A story about running.....

An awesome guy once told me that when God starts moving you are going to have to run to catch up.  A very amazing woman agreed with that awesome guy and told me the exact same thing.  I have known it to be truth my whole life.

We have lived  in our small town for a long time.  My husband has been here and called it home longer than I have.  He was born and raised here.  His parents were born and raised here.  I, on the other hand, came here at the age of twelve.  Regardless, my childhood memories were here, in this place. I met and married my guy, had babies, lots of babies.  Running to catch up with all of these blessings that the Lord gave us, that is what I do. 

January~
 Our year began like many others.  Craig was still working, falling timber and providing for us. Layoff would be coming and that meant a trip to the beach!  We love heading out on that trip, shake off this winter grey that settles on you and smell the ocean and the sand.  We packed our bags and loaded the car, to the coast we went.  Long trip with six kids but what an awesome time to visit, with them and with each other when the doze off.  We say the same things every time we make this drive.  We love it here, we should just stay.  So much easier said than done.  The logistics of selling, packing, moving, and let's not forget a job, seem huge.  The job we have at home is providing for our needs.  We have 'laid low' for years and finally feel like we can see some light at the end of this tunnel.  This summer will be a good one, we talk about finally being able to really save.

February~
We need a camper. Most of the jobs will be away from home but we are used to that. In what we call 'laying low' we have not financed anything, nothing.  If we have not had the funds we work with what we have.  This meant tent living for my guy this, and many other summers.  My husband always wanted an Airstream, they are just too cool.  He sees one listed but no pictures and a price that seems either really good or it means the camper is completely scary.  I encourage him to call, we should go and look.  This is a true date.  Mom and Dad keep the kids for the day and I know that, at the very least, I will get lunch out and uninterrupted conversation.  We  talk all the way down about work, pay, our plans for this coming season.  We laugh as we pass a billboard that has the family that Craig works for on it.  Logging doesn't always get that kind of publicity.  We find the camper.  The couple who are selling it are so fun to visit with.  How come the people in life that you meet are and always should be the bigger part of your story?  We share with them a bit about what our plans are and we have a look at the project.  Oh my.  The camper is in great shape outside, the inside has been mostly gutted.  They tell us that a gentleman had fallen asleep with a cigarette and caught it on fire.  There were tons of parts and pieces but it looked like a dirty puzzle that someone else had pulled apart and was going to be a challenge to put back.  We love a challenge, bring it.  We write a check, we own an Airstream.  It is all in how you say it!  We went back with the girls to get it.  We left with a hug, tears, and an armload of stuffed animals  from this woman who thoroughly loved the girls.  We promised to let them know how it turned out. 

March~
We enjoy March.  We work on camper, it is going to be awesome.  We all see the potential in it. We enjoy the company party.  We kickoff the beginning of our birthday season with mine, followed by Tallis'.  I convince Craig to go skiing as a chaperone for the Lifetime Sports Day.  I LOVE it, I mean truly LOVED it!  It is so fun to watch the kids and just be out there, enjoying what the Lord has given us.  We get back to Grandma's to welcome Troy and the girls, all the way from Georgia, with big hugs and a few tears.  It has been a long time. Life, a lot of life, has taken place since we last saw them.  We soak up this time with them, letting kids get to know each other all over again.  Spring is a blessed time, new growth is coming, you can feel it.  Craig and I break up the camper days with yard work and cleaning up things around the house.  Cut down some trees, burn, plant some new ones.  I decide that at 36 years of age, I want a garden.  Use every square foot you have for something amazing.

April~
The phone rings.  It is a call Craig has been expecting, time to head back to work.  He is quiet.  The one statement that he does make is, "Or I can just find another job.".  He has been on the company payroll for four years, with a promise of health insurance and retirement, 'at some point'.  He is told that with Obamacare being enforced they would prefer he work for a contractor so that they wouldn't have to cover him.  It is a punch to the guts, I see it and feel it for him.  It is the last conversation he has with this employer. 

