I'm writing this approximately 24 hours after I wrote the above post. And I'm just gonna show ya how PRAYERS are straight up answered in tremendous ways.
SO-after I wrote the post (I admit, I was a little anxious/worried, despite the confidence and peace exuding from my writing (wishful thinking?)) I went to do some preliminary house/apartment shopping, as Chris works really weird hours and I needed to get a head start so he could have the opportunity to come if I found something. I knew that all of the places available were NOT posted online. Good thing, cause there were only like 2 places that were what we were looking for.
I went to a real estate properties place to make life easier, and walk to the door and a nice little sign says "We close Monday at 2." It was DEFINITELY after 2. That didn't help my worry. (That's what I get for worrying.)
SO, I head to the next properties building and BOOM-she hands me a master list of ALL of the properties they have available in the near future. Considering we have to move in the near NEAR future, I had to go through the list and cross out basically anything that was available after January. Technically it might have worked...but not very smoothly. I was left with four choices.
Went to the first one (and cheapest one): All I can say was it was a big no. Not safe, Chris would NOT have let me stay home alone there.
Second one: eh, okayish, but still not that great. (Mind you, I'm making these assumption from my car as I can't go inside because "you have to make appointments to tour 24 hours in advance"..the lady tells me.)
Third one: Definitely the location we wanted. Definitely the price we wanted. I take my pen to jot down how it looks and where it is to remind myself when I talk to Chris later that night, when I look up and a lady is approaching my window. It wasn't as creepy as that sounds.
I rolled down my window.
Her: "Are you looking for me???"
Me: ".....No.....?" (my fault, I pulled into a random parking space and apparently it was right in front of her apartment door.)
Her: Oh, well...can I help you with something?
Me Thinking: *Jeez lady...I literally just pulled in, I'm just writing*
Me actually: Um, well, my husband and I are having to move soon...so we're just checking out some possibilities.
Her: "OH! Well, wanna see the apartments? I'm the on-site property manager and I have the keys to the empty apartments."
Me Thinking: Jesus, forgive me for judging this sweet elderly lady, and also..don't let her be a psycho or something.
Me actually: "What!? That would be awesome!!!"
She opened the empty available apartment for me. PERFECTION. Totally spacious, two bedrooms, Big kitchen, in our price range, great location. Bam. Done. When is it available? "ASAP." More done. Next on the list: tell Chris, set up a time for him to go and look, and see if he approves.
We went this morning. He felt the same way about it (Yay, marriage!) We signed the lease. We're moving the weekend of December 16th.
Yep. That just happened.
SOOOOO, who is going to help us move!?!?!?!? :D
SO-after I wrote the post (I admit, I was a little anxious/worried, despite the confidence and peace exuding from my writing (wishful thinking?)) I went to do some preliminary house/apartment shopping, as Chris works really weird hours and I needed to get a head start so he could have the opportunity to come if I found something. I knew that all of the places available were NOT posted online. Good thing, cause there were only like 2 places that were what we were looking for.
I went to a real estate properties place to make life easier, and walk to the door and a nice little sign says "We close Monday at 2." It was DEFINITELY after 2. That didn't help my worry. (That's what I get for worrying.)
SO, I head to the next properties building and BOOM-she hands me a master list of ALL of the properties they have available in the near future. Considering we have to move in the near NEAR future, I had to go through the list and cross out basically anything that was available after January. Technically it might have worked...but not very smoothly. I was left with four choices.
Went to the first one (and cheapest one): All I can say was it was a big no. Not safe, Chris would NOT have let me stay home alone there.
Second one: eh, okayish, but still not that great. (Mind you, I'm making these assumption from my car as I can't go inside because "you have to make appointments to tour 24 hours in advance"..the lady tells me.)
Third one: Definitely the location we wanted. Definitely the price we wanted. I take my pen to jot down how it looks and where it is to remind myself when I talk to Chris later that night, when I look up and a lady is approaching my window. It wasn't as creepy as that sounds.
I rolled down my window.
Her: "Are you looking for me???"
