Rollercoaster and Petting Zoo

Well, I guess that's what I get for speaking up too soon. As much of a "done deal" as we thought it was, it fell apart. House contract fell through as the lady's house didn't appraise for her selling price. This left 3 parties disappointed and thinking about plan B. So we will continue to show our house for awhile and see what happens. If it sells, we will put together a new game plan and if it doesn't, we will take if off for a few months and put it back on in the spring. Wherever God leads, I can only pray we will follow.
On a different note, a friend and I took Lincoln to a Halloween festival today in Flower Mound. I'm not sure I'm ready for the full experience of events such as this. It was quite overwhelming and there were hundreds of kids. It was crazy! But, we only went to visit the animals and petting zoo, and it was well worth it. We held or pet a rabbit, iguana, wallaby (NOT a kangaroo as I was quickly corrected by a kid), goat, deer, duck, and birds. He loved it and therefore the crowd, parking and riding, and onslaught of ridiculous parents was worth it. He wore his jack-o-lantern tshirt and pumkpin top hat. He was precious, and I just adore being his mommy!

Such a good house

So that "stab" at selling our house... worked. In 5 days with a full price offer. Wow. I know putting your house on the market means this is what you want, and it is, but there was a piece of me that thought living here until Luke came home and then putting it on the market again would have been nice, too. We recently finished some pretty intense renovations to get it market ready and it's so nice. I would have liked to enjoy it awhile before letting go. But, that is exactly what God is in the business of...making sure we let go of any and everything that might interfere with how tightly we are holding onto Him. So example number gazillion...no more house.
Many have asked in the last two days... "now what?" Good question. Going to look at some houses tomorrow, but will not settle so unless I walk into the "perfect" one, we will wait. This will at the very least entail moving to my parents through the holidays and moving our things into storage. If no house by the end of the year... off to Nashville we go to crash Luke's tiny studio hotel room.
None of this is really ideal or how I would have imagined in my head, but such is life and we trust in a sovereign God who has a bigger and better plan than we are even capable of imagining. Plus, it sure does add an element of mystery to our every day. Who knows what will happen tomorrow or if there is even a tomorrow? For today, we are grateful. For the 5 years we have spent in this house making it a home through very literal blood, sweat and tears, we are grateful. May it bless the next tenant as much as it has us. And we press on.

Tough Work!

I have recently found comfort in the words I have read on the blogs of other moms. Words of encouragement, wisdom, experience, and just humor. I have also enjoyed keeping up with dear friends by way of the blogoshpere. Having always had a therapuetic enjoyment of writing myself, I figured...why not?!
My first thought for a post is my recent discovery of the major challenges of single parenthood. By God's grace, I am experiencing such challenges only temporarily as Luke trains for his new job with Aldi Foods in the Nashville area. We are about to hit the two month mark on this season of separation, and at times it seems as if it has flown by while other times it feels like forever! Lord willing, we will make it to the six month mark and soon look back on this time as a growing, learning season where God has much work at hand within all of us.
Having a 10 month old son has made this time especially difficult, but visits to see Daddy have made it a little easier. Soon he will come home for a few days, so we are all eagerly anticipated that!
Other unique circumstances have added to the situation recently. Lincoln has developed an infection that won't seem to heal and for some crazy reason we decided to go ahead and take a stab at selling our home. Both of which require extra attention and energy. Needless to say, I am spent! However, I am confident there are joyful things down the road as God prepares us all for the days ahead and with that hope in mind... we press on.
I suppose this is all my very tired brain can come up with at the moment, but I can imagine future postings with include plenty of diversity, emotion, ramblings, and the like. For someone who 9 times out of 10 can't find the car keys in her hand, you'd be surprised at all that wrestles within ;)