24

When we went to bed on Monday night, Gary and I were seriously considering renting a sweet little (!) place downtown. It was a bit of a stretch with a few safety concerns, but appeared to possibly be the best way to get "settled." It still wasn't looking good on our possible purchase of a home, and we need to get more permanent housing soon because of school starting in two weeks.

Well, Tuesday a.m., after much talk and prayer, we decided that the timing for the rental just wasn't right for where our kids are in life right now, so I made the call to the owner and thanked her for considering us.

A few minutes later our realtor called. The investor who is the seller for our home had finally agreed to the terms we had to have in order to move forward. So, the whirlwind began. We had just received our insurance money the day before, found an insurance agent to go to the home and get home insurance ball rolling, singed the final papers for the title company, and called in a friend to help with the electrical - he needed the work and we needed him fast!

So, today we are praising the Lord and looking at many of the original boxes for dishes etc to start packing (it's more fun to pack than shop...trust me). We should close sometime next week (hopefully early in the week), and then the process of repairs and moving will begin.

Prayers for the days ahead...

• Good, inexpensive ways to get the repairs done. The seller is not doing any of them, and we are now very tight financially. We are praying to get them done early as some are rather serious.
• Smooth moving (it shouldn't be too hard - hee hee) and joyful setting up of our new home.
• Good items at garage sales as we are now working on finding some hobby items and ways to make the home better.
• Transitions for the kids to go well and safely. Pray for friends that love Jesus or will love Jesus through our family.
• Final pieces of school registrations to come through.
• A "Point Person" to run a concert/fund raiser to help our family with the other more costly items on our "list of needs." We aren't even sure how to find this kind of person, but as there is a great band that has offered to help, and others who have said they would really like to see this done for us, we are praying that God will send just the right person.
• Lots of hugs, love, and rejoicing for all of us as we come "home!"
• Lots of friends and teens and new friends to fill our home with laughter!

Love and God bless and big hugs to all of you!

gary & tam

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!

Week 6 - REALLY?!

The dog is barking at the condo-hood dogs. I guess he found his "voice" when he realized how many more dogs there are in the world. It's a sweet bark, so we don't mind. Reggie has become quite a delight to our whole family - yes! even Gary!. Gary has always asked, "Why would anyone want an animal dwelling in the same building with them?" Today, however, he invited our precious little mutt to come cuddle in bed with him! What a miracle!

Tomorrow Reggie will, Lord willing, get a little brother - a feline brother. The girls have continued to miss our Joseph-kitty, and so even though they really love the pup, we're going to become a 2 pet family.

What else? Well, things continue to move forward on the home we are purchasing. Inspection is done. Appraisal came in a little low, so the owner is having to lower the price (yes, I'm serious), and schools are allowing us to register with papers that show we will soon have permanent housing. That is wonderful!

We love our big pink "boat," especially on the highway up to Santa Barbara, where the road is so bumpy, we have a blast enjoying the suspension (or lack thereof?) in this old towncar.

Emotionally? Again, I am realizing that slowing down on the intensity of it all is allowing all of us to realize what we miss. Funny, but very, very little of it has anything to do with "stuff." The kids are really coming to grips with losing their neighborhood playmates, the easy walks to the CVS and post office, and Gary and I are missing neighbors and just the feel of "home," meaning Ventura. We are being as strategic as possible to make sure that all of us stay connected - finally feeling like we are breathing enough to have the energy to do so.

We are comfortable with the fact that most of our immediate needs are now covered...from here we will fill in some of the "wants." Things like boogie boards, a surfboard, a yard swing, and a few more "toys" to give us back the sense of having hobbies. We will soon find some additional chairs for our patio set (1/2 burned), maybe a dresser or two, and a couple of bookshelves. I know Craigslist has gotten quite a reputation, but it's a great place to find a player piano (even though it's green).

The new home is feeling more exciting as we go too. We found out the other day that the two big palms in our backyard are actully BANANA trees! How happy is that?! And there are oranges, lemons, tangerines (or cuties - what's the difference?), and even some sage - or was it thyme? Our "garden" has already been planted, so now we get to care for it and enjoy.

Sounds a bit more normal, doesn't it? We think so too.

Please, when we are settled, come by - even those who are far away! We would so enjoy your company!

One month, one week

Where are we at 5 weeks after our family fire?

Enjoying a little more furniture, driving our free pink town car, and eating a home-cooked supper. All good.

We found the kids' shot records - Praise the Lord! And their social security cards too. For some "strange" reason, I moved those silly things to an entirely different part of the home (after 3 years) a week or two before they would have been lost forever in our kitchen.

It still won't be easy to enroll the kids in school yet because we haven't closed on the house in the town where their schools are...so please pray for a smooth transaction (as long as this home is God's will), that happens in the timeframe it is currently set for.

Tomorrow we will meet with our insurance adjustor, our very long list, a ton of photos to prove that it all existed, and a fantastic gentleman from our church who has been in the insurance industry for many years to help us make sense of it all. We are SO thankful!

So, the short version is that quite a bit is getting done and honestly, it finally feels like things are starting to become a bit easier and not quite so intense.

Yet, as we start to jog instead of running, I'm finding that there is more time, and the processing of the entire event, although stuffed with reasons for rejoicing and thanksgiving, is starting to hit. Tati and I are both experiencing a few more emotions about fire, the little losses are feeling a bit more deep, and the infamiliarity of everything around us irritates us all. We forget to do the "normal," like watering the flowers, because the abnormal, such as continuing to clean fire from odds and ends, or running from town to town so we can get our mail, are often rather time-consuming and cumbersome.