May~
Work on camper.  Look for work. Work in the garden. Pray about all of it.  Repeat.....

June~
Craig has an opportunity for work.  It is in California.  We can see the Lords hand in so many things at this point.  We are thankful for a camper that is paid for.  The timeline is set.  As soon as the camper is finished up he heads out.  It is good but I miss him already.  He will be so far away. He needs this, we need this. The Lord knows all of these things.  We start looking for housing in California.  My home is where he is, all of the time.  We lose Grandma Amy.  We knew it was coming but it is still hard, she was such a special part of Craig's life.

July~
We get ready for Fourth of July.  It is truly one of my favorite holidays.  We will be losing some of our best activities this year.  The Logging Show is no more.  I feel like a part of me is separating from here.  We enjoy the fireworks with kids.  The next morning at four o'clock I watch my  husband pull away with his camper.  I didn't cry until he left.  I cried hard then. We are strong, we will navigate this.  I pray.  We fill our weeks with picking raspberries, huckleberries, working in our garden, soaking up the sunshine, and filling our 'summer bucket' (things we have put on the list to do before summer is over).  These include play at the river, pick berries (my favorite, it gets at least ten or so spots on the list), spend time with friends (life is busy and making time is important),  go to the skatepark in McCall, go to the beach in McCall (must have shaved ice!), and last but not least, go to Riggins and spend a whole day with one of our favorite families.  Done.  I clean house, clean out closets, pray in the shower every morning that the Lord will direct my day.  He does. 

August~
I miss my husband.  He is working hard and it is truly needed.  I appreciate him all of the time.  I know that we have to see him before we head back to school.  Trips are expensive but I know that we will figure it out.  Maybe at the end of the month, before school starts. Small town and I am being asked if we are moving.  I don't tell people I am pregnant until I am halfway through, I feel a bit the same about all of this.  My response is, "We married each other for a reason, we had all of these kids for a reason, we love each other.  Home is where he is.".  Not really an answer but I don't know anymore than that at this point.  I want to be where he is, desperately.  Craig contacts a guy who he has worked for twice before.  They are also working in California.  They need help but it would be running equipment.  If he took this job it could mean a home in Oregon and work in California in the summer.  It sounds more settled than jumping from job to job.   He takes it and moves.  In anticipation of the next check, I pack our bags, put them in the car, we have a plan.  We will go when we get paid.  I put kids to bed and check our account, we have a paycheck!  I tell the kids it is a go....we are headed to California.  This trip is another post altogether.  We are all so glad to see Dad, words do not describe this.  We spend two amazing weeks packed in that amazing Airstream, all eight of us.  It is awesome.  We play in the waves, we see hippies with dreadlocks (also a dog with dreads),we make awesome dinner, we just love.  It goes too fast.  I clean camper, pack the car, we will stay at a hotel so that we can get an early start.  I sob all the way to the hotel,  ugly cry.  My kids ask if I am alright, Sawyer rubs my arm.  I love him for it.  I haven't cried like this since I pulled away from Craig's pickup in Eugene on the freeway, both going away from each other.  I am strong, he is strong.  We settle at hotel and wait for Dad, we will eat out.  Dinner is ok, Mexican, I am strong but I want to cry, even at dinner.  I don't know what our plan is when we pull away from here.  I take kids to swim, we have to swim, we are at a hotel.  We spend that last night at the hotel, it is good.  Tears fall, probably ugly ones I just don't look in the mirror.  I send Craig off to work with a kiss.  We eat breakfast and head out.  I cry.  Tallis asks, "Are you crying AGAIN?".  My mom is going to meet us in Coos Bay, that place we have loved, always.  I appreciate her coming over, it is a long drive.  We don't really have a plan except to look around and see if we could possible find some rentals to look at.  Mom rents a place to stay. We don't look at anything to rent. I call a good friend and we get to have lunch with her, such a fun blessing.  She is on the lookout for us.  We make the long drive home.  I still don't know how we will pull all of this off.  We get home on Saturday, school starts on Monday.  We all feel tired.  God gives us Sunday and we take it. Start school.....

