement about reaching our neighborhood. He mentioned that the college ministry needed workers, and Chris wants to plug in as a mentor and helper. I'm excited to be a part of groundbreaking ESL classes, and our kids will start AWANAs in the fall. The longer we're here, the more clearly I see God's hand moving us and others into this place for such a time as this, and it will be a most exciting time to be sure... rebuilding the church, rebuilding the school, reaching the neighborhood. I'm thrilled to be here, and I'm encouraged to see the Lord Jesus' love in our lives.

Feeding yourself

I bought a book at a used bookstore called Dinner-a-Day. It has recipes for every weekday of the year planned out for an entree, a side or two, and a dessert, as well as a shopping list and utensil list. Isn't that handy? I'm having fun with it, because I used to actually make a menu like that, and then make a shopping list to accompany it. This book is saving me 4 hours a week or so! The recipes are a level above my normal cooking, too, but no meal is supposed to take more than an hour to prepare. (When you factor in the "Referee" factor that all mothers endure, it does take longer--stopping every few minutes to direct the children.)

The other day, I fixed a pasta dish with rotini, scallops, corn, and sweet peppers. It was quite yummy. (The very first time I attempted using scallops, the whole house ended up smelling like lake water, and I just couldn't force my children--or myself--to eat a dish that looked like mud from the bottom of the pond. So, I've never used them again, until this book.) Anyway, while I was getting dessert ready, Chris was getting the twins to finish up their pasta by playing the airplane game. He zoomed the food into their mouths, and they finished up in no time, with gaggles of giggles.

Last night, we had leftovers--pasta again. As soon as I plopped Tobias' pasta in front of him, he picked up a rotini piece and zoomed it into his own mouth, complete with sound effects. He ate his WHOLE MEAL in airplane fashion. I nearly couldn't finish for laughing so hard.

Little Miss Muffet, by Kora

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a Tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.

{So far, so good.}

Along came a spitter,
And sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

{Well, I guess so!}

Packed up, Moved out, Packed in, Unpacked

Well, I see it's been far too long since I posted the goings-on in our family, but I do have quite a valid excuse. Chris graduated at the end of May, and we spent a few days in the early part of June packing a bit at a time for our upcoming move to Chattanooga, but we really increased our effort five days before our move. We packed the playroom, the bedroom, the kids' bedroom, the master bathroom, the guest bathroom, the shed, the kitchen, the laundry room, the pantry, the master closet, the guest closet, the book closet, the coat closet, (breath) and Chris' office--which occupied the back 1/3 of the 26-foot moving truck. I specify the length because we actually ended up with two trucks! (We anticipated this need, and Penske was all too happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Penske did not have the forethought to ask us to return our two trucks to the same location in Chattanooga.)

We had wonderful help moving. I was nearly tempted to feel ashamed to accept the help, as though by sending my children off I was admitting that I am an incapable mother. Then I remembered--I AM an incapable mother. Incapable, that is, of packing up 43 feet of moving trucks with five little people underfoot.

(As an aside, I told David to go outside today so he wouldn't be underfoot, and I heard him repeat to his sisters, "She said it's so she won't step on our feet.")

We sent them off to a friend's house all day Wednesday to pack. Then we sent them off to McMinnville, TN with another friend for two whole days while we unpacked. The need for the second truck threw us for a loop, because that left us with no one to drive the van and the children to McMinnville. Chris' mom and brother came to the rescue and gave up the entire day to follow us to McMinnville. They left the van there and returned in their own car. (Chris' mom is the real hero here because she spent four hours in the van alone with the twins, who, I happen to know, can be quite whiny on long road trips.)

Two full days to unpack without the children allowed us to nearly set up completely! Of course, this is dangerous, because it's difficult to go ahead and push through to the end. Case in point, after two weeks here, the pictures are still resting on the mantle, calling out hopelessly to deaf ears for help hanging up. The garden tools have found themselves fallen to the same fate--that is, boxed up, resting upon the back door.

The mosquitoes here are dreadful. I think Tyler has succumbed to chiggers. I counted 21 bites on his left leg today. That's the only way I know to tell if he gets new ones! I have flea bites halfway up my legs from our visit to Marion, thanks to Walter's cats, Sputnik and Calvin. (I'm not blaming anyone, as you can see. =) We have invested in Benedryl cream for relief. It helps the pain, but my legs still look like they belong to a little boy!

We have met two neighbors so far--one like us, one very much different than us. We're glad to be in this house because we believe God directed us here and has great plans for us this year. My children miss having friends just outside their door, but I have kept them busy with schoolwork. Kora finished her first PACE in Math today! I also set up computer games for them so I can get my chores finished in peace. (Without kids underfoot, and all.)

