Together Again!

Everyone is back from camp and there is a general celebration of being together running through the home. It is so good to smile, hug, and even argue and just do it all together!

I do not like cleaning "fire" off the few things we saved. Wow! But we continue to do so as those items do offer a sense of history and comfort. We are still throwing away much more than we are keeping, but honestly, our home is really beginning to look like a home.

God blessed us with an incredible furniture sale this weekend, and we were able to add some crucial items and were quality, but very inexpensive. Very fun! Most of our home is filled with the love gifts of so many, and we are rejoicing over and over for all of you!

This week our family has begun to accept that our cat, Joseph, is probably not going to found. An incredible amount of people from our old neighborhood continue to search, but we all are finding the need for closure, so now will be delightfully surprised if God chooses to reveal anything else to us.

Thank you also to all of you who ask questions, who drop us notes, who want to know how we're doing. We are really doing so much better than I thought possible. God has an amazing ability to sustain His people during difficult times. However, we don't want to give the impression that there aren't things that make us sad.

This last week has been a bit tougher in the memories, the reminders, the reality. We are each dealing with different sorrows, but running to God and each other so much more than we used to. We are making decisions as a family, and seeking out ways to minister to each other because we realize that each of us feels bad several times a day, but we also realize that each of us is capable of offering the others great comfort - whether it's in writing notes, listening, playing together, distracting each other, hugging, or simply crying for a few minutes.

Please know, if we forget to write a thank you, or you call or email and we don't reply, we haven't forgotten anyone. We are incredibly overwhelmed with so much to do, but with time, it will be "normal" again and we'll be so thankful to chat and show you how much we love you all!

In the meantime, we have some very specific prayer needs:

1. We must find more permanent housing as soon as possible. It is our desire to purchase a home, but we are asking God to show us His will.
2. For all of us to be patient about having a new pet. The home being gone, intensifies the pain of losing Joseph. We are used to loving and enjoying how God makes animals to comfort and simply be "buds" with people.
3. Our list for insurance is very, very long, but still far from being complete. Please pray for Gary and I as we continue to work as quickly as possible on it. We cannot receive our insurance check until we are done, and it's important that we are able to communicate in full the level of loss.
4. Ask the Lord to continue to draw us to Himself and more close with each other. It is so seldom that a family has such an amazingly defining moment in their lives that a "new beginning" is given so completely. We are all taking this to heart and embracing it together.

God bless you all!

the andersons