Joey stayed home from corporate camp staff training this year to a) spend time with his family b) help get this house properly unpacked, and c) not leave his 9-months-pregnant wife and toddler at home without (much) electricity*. We worked pretty hard this weekend to make this house a place of rest and retreat in what will be a very busy camp season. In my experience, ministry is only as sustainable as your home life is peaceful. 

As of now, I can say that our home is about 80% set up - the exception being the stack of rubbermaid totes in our bedroom that have not found a permanent home and the study/piano room that is totally not functional as of yet. The rest is nearly complete! I can walk through my house and see only two or three small boxes instead of a sea of them. I feel so very much more sane with all of the freed up space in this house! It also helps that we took (nearly) a van load of things to MCC the other day. How did we have so much in such a small house, you ask? I have no idea. I guess there were a lot of boxes we had forgotten about down in our crawl space - stuff from years past, mostly pre-marriage. Whatever. It's gone now!

That's all I have time to show you for now. Happy Monday, everyone!

*We do have one plug-in available that is currently servicing our fridge and internet thingy. When the fridge stops cooling, we often unplug it to boil water or toast bread or straighten our hair or shave our beards... you can decide who does what!

I really don't know what to title this post...

This morning Joey received a phone call from a board member saying "the house is coming today!", which was totally awesome, but not totally unexpected. I've been praying that it would come on Thursday (today) for about a week now. I don't really know why I picked Thursday, other than that's just what I desired. I decided that I would include my desire in my prayers and trust that, whatever happened, God knew just the right time to make it happen. So, yes, even though my prayer may have been a touch silly, I believe God heard it and responded in His timing. God hears silly prayers, too, if prayed in faith.

Knowing that our presence wouldn't really be beneficial to the men bringing the trailer, Joey and I felt ok to head off to Brandon for my 35 week midwife appointment. It's not like it was an option to miss it, though. Anyways, the appointment was kept and we heard Nutmeg's little heartbeat for the umpteenth time. Apparently I didn't gain any weight since two weeks ago... which is kind of strange to me. I feel like I'm eating well, so I'm not too concerned. It's just strange to compare the weight gain last time (40 pounds total) to this time (12 pounds to date) and wonder if everything's all right. Nutmeg is still measuring on the small side, which isn't a concern as long as s/he's growing (which s/he apparently didn't over these last two weeks). We'll know by next week if we need to go in for an extra ultrasound appointment to make sure everything's on track. Prayers would be appreciated!

After making a quick stop at Superstore, we headed to a different city to visit Joey's maternal grandmother in the hospital. She's really not doing so well... so many things are just not working properly in her body. It's possible that she'll go to be with Jesus in the near future - a thought that is as bitter as it is sweet.

In one day we experienced the promise of new life and the sobering reality of nearing death. Sunrise, sunset. God's sovereignty evident in everything we do.

We finally got back to camp around 5:00 and took a look at our new digs. I can hardly wait to get all of this transition over with and finally relax! I feel like I haven't actually... unwound in a long time. My current house stresses me out. Having nowhere to work on projects stresses me out. Being right in the middle of camp hubbub stresses me out. Soon, however, those three things will be at least improved, if not resolved. I just want time to simply be and not have to do. Sigh... it's going to be a long summer.

Aaaaand... what would be a "we're getting we have a new house!" claim if I didn't prove it with pictures???

There are a couple of rooms I didn't capture, but that can wait until a later date!

praise God!!

We just got a phone call from the trailer company, and....

Our house is coming today!

There's more of a story behind this answer to prayer, but that must wait until later to be told. I just wanted to share my happiness with you!

Midwife appointment #2

Hello, all!

Wow, a full day of painting goes by, and I am exhausted! Our tiny little piece of soon-to-be home is nearly done being painted, which is no small feat when you consider that absolutely EVERYTHING in there needed at least two good, thick coats. Why do people put plywood up on walls?

We saw our midwife yesterday. Again, I must affirm that midwifery is the way to go! No regrets here. It was a really encouraging visit! All my blood work came back with no red flags (even my iron levels are good, which surprised me), and every other test I've had has told me that I'm in good health. Who knew?

Kari (my midwife) took one feel of my belly, paused, and asked, "You sure about your dates, love?" To which I responded, "Y-yes, pretty sure... I mean... I could be wrong... possibly...!?" Apparently my baby is big, because she thought I could be two weeks further along than I'd been planning on. That makes quite a difference at this stage in the game, especially considering that my baby grew from the size of a lemon to a naval orange in one week. Baby was also very active when we went to listen to her heartbeat. Thankfully I can't feel these kicks yet--and I only say that because the amount of kicking would be excessive for a soccer player. I'm sure it will be a wonderful experience when I feel that first thrust! I just hope it's on a calm day. :) Now we're just waiting for the ultrasound to identify exactly how far along my baby is. This is all so exciting!

I'm being a bad wife right now. My hubby's out slaving away in our tiny, fumy house, and I'm sitting here blogging. I think I'll take a look at what's hiding in the fridge and see if I can make it look more spectacular than it actually is.