Word of the day- AWESOME

Hello again!

Things have been so awesome!

I have been so unbelievably busy lately that this is the first time I have had a chance to sit down and blog. SOOOOOO much has happened since I was here last. We are officially living in Cartersville and staying with my in-laws as we renovate the new house. It looks like we will be doing many more renovations than we originally thought. It could be a few months before everything is complete, but I am so excited! I think I will have the kitchen of my DREAMS!!!! Except maybe a wee bit smaller than my actual dreams ;-) but I am still stoked! It will be AWESOME!

We went to the beach for a week and arrived back this past Sunday. We stayed in Palm Coast which is super convenient to St. Augustine (the most beautiful place I have ever been other than Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas), Daytona, and Jacksonville. We spent a little bit of time in all those cities and had the best time ever! The boys experienced so many firsts and I enjoyed getting to see things through their eyes. It was an AWESOME vacay!

We feel such a peace and relief about us since moving here. We moved with such a financial burden and we came here and are feeling freedom for the first time ever. When you are financially worry-free, it literally feels like weight has been lifted off your shoulder. Not only that, when you are in God's will, you feel calm, peaceful, and content. I literally woke up my first morning here and felt all of those things. I couldn't place why until I realized it had to be God. I have a joy and a carefree sense about me. Even though there is some "stress" and worry in my life, it is so minor considered to how I felt before. It is an AWESOME feeling!

God is still doing BIG things in our life. We stand amazed. Almost daily, God answers a prayer or shows Himself to us in someway we NEVER expected. I could cry almost daily as I realize His goodness to us. When everything was falling apart, I did scream out at God (literally) "WHY????? What are you doing??" It all seems soooooooo clear to me now. There were things and people I was sad to leave behind and God is showing me in a big way just why He removed those things. It's AWEOME, really.

I am already meeting people here and making some friends. God has blessed us with wonderful, believing neighbors again. They are a recently saved and baptized family with 4 kids who homeschool. They have 2 boys who are 4 and 2-1/2 in their family. They live directly across the street and they have Pappy's kitchen table. Dane's face lit up when we told him. She is involved in a local Bible study and a MOPS group and she wants me to visit both. I feel so blessed with this! We went to story-time today with Brent's cousin and her kids at the local library. What a FUN time we had! Another opportunity to meet some ladies and for the kids to make friends. I am looking forward to this each week. God is AWESOME!!

God is working and speaking to us in the area of church as well. There is SO SO much going through my mind in this area and much is private. We left a church where we were members for 4 years and my biggest concern was finding a new church home that was just as "wonderful". Since leaving, God has taught us so much and opened our eyes to MORE. It's amazing  when we look at our move, we see His hand even in this area-- if not in this area the most. We have some ideas of churches in town we would like to visit and even more, we know what we are hoping to find. We want to find a church that not only teaches the truth, but that has members who are genuine and love us. A place with opportunity for us to grow. A place for us to be involved and our boys to be involved. A place that is warm and friendly. A place where the members live out what they believe. Yes, this is what a church should be. This is what we are praying to find. I can't wait to find an AWESOME church and I believe God led us to Cartersville for this reason!

Goodness, I feel like I've already rambled so much and there is so much more to say!

Dane was involved in the Catoosa County Co-op until today. Since his last week there, he has begged to not go. He says he wants to stay at home and play. I believe that is what a 4 year old should be doing. He is 4. He has the rest of his life for school. In the state of GA I don't have to turn in anything until he is 6 years old. That is 2 years away and even then, he does not have to be in a co-op. I enrolled him in co-op because he wanted to go and he loved it. The 2nd time we went, he had a melt down. He was mean (that is how he deals with things as opposed to crying) and disrespectful and I literally had to pry him off me to get things set up for me to teach PE. He sat in front of the door with his arms crossed for 20 minutes crying. Webb also had a rough day (which wasn't new). Since that day, he is adamant about not wanting to return. He had a great time after the 20 minutes of sitting in front of the door. Webb did as well. However, he does not want to go back. I feel like I am forcing him to adjust to soooooo much right now (things I have no control over). I could force him to continue co-op (an optional group) and trust and even know that he and Webb will adjust with time, or I can focus on one adjustment at a time. I don't ever like leaving my babies. But I especially can't stand to leave them if they don't want to be left. I am not one of those moms. Some are. Some don't have a choice. I am not. And I have a choice. I called the director and she was so sweet and understanding. Thank goodness. I will still be in Ringgold every other Friday. I clean a house and will have Bible Study with 2 friends. So, I am really ok with this decision. Friday's will still be AWESOME!

Also, we sold the last of our chickens yesterday. We REALLY wanted to keep our favorite ones, but we were learning a little bit more everyday that "backyard" chickens cannot be free-range and I refuse to have caged chickens. Free-range chickens in a backyard are super messy and caused some major stress. It was sad. I almost cried when the man came and got them. The last of our farm life to leave. The kids did well. We went to Target afterwards (this was the promise made when we gave them the news we were selling them) and they each got some awesome new toy (Dane this shooting Captain America shield and Webb a choo-choo train set) and they got a a new shirt (Dane, a long-sleeved SpiderMan shirt and Webb, a long-sleeved Thomas shirt). I saw some great things I want for the new house and excitement started welling up in me. I left with such a light hard with anticipation for all the AWESOME things that are coming our way.

Speaking of awesome, nothing but good has come our way since moving here with nothing but AWESOME in our future. I am soooooo happy here and thrilled to see what else God does and what other AWESOME things await us.

I promise to update more often!