Reminders

This has been a week of reminders... Running into a former neighbor at a garage sale (still trying to find odds and ends - garage sales are good for that!), sorting through laundry and having to look at almost every tag to try to remember which clothes belong to each of us, and big hugs from so many - whether in writing or in the physical.

There are also reminders that kind of catch us off guard. Yesterday we came upon one of those. While living in Wisconsin, Gary and I had saved for quite some time to buy a special kind of mattress that cut down on aches and pains more than many others. You know how it is...as you get a bit older, sleep can sometimes be a bit less easy. We loved (in a very materialistic sense of the word) this mattress. So, yesterday, we set out to see if we could find one similar to our former one. The last few weeks my pain levels have shot up, and we realized I would probably need a special mattress again.

We shopped around for a while and then went to a store where we knew they carried the same kind. When we laid down, it felt so much like "home" we both had tears in our eyes. It wasn't the mattress as much as the reminder of something so familiar. Yes, we are planning to save for a very good mattress again, but we are also reminded of how great God's love is for our family.

He didn't save the small stuff, or even most of the "big" stuff, but we shop for all these things together. We are rebuilding our "home" together, and finding our way through each of these reminders together.

Bea and I looked at what will soon be our new refrigerator at a dear friend's home who is remodeling. Isaac came with us to find some new tools for Gary - for when he needs to take apart some of our furniture to move it. Caleb and I grab a few minutes here and there to enjoy putting together a puzzle from someone who new we would need some quiet distractions. And Tati, my precious organizer, is constantly helping us rethink where things should go, how they should look.

After shopping for mattresses, we all sat down around ten last night and watched an old TV show online (those shows from the 80's are great for the kids). Everyone was laughing at the show, and playing with our new dog and kitten, and one of the kids stopped at some point and mentioned how great it felt to just be "family."

So, yes, there are certainly a thousand reminders everywhere we look of our new "reality," but there are far more reminders of the love of family, friends, and most of all God. He has wrapped us up in a new "blanket" of His love and we simply can't forget that He is sustaining us through all the reminders.

Much love to all of you. Thank you so much for continuing to ask how we are doing, being interested in what is happening, and just cheering us on!