Goodbye North Carolina, Hello Florida

This has been a week!  Our last Sunday at Lifepointe Church has come and gone.  Sunday, September 16^th was a day filled with emotion, both tearful and joyful.  The tears shed were softened by the smiles and laughs to accompany them.  The words of encouragement shared (both written and spoken) were just what we needed to remind us that we will be both missed and prayed for.

The “Going Away Party” was a celebration of the ministry we had at Lifepointe Church (not a celebration of us leaving… Right?)  The party theme reflected the culture we are about to find ourselves in.  The food, the color scheme, the beverages, the desserts, the decorations… all had thought put in by the amazing pastors’ wives and other awesome Lifepointe Staff and church members.  We cannot thank you enough.  (I really have to work on my photo skills because I forgot to take pictures… again.  I promise to get better at that.)

There was a “welcome” speech given by Donnie, an introduction and story time from Joel, and an 8-page letter tearfully read by Eddie to the amazing men who were his friends and co-workers for the past 4 years.  The mood was lightened with a video montage of Eddie and all his silliness weirdness on display - forever recorded on film.  It was a reminder of the joy he found in working at such an awesome church, with such an awesome staff who make ministry both fun and meaningful.  Thank you, Lifepointe Church.

We went home exhausted from the day and sat down and read all of your amazing cards and words of encouragement.  We couldn’t ask for a better church family!

Monday morning came bright and early.  We had quite a few last minute things to pack, we had a truck to pick up and a car to load on its trailer (we sold my car in timing that only God could have arranged), and Eddie’s dad was flying in to help with our move.  A sweet woman from the church walked over to our apartment just to surprise us and help us out by watching Jaden for us while we loaded the moving truck.  That was a detail I had not planned on, but thankfully I serve God who thinks of even the little things.  She was a blessing to us, as we did not have to worry about his safety as the “movers” carried all our possessions down our stairs and out the door.

 Best movers ever!

Speaking of “movers,” back to the amazing staff of Lifepointe Church.  We had help from AJ, Cynthia, Carolyn, Todd, Joel, Rob, Donnie, and… I better not forget: Peewee.  He was just a stranger on the street who came to work… and boy did he work!  His energy level and enthusiasm was through the roof!  I will admit, his yelling and cheering began to stress me out as he was ready to load EVERYTHING on the truck, whether I was still taping the box shut or not.  God was teaching me a bit of patience that day, I guess.  The truck was loaded in an hour and a half, and we were thankful for every trip made up and down those stairs by many helping hands (and feet)!

After the apartment was empty, clean and we had our tearful goodbye, we headed to a hotel.  As we showered and readied ourselves for dinner and bed, we had an un-expected phone call.  Four teens from our youth called to see where we were… They were outside our apartment, and wanted to hang out.  Well, needless to say we took the opportunity to invite them to dinner with us for one last night of hanging out before we hit the road.  Thanks to them, the dinner was full of laughter and conversation (and a doormat) that we will treasure in our hearts.  The evening ended with “besos” for everyone… even the Statue of Liberty!

Tuesday Morning: Eddie and his dad hit the road for a 12-15 hour drive (that actually took 16 hours) to Coral Springs, Florida.  I was blessed to be able to make the trip via Southwest Airlines!  Jaden and I were there in 2 hours.  Before heading to the airport, we got to have breakfast with three amazing girls, and one sweet baby Jackson.  It was good to have those last moments with friends before our adventure began.

After a tearful goodbye at the airport, we boarded the plane.  Jaden was good, although he did not sleep a wink (as I had hoped).  When we landed, I got word from Eddie that they were making progress, but the bad news was that a tire had blown. 

Let me back up a second… I had packed a fairly large “over-night bag” for my flight, even though the moving truck would arrive in less than 24-hrs with all the rest of the belongings we own.  Eddie was slightly annoyed at my over-packing, but I did it in preparation for “the worst.”  I told the girls at breakfast that I was just preparing for the unexpected.  Like, what if they didn’t make it in 12-15 hours as planned and they had to stop and stay in a hotel or something? I didn’t want to say it to Eddie, but I said to the girls at breakfast: “what if a tire blows, or something?”  If you know me, I like to be prepared, and I have had a lot of practice with over-packing in my lifetime!  Upon hearing the news from Eddie about the tire, I had an I told-you-so moment politely told him I was thankful he was not hurt and that I hoped it would get fixed quickly so that they could be back on the road.

Miraculously, they pulled over in front of a tire company, but were told on the phone that they had to wait for over an hour for the moving truck’s company technician to come to change the tire instead.  Discouraged, Eddie and his dad took a walk around the shopping plaza near there.  As they walked, Dad said “Wouldn’t it be something if the guy from that tire place just walked over and told us he would fix our tire?”   I guess God wanted to remind us that He is a God of details and love, because that is exactly what happened.  Turns out, the guy goes to church with the technician who was on his way.  He said “I’m going to take the old tire off and get it ready for him so that when he gets here, all he has to do is put on the new tire and you can be on your way.”  What a GOD-MOMENT!  It was done in 10 minutes and they were back on the road!

Wednesday Morning:  Thanks to Amanda, Eric and Eddie’s parents, the garage was cleaned out and ready for our stuff to be unloaded for storage for the next 6 months.  The unloading took about 2 hours and there was plenty of room for our belongings.  As we unloaded and then stacked each box in the garage, we were reminded of a giant puzzle.  We tried to utilize every inch of space from the ground to the ceiling.  As we fit each piece into place, I was careful to make sure we were not going to need anything out of each box before it was stacked.  Well, I was not careful enough. Once the truck was empty and “puzzle pieces” in place, I sat down in the comfort of the air-conditioned house.  It was then that I realized I forgot to get something out.  I had meant to look for it along the way (using my carefully detailed and numbered list of what was in each box).  What I was looking for was not that important but important enough to me to at least try to see if I could find it.  I located it on my list: box #24… now, to the garage to look for said box.  I glanced around knowing that the amount of boxes visible to me was minimal, and the amount of boxes accessible to me was even less.  My God, who is God even in the details, answered yet another simple prayer of mine.  In less than 5 minutes, the item was retrieved and the boxes re-stacked.  I found that to be a reason to praise God, although I realize that it was an insignificant moment to most every other person on this planet.  Needless to say, the burden of “moving” has been lifted off our shoulders and I can check that task off my “to do” list (at least for another 6 months).

 I'm pointing at box #24

We are “settled” for the next week and all we have left to do is spend time with family and some last minute packing before we leave for Costa Rica in 7 days!!!  Thank you for reading this, if in fact you still are.  Please keep us in your prayers as we make last minute preparations and for smooth travel.  Also pray that God helps me overcome my weakness: OVER-packing!