September~

I talk to teachers about a possible move.  They don't want to see us go and I will miss many of them. Still, everything that I love is my family and we need to be 'whole'.  Mom and Dad head back to California to see Craig and check out things for perspective work.  They are willing to look at anything, rental~wise, and I have a few.  They are able to look at one that I feel has potential.  They happen to see the former tenants moving out.  They visit and realize that  the neighbors are not 'ideal' and both feel like we can do better.  I am disappointed, I don't want to settle and I know God is big enough to find us the right place.  They make an appointment with a property management gal and call me along the way.  The house they just looked at they absolutely love.  The gal was discouraging it because it has a lot of stairs, it's old, it costs a lot to heat.  I just heard the word 'love'.  The rent is reasonable, we have to be able to pull off a mortgage and rent.  It matters.  They look at a few others, I still just hear 'love'.  I print out and fill out an application AND send it.  I call Mom on a Wednesday and ask her if she is up for a yard sale, I will help her come and clean store room and haul stuff to town.  Dad is home for the day so we get to work.  We set up yard sale on Friday.  I get a call from property management, we have the house.  When can we set our move-in date?  She asks for a Friday, this coming Friday!  I ask if we can set it for the following Monday, yes, we can.  We yard sale, and thank the Lord for direction even in these details.  I make plans to have big kids stay with families we love so that they will not miss any more school than need be.  It will be easier to move with less kids and I would love to have our new home feel like 'home' when they see it for the first time.  We have one last sleepover for Sawyers' birthday.  They are loud, rowdy, and fun  We clean out  our house and load it into Papa's horse trailer.  I spend the next few days cleaning and doing final detail stuff.  I drop off kids with their 'families', there are tears.  Every one is excited it is just happening so fast.  Or is it?  We make the drive with Mom, following Papa in the pickup.  We change out girls.  Tallis gets a turn then Molly...they keep Papa company.  I am following most of our possessions across state to a house I have only seen in pictures....two weeks from the point I got home from California.  I don't know how many times I told people when asked if we were moving....'If God physically picks us up and moves us from here to there, then yes, we are moving.'.  I felt His hands under us through all of this, directing, guiding, and loving us through the whole thing.   We pull into town late but we are here.  We grab dinner, Lori will be here in the morning to help.  I should have some guys to help move things in, I was told that we would have help.  Apparently we do not have access to the back of the property so all of our things will have to be brought up a flight of 37 steps.  Minor details, we will figure it out tomorrow.
I sign papers and pay rent, I haven't seen the house yet.  Our movers fell through, plan B.  We pray. I take a number off the property management wall and call.  He gives me a guys name, Brandon, he is a good guy and works at the Goodwill on their dock.  I drive to Goodwill.  I get the lady that thinks I must be weird to be looking for help this way.  I leave a phone number.  He calls, he can help in about an hour.  With all of the stairs we might need more help.  Lori has one number,, a brother of a guy that goes to their Church but she has never met.  She calls and he can be here in 3 minutes....better get cracking.  Rocky shows up, he is a nice guy and more than willing to help.  Dad goes around to the back and talks with the neighbors for 5 minutes and has access to the back, well done.  We are all just people and it is all about relationships.  I walk into our home, I can't even take it all in.  We have a washer and dryer, I was looking for some used ones on Craigslist last night.  I LOVE it, love it...and I haven't even got to look around.  Our things were meant to be in this house, I keep thinking this.  We have the trailer unloaded inside of an hour!  I have to call Brandon and tell him not to bother, enjoy your day off. 
I talk to God a lot, He and I are on pretty familiar terms.  In this move I think that my biggest prayers were, home, church, job, school, and friends.  As we take a breather Rocky asks if we will be putting the kids in school.  I say we will.  He goes on to say that school is great, elementary and middle school both, he and his wife have kids in both.  A number of the teachers are believers and attend Church where he is associate pastor.  He asks if I would like to meet his wife, she stays home and would love to meet.  I don't run very fast and I like wearing flip flops, not very good running material.  I am trying to catch up with God, He is so fast.  We follow Rocky, with my girls, to there home.  Beth is absolutely sweet, she offers to keep the girls, if I am ok with that. We visit and I try to tell her our story, I cry once, hopefully not ugly.  I leave bigger girls with her while we unload boxes, make beds, and make it look like our home.  Thank you Lord. 
We go and pick up the girls, they have had a blast.  A new friend to play with AND McDonalds!  We swap numbers so I can touch base when I come back 'for good'.  I want to visit Church.  I feel overwhelmed .  I call Craig  and tell him all that has happened....I miss him.  We work into the evening and I end up running a bath for the girls in our 'home'.  Their beds are made and they fall asleep there. We will spend our first night in our home.  I share a bed with my big sister, something I haven't done since we were kids in our pink basement room in Fruitland. 
I lock up our new home and head 'home'.  I miss my husband and my big kids, we are spread over three states.  We have a week before we head back.  A friend plans a dinner for us at the school, very sweet.  We are able to visit with people throughout this week.  Our last day of school comes, there are tears.  We will be headed out early Friday morning for the coast.  The Coast, that place we love, the place we have wanted to live.  We spend one last night with Papa and Grandma,  car is packed, tight.  And there are tears.  Happy and sad ones all mingled on all of our faces.  This was a long drive.  A defining moment was heading towards Farewell Bend (ironic,, right?) Sawyer turned to me and said, 'You were right, now it seems like a trip.'.  We plan to stop and stay with Lori and Greg and we are getting closer.  As I am driving down the freeway getting closer to the off  ramp I have a revelation....it is the 27th of September.  Sixteen years ago on this day I walked down a grass aisle to no music (it wouldn't play) and told the man that I loved with everything that I had to give, I would be his, forever.  I call Craig at five in the evening, "We are the most forgetful married coupled ever!".
He laughed, "OH!  Happy Anniversary!".  What can I say, he moved us to the coast, best anniversary present ever.  The exit at Albany is such a welcome sight.  Tulee is done.  She just wants out.  She gets out. Good dinner and good sleep, God is good. (September was a long month)   The next morning we make our final loop trek to North Bend.  I love where we live..
I will never tire of our bridge, the bay, and all that God has given.  Our home is here and Craig is headed our way.  The rain is coming down hard but our family is whole tonight.