Me: ".....No.....?" (my fault, I pulled into a random parking space and apparently it was right in front of her apartment door.)
Her: Oh, well...can I help you with something?
Me Thinking: *Jeez lady...I literally just pulled in, I'm just writing*
Me actually: Um, well, my husband and I are having to move soon...so we're just checking out some possibilities.
Her: "OH! Well, wanna see the apartments? I'm the on-site property manager and I have the keys to the empty apartments."
Me Thinking: Jesus, forgive me for judging this sweet elderly lady, and also..don't let her be a psycho or something.
Me actually: "What!? That would be awesome!!!"
She opened the empty available apartment for me. PERFECTION. Totally spacious, two bedrooms, Big kitchen, in our price range, great location. Bam. Done. When is it available? "ASAP." More done. Next on the list: tell Chris, set up a time for him to go and look, and see if he approves.
We went this morning. He felt the same way about it (Yay, marriage!) We signed the lease. We're moving the weekend of December 16th.
Yep. That just happened.
SOOOOO, who is going to help us move!?!?!?!? :D
Only to Pendleton or somewhere closer to Chris' work. Don't get ahead of yourself, let me tell you how and why we were semi-forced into this predicament. The hubs and I have been hardcore praying about some things related to material resources and housing and things like that. We have always had a huge heart for "the family" as a whole, but I never knew how that was going to manifest itself in my life before I was married and living on my own. Before I was married, my parents blessed me with an amazing household..a car..a phone..a college education-no big deal right. Sike. They're ridiculously incredible and generous. SO. This is the first time in my life that I've been dealing with "serious" finances and budgets and big-life-decisions.
WELL. Christopher and I have always just loved orphans and stuff. This is totally normal, I think. I went through a phase for a while when I tried to convince my parentals to adopt (it will actually never end. they totally should..they'd be awesome at it. Mom-you guys should adopt.) And now that I have a family, we're getting pumped about the possibility (guarantee) of adoption. [The only questionable possibility is going to be the race, as I really would like an interracial family. Before you judge me, NO, I'm not for real being picky about the orphans I would love to have..I'll take all of them.]
Digression. Okay, so we really have been blown away lately by the fact that there are SO MANY empty bedrooms across America. A reliable friend proceeded to add to my burning fire of adoption-advocacy by telling us that if every church in America had just one family that decided to adopt an orphan, there wouldn't be ENOUGH orphans in America for them to have. In fact, the church to orphan ration was about 2:1. Now, I know there are some questionable churches out there..but you get the point. Also, not all people are cut out for adoption..I get that, I'll step off my soap box soon.
SO, as we've been discussing these possibilities, we have been hit with random confirmation and things that point to the fact that maybe we should think about how we could use our resources to make a start. We're not ready to be parents (unless God says so, I suppose), and we WANT to adopt after we have a child so they can be (interracial) buds and grow up together and stuff...but there ARE huge amounts of homeless/needy families/widows/orphans that could at least use a head start.
THEN, Chris was randomly listening to a Focus on the Family where Francis Chan was talking about how he and his wife felt called a while ago to take in a homeless woman and her child(ren) to help them get on their feet. They gave her a room in their house. She spoke spanish. They did not. They found her and said, ".....Mi casa es tu casa..????" Apparently that did the trick. How awesome is that? We think it is. In fact, Chris listened to it a second time with me in the car and we both just got even more excited.
THEN, the very next Sunday (the next day), our pastor pulled out the verse we had JUST been talking about: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
Our hearts exploded.
Then, we decided we should keep our eyes open for a two bedroom place closer to Chris' work. We didn't even know if we could get out of our 12 month lease. He went to the office, talked to them, and they said we could totally leave if we found a subleaser, or if they found a subleaser. But they said that first priority goes to empty units. He signed a form with our information on it, not realizing that it meant if they did find a subleaser..we'd be forced to give up our one bedroom unit (oops). Five days later...they found a subleaser. We have to move out by Jan 1. We're going to be in Nicaragua Jan 1. So basically, we have to move in less than a month.
