our first guests, jammies and all

Before it gets away from me, I wanted to tell about the great weekend we had with our first visitors to our new home.

My sister Naomi was on her way through to another church for a function, and my mom (referred to hereafter as Meme, her grandma name) wanted to come see the kids, so they stopped by last weekend. Meme stayed with us for the weekend, and Aunt Nomi stayed Friday night and came back in Sunday evening.


And then, Saturday afternoon, in rolled our dear friends the Bryants. They were members of the church when we were growing up in Ligonier, IN, and they've been keeping close track of all of us kids (my siblings and me) ever since.


We didn't tell the Bryants that Meme would be there, so it was a nice surprise for them, and a lot of fun for us. The Bryants treated us to supper, then the kids got to open gifts from the Bryants. It seems that Mrs. Bryant has developed a cult following as a maker of cozy pajamas for children, so much so that she is referred to in many prepubescent circles as "Grammie Jammies." She was kind enough to make some for Trey, Grace, and Derek, who loved their jammies from the moment they put them on.






But perhaps my favorite moment came late Saturday evening. The kids were scrambling around one last time before going to bed, and Gracie comes running up to me, looking like this.


Mrs. Bryant explained to me that she and Gracie were having fun trying on her wig, which has been necessary since Mrs. Bryant underwent chemotherapy to treat her breast cancer.

I was floored. At first I'd just known my kids had managed to find another way to get a hold of something they weren't supposed to, and then...well, I was just really proud of the Bryants for the attitude of trust in God that they're bringing to this trial in their life. I remember thinking in that moment that I hope I'll be able to have the same outlook when hard times come our way.

So they stayed for our worship gatherings Sunday, which was an honor and a little intimidating, and then, all too soon, they said goodbye. It had been a wonderful time for us, and they seemed to enjoy it, as well.

In the time between getting here in Indy and establishing our relationships here, there are times that feel empty, because the people that filled your life aren't there. In times of transition like these, a weekend of jammies and wigs and Meme and Aunt Nom is a special time, indeed.

the eagle has landed. and gotten a smokin' internet connection.

Wow. Okay.

So I'm back online after a forced hiatus. And today has been a day of seeing light at the end of what has felt like a long tunnel.

Two weeks ago today, we moved over here. My two brothers and two of our Bethel brothers made the trip over and did all the heavy lifting. I spent my free moments vomiting and succumbing to two weeks of no sleep, junk food, and running around without a coat.


Only Audrey made the initial trip over: my parents kept our three oldest for the weekend, and brought them over Monday afternoonish. They then spent the next day and a half with us, after which they headed back.

It was about that time that Derek began to come down with something: and the way that the new carpets were shedding, we thought it might be an allergic reaction to all these fibers floating around. And he kept getting worse through the rest of the week and weekend, forcing Kristy to keep him home from our first Wednesday prayer gathering and the following Sunday gatherings.

So, being the good, tight, close-knit family that we are, we all started latching on to the croupish virus thing that Derek had brought into the mix. So we've spent the past week in varying degrees of disarray: nights spent rotating children through bathrooms filled with steam, days spent mainlining Dayquil and holding the aforementioned children, lest they realize they're not being held by a parent and scream for all they're worth.

It's felt frustrating, let me tell you. Quarantining ourselves in a not-set-up house is not what we moved over here to do, and thinking about all the things that it feels like I should be doing can be maddening. But our people here have been incredibly supportive, fixing us meals, checking on us constantly, and communicating their compassion and concern for us. And letting me know that I'm doing a good job as their pastor, which means the world to me, especially at this juncture.

So yesterday, we started to turn the corner. Kristy felt well enough to do a lot of unpacking, and things started to feel more like a place where we live. Yesterday evening, I picked up our new computer (a sweet machine put together by Les and Jeremiah at Computer Renaissance, located a half mile from my house - did I mention I love living in Indy?), and we were able to purchase a Rainbow vacuum cleaner, which pulled out a basketball-sized pile of fibers from the carpet of the upper floor, I kid you not. The Rainbow will allow us also to purify the air in our home, and we're hopeful that this will alleviate some of Derek's asthma symptoms.

So that leads us to today. I got the computer set up and the online connection going, and we all feel mostly well for the first time in a long time. We had three home-cooked meals in our new home for the first time, too, which was awesome. I got the water supply hooked up to our new refrigerator, so we'll have automatic ice coming in the next 12 to 24 hours, according to the manual.

The prayers of our family of God - here, there, and everywhere that "there" is - got us through the last few days, and now we're starting to see the light. And it's bright, indeed.

I took Trey, Gracie, and Derek upstairs to tuck them in, and we gathered 'round Gracie's bed to take a picture before we prayed.



So, good night from here. There's more to come, that's for sure.

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P.S. Check out my friends' new venture, Black Olive Photography, by clicking on the link in the sidebar.

And now that we have a home internet connection, my wife Kristy has email. So, if you know her at all, or even if you don't, send her something so she'll have your address and to stuff her inbox.