October~
These kids need to be in school. I make an appointment to register at school.  It is big and the kids seem a little wide eyed.  I pray. God provides teachers, in all classes, who are amazing. I get in touch with Rocky and Beth.  I follow Beth to Church for midweek service. The service is exactly what I needed.  I am fed and I cry.   Kids are happy.

November~
There is something amazing about running to catch up with God,  he doesn't let you stop.  You may be tired but He carries you.
We are still without a couch and we will be having everyone for Thanksgiving.  I hear Pastor Dave say something about some estate furniture We give thanks.
So there is a sleeper sofa available...not sure how old, what shape it is in, if it is covered in pet hair, but....we are committed.   And God is good!!  The couch is awesome, old, and well cared for.  AND heavy!  We have a bed for company and Thanksgiving is truly that. Bo and Allison are engaged!

December ~

Winter concerts with an amazing band.  Sawyer is where he  needs to be.  We all are.  Work is weird for Craig but we still feel like we are in His plan.  Church is our safe place.  First Christmas in Oregon...in the books.  We got to have Bo and Allison for Christmas this year and it was quiet (well, as quiet as our house gets!) and it was good.

2016 ~
I started this post awhile back!!    We are still running and much has changed.   But God has not, He is constant.  Life is messy, crazy, quiet, deafening , hard, fun, amazing, 'shake your head' awesome, lonely at times, blessed, overwhelming, and ours.  God has bigger plans for us than the we could ever have dreamed for ourselves, He is like that. I  am His.  I will keep running.