Wow!! Because of moving, it feels like it has been a while since I have posted about real life. So, I plan on doing some of that today, especially since it feels like so much has changed in our lives recently. But first, I would love to update those who have partnered by praying for my hometown.
Praise God my parent’s hometown barely flooded!! There was minimal flooding in a few areas, but compared to the 5-10 feet they were expecting, it was nothing. Our town came together for a big prayer rally a few days before the flooding was scheduled to get bad and a lot of people say that is when things started changing. The forecast started changing and even though they were saying there would be flooding, the amount of flooding was significantly lowered. But then Thursday and the weekend came and went, and hardly anything flooded. Which is HUGE and such an answered prayer! Just up the road about 30 minutes, houses were flooded in water up to their roofs, but when it got to Georgetown, the water slowed down and spread out in to the marshes. It has been really fun to see so many people in Georgetown thanking God and recognizing that He was the one that spared our town. And my grandmother moves her stuff back into a DRY HOUSE today!!
As far as updates on our lives, so much has changed. We are officially moved into our new house we are renting and so far, we absolutely LOVE it. I love having our family spread out a little more amongst the different levels and letting them be able to be kids a little more instead of constantly telling them to be quiet and to quit jumping, running, etc. We also found out that our neighbor across the street is a family with a little girl Kinsley’s age AND she was in Kinsley’s first grade class. She started attending school in Manhattan at a speciality school for 2nd grade, but Kinsley was so excited to be reunited and there have already been tons of play dates!
Our new place is in a slightly different area of town (still in walking distance to where we were but closer to different stores) so it has been fun to do some exploring around it. I joined a new gym that wouldn’t have been an option where we were living before and we even get to wander onto movie sets like this one.
They were filming “The Godfather of Harlem” (or something like that) 2 blocks away so we walked there hoping to see Forest Whitaker. While we didn’t see him when we were there, we saw the set, saw parts being filmed, and saw this post from a person in our neighborhood which did show Forest filming. So fun!
After searching for over a week and having lots of frustration related to dealerships and prices (whole ‘nother story for a whole ‘nother day), we bought a new-to-us van! We were able to drive to church this week (it took us 20 minutes versus 50!) and to the grocery store yesterday. While we will still be doing tons of walking and not driving the car every day, I think it will be life giving for our family to drive out to Long Island or to drive and get out of the city and be able to get a break from the city. It will also help Ed will getting to campus quicker and carrying things and students should he need to. Praise God for this very sweet blessing!
Our church small group now has 2 new babies! They are adorable and while I am done with having some of our own, the girls are loving getting snuggles from them.
Lastly, I am really thankful for God’s hand of protection over Blake this past week. We had heavy pantry delivered to our house and when they delivered it, is was placed leaning agains our entry way but in the neighbor’s driveway. Because I knew they would need to get out and because Ed wasn’t going to be home until late that night because he was leading the Athlete’s Bible study at St. John’s, I decided to try and move it. After struggling up the steps, a neighbor helped me carry it inside and we leaned it up longways against a wall. The kids were getting ready to take naps so I thought it would be okay there for a minute, but before I could really even walk away, Blake pulled the box over on top of him. I lifted it off of him and the neighbor helped move the box to lay down. He had a HUGE knot on his head and his nose bleed a little and he kept screaming that his nose hurt. So, I took him to Urgent Care and after looking everything over, they though that his nose would be okay without going to an ENT and that he didn’t have a concussion. He has continued to have bruising and a “bad look” but thankfully, it wasn’t anything more serious. It could have crushed him! Or Brynn if it had been her. In hindsight, I should not have put the book like that even with it leaning but in a split second decision, sometimes you just don’t think. Lesson learned! When I ask him how it feels now, he says “It feels awesome!”
Thanks for all your prayers for my hometown and for our family. I feel like we are starting to come out of the moving fog and digging back into life here. More updates to come!!