The famous question is still, "How are you guys doing?" I'm so thankful people still ask. And the truthful answer remains, "We are doing wonderful!" We are doing wonderfully well. Your prayers continue to sustain us - because they are heard by God and He is gracious and kind, seeking to comfort and strengthen His own.

Love from Oxnard!
The Andersons

Furniture and flowers and inspections and youth group

The girls and Gary are gone to youth group and the boys and I are in a very quiet condo enjoying some rest. Life is very seldom quiet, but when it is, we all soak it in.

Gary and I have FINALLY completed our list - or as far as we are willing to go with it - and have come to the conclusion we should have insured ourselves for more than we did...and we don't want to ever accumulate so much again. Tomorrow we will submit what receipts we can find, the list and any photos that we feel will help the insurance company to see a wide variety of the items we previously owned. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us during this list making. I would take 200 college papers to what we've just done; no, I'm not kidding.

Yesterday was fun as some new furniture was delivered, so we now have a table to eat at, a wonderful easy chair and various other items that are lovely. We've never really been "buy stuff new" people, but filling in some of our needs with new and well-built furniture has been rather fun.

Today was exciting as we had the home we are purchasing, Lord willing, inspected. The inspector was very informative and helpful, and the two of our kids who hadn't yet seen the home were very excited. Isaac began telling us how we can make the yard wonderful (next summer, he said, since it would be hard to do during the school year - smile), and the others ran to check out the park across the street, and later the neighborhood pool (which we are hoping to get a membership to as our family really does swim an awful lot).

The furniture store laughed when we purchased some of their "decorations" while looking at various other pieces we still need. Some small floral prints, a cookie jar, a comforter, & a couple of fun "fake flowers (they look real though)" left their show room to brighten up our rooms.

So many of you continue to fill in for the items that continue to be needed. We are so thankful, as it continues to be quite a job to finish simple tasks, and yet easier each day.

Wish we could hug you all around the neck and sing praises together of what a wonderful God we serve!

Please give each other hugs from us!

Some of the stories

There is no way we could truly share all that has been done for us in the last several weeks, but I want to share a few stories so all of you can enjoy the remarkable way God blesses His people.

Several years ago, I went with a close friend to Russia to help her bring home her new daughter. While we there, I remembered another gal back home that mentioned how much she loved the nesting dolls found there, and picked a set up for her. A few days ago, in the mail, a small package arrived from that friend.

In pondering the loss of our material things, she realized that any keepsakes I had from Russia would have been lost. She wrote that she wanted me to have something from that remarkable trip, so she was giving me the sweet little dolls I had given her so long ago.

One of the "side effects" of this kind of occurance in a family's life, is the realization that only your memories are left of your history. No physical reminders remain. So, when Gary and I looked, we felt so touched to have a tangible reminder of that time.

Another gift was sent that truly gave us a greater understanding of the "widow's mite." A very special friend of our's, who we have stayed in contact with over the last 18 years sent a rather sizable gift. There are many who have done this, and every gift is greatly appreciated and celebrated, however, this one was a little bit different.

Our friend married into a very famous Christian family, and then was later abandoned by her husband and cast out of the family. Although she had been in ministry for many years prior to getting married, when she lost her husband and her "name," she became an outcast in many Christian arenas. Now she lives near her parents as they are aging and she has a job that pays the bills but allows for little else. And yet, she was sharing with us abundantly. We were reminded how great God is that He calls all of us to share in each other's burdens. We have prayed and cried with her for a long time, and now she was giving back in our need. It was so humbling.

Today a bumpy envelope showed up in Gary's box at church. Inside were 6 tokens for free ice cream at one of the local ice cream shops. A woman from our church was thinking about our family when she was out on her daily walk, and decided that giving our family a gift of "good 'ol normal fun" would make our day brighter. It did!

There are so many more stories from so many of you who have sacrificed in order to help things not be so overwhelming. I wish we could tell them all...but I haven't even been able to get thank you's out to anyone yet. Yet the care and love you have shown us has been so joyful!

Our new little dog (from another family from church) is blending in as if he has always been with us, we signed some papers to get the ball rolling on the home we found, I am driving a lincoln towncar (pink) from two men we didn't even know, and we are almost done with our list (which is good, because some of that insurance money should help with our new home.

The girls are at volleyball camp (another gift from a friend), Caleb has taken our dog on as his
"younger brother", and Isaac is helping every chance he gets. The condo we are in is tiny, but fun, and Gary and I just pray for energy, wisdom, and joy as we go.

Love to you all!

House and a Dog

What an amazing day we had!!! Our offer on the house was accepted - oh my!!! Now we're going to be scrambling to get that list done (it's somewhat key to us having the right amount for our down payment - hee hee).

And we were gifted a DOG!!! We have all been so missing Joseph-kitty, and praying about replacing him with a cat or a dog. Well, yesterday we received a text message and a family from our church gave us our new Reggie. He's such a great dog! But shhhh. The girls stayed overnight with a friend last night and don't know yet.

Let's see...about the house. It's four bedrooms, has a living and a dining room, a big yard with lots of fruit trees, and it IS in Ventura, which we were beginning to think was completely impossible. God is so incredible!

Thank you all for praying, and please don't stop!