We LOVE all this space. I am determined to be content in all situations, but I sure am being spoiled in this house. We set up an inflatable water slide in the back yard that thrilled the kids. Tobias and Tyler never got up the nerve to try it, but we bought them a baby pool. Of course, the mosquitoes are trying to carry us off out there!

Chris has started working with Uncle Jim, as he has instructed our kids to call him. They have a meeting tomorrow to lay out a job description for Chris. They hope to have a planning meeting with other faculty about reaching our neighborhood for Christ. Our house is five blocks from the school. Chris prefers to walk to the office, because his parking lot is just as far from the office as our house! =)

I overheard some college kids on the corner on their bikes today. They were discussing the best route home. One girl suggested Hixon Pike, because it wasn't as hilly as the other route. Another girl said, "Are you crazy? Then you have that big hill going up to my house! You literally go backwards trying to pedal up that thing!" So, Chattanooga is different from Memphis. First of all, who bikes anywhere in Memphis?! Second, hills--oh, the overpass? No, you mean real hills. That's nice.

We're hoping to have a field trip every week while we're here that is something specifically Chattanooga. I'm open to suggestions, and the free-er the better. =)

I must away, for I have loads of laundry and dishes to do before bed.

Saja asked me today, "When are we going to get to preach to people in Chattanooga?!" I told her that's what Daddy was doing, but she insisted that she wants her chance, too. I hope she gets it.

Sharing at the Sprinkler Park

I told the kids today we'd go to the sprinkler park in Collierville if they all took a nap. Kora didn't nap. She still came with us to the sprinkler park... and napped in the car. =) Yes, it counts.

You'll remember that the park is separated into two sections: a large area with high-powered sprinklers near the pavillions, and a smaller section for smaller children with misty sprinklers away from the pavillions. I, of course, toted Tyler and Tobias, age 18 months, toward the toddler section while Saja, Kora, and David enjoyed the freedom to play wherever they wanted. I occasionally glanced around to keep tabs on the older kids while encouraging Tyler and Tobias to enjoy the water.

Let me just pause the story for a moment to tell you this: Tyler and Tobias did NOT enjoy themselves today. After I finally got them interested in the small stream of water plopping gently out of the pipes, the sprinklers actually activated and shot the boys in their faces. I don't think they ever recovered. But they did scream a lot! Eventually, they learned to stick their feet in the sprinklers so as to avoid getting water in their faces, but they both turned their attention toward other things during the trip: dogs, coolers, fritos that had missed the trash can, and other parents.

Back to the story. While I was engaging the twins, I scanned for the other kids and didn't see them. I finally glimpsed a towelled child sitting under the pavillion, and it looked like she was eating! Yes, in fact, three towelled figures were eating and drinking at our pavillion, but I guarantee you it wasn't our food!

I admit to you this: I considered ignoring my children until they returned to the sprinklers, so as to avoid the apology that must be made. In fact, I mulled over this decision for about 5 minutes, secretly hoping they would finish eating and return to the sprinkler area while I decided what to do.

They didn't.

Surprise of all surprises, they didn't steal the food after all! A friendly Mexican family had offered to share their pizza and orange sodas (which evoked all kinds of excited, dramatic squealing) without accepting any offer of payment. They had triplet 2-year-old girls, and we spoke at length about many things we had in common. She seemed not only to tolerate my children, but to truly enjoy them. (I made my kids thank her in Spanish.)

This experience is not a rarity in my observation of the Latino culture. Hospitality and sense of community rule their values. At one point, I chased after Tobias (who was chasing after a dog), and when I returned, the man had put Tyler in his lap, and his wife was photographing the occasion. We will likely never meet again, since we're moving, but she accepted our family as her own without a second thought.

I wish I could be like her.

On another note, un abejo (a bee) apparently snuck into one of those soda cans, and he flew out when Tobias tried to drink it. Fortunately, the bee landed on Tobias' shirt, which apparently had orange soda on it as well (imagine that!). I panicked slightly (only slightly, thank you very much), the bee meandered across the shirt, and Tobias tried to pick it up between his thumb and forefinger THREE TIMES! Each time I swatted away his hand, checked my rising panic, and swatted at the bee. I ended up grabbing el abejo with a triply-folded paper towel. No stings, thank the Lord, but one very curious little boy who nearly pinched a bee.

All in all, we had a wonderful time at the sprinkler park. I hear Chattanooga has one, too.