If this didn't happen, I might not have had the guts and confidence to chase after this calling so soon. Maybe the Lord will place someone in our path that desperately needs a home, maybe this won't happen for a while. But I can guarantee that that room is not going to remain vacant on purpose. Maybe it will just be a friend or a relative that needs it. I have no idea. But Jesus doesssss!! Boom. Roasted. House/apartment-that-I-have-no-idea-about...here we come.
As far as "actively searching" for someone that needs a home...we have no idea what that's going to look like. We're praying that God just makes it obvious for us (selfish.) But seriously..I have no idea. All I know is that..nuestra casa es tu casa.
*To our friends who have taken the time to read this: Help us move? It'll be a party. We'll let ya know when.
Also, if ya wanna listen to the FC talk that we love from this post, it's called Faith and Family (part 1) by Francis Chan through Focus on the Family. And it can be found here:
WELL. Christopher and I have always just loved orphans and stuff. This is totally normal, I think. I went through a phase for a while when I tried to convince my parentals to adopt (it will actually never end. they totally should..they'd be awesome at it. Mom-you guys should adopt.) And now that I have a family, we're getting pumped about the possibility (guarantee) of adoption. [The only questionable possibility is going to be the race, as I really would like an interracial family. Before you judge me, NO, I'm not for real being picky about the orphans I would love to have..I'll take all of them.]
Digression. Okay, so we really have been blown away lately by the fact that there are SO MANY empty bedrooms across America. A reliable friend proceeded to add to my burning fire of adoption-advocacy by telling us that if every church in America had just one family that decided to adopt an orphan, there wouldn't be ENOUGH orphans in America for them to have. In fact, the church to orphan ration was about 2:1. Now, I know there are some questionable churches out there..but you get the point. Also, not all people are cut out for adoption..I get that, I'll step off my soap box soon.
SO, as we've been discussing these possibilities, we have been hit with random confirmation and things that point to the fact that maybe we should think about how we could use our resources to make a start. We're not ready to be parents (unless God says so, I suppose), and we WANT to adopt after we have a child so they can be (interracial) buds and grow up together and stuff...but there ARE huge amounts of homeless/needy families/widows/orphans that could at least use a head start.
THEN, Chris was randomly listening to a Focus on the Family where Francis Chan was talking about how he and his wife felt called a while ago to take in a homeless woman and her child(ren) to help them get on their feet. They gave her a room in their house. She spoke spanish. They did not. They found her and said, ".....Mi casa es tu casa..????" Apparently that did the trick. How awesome is that? We think it is. In fact, Chris listened to it a second time with me in the car and we both just got even more excited.
THEN, the very next Sunday (the next day), our pastor pulled out the verse we had JUST been talking about: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
Our hearts exploded.
Then, we decided we should keep our eyes open for a two bedroom place closer to Chris' work. We didn't even know if we could get out of our 12 month lease. He went to the office, talked to them, and they said we could totally leave if we found a subleaser, or if they found a subleaser. But they said that first priority goes to empty units. He signed a form with our information on it, not realizing that it meant if they did find a subleaser..we'd be forced to give up our one bedroom unit (oops). Five days later...they found a subleaser. We have to move out by Jan 1. We're going to be in Nicaragua Jan 1. So basically, we have to move in less than a month.
If this didn't happen, I might not have had the guts and confidence to chase after this calling so soon. Maybe the Lord will place someone in our path that desperately needs a home, maybe this won't happen for a while. But I can guarantee that that room is not going to remain vacant on purpose. Maybe it will just be a friend or a relative that needs it. I have no idea. But Jesus doesssss!! Boom. Roasted. House/apartment-that-I-have-no-idea-about...here we come.
As far as "actively searching" for someone that needs a home...we have no idea what that's going to look like. We're praying that God just makes it obvious for us (selfish.) But seriously..I have no idea. All I know is that..nuestra casa es tu casa.
*To our friends who have taken the time to read this: Help us move? It'll be a party. We'll let ya know when.
Also, if ya wanna listen to the FC talk that we love from this post, it's called Faith and Family (part 1) by Francis Chan through Focus on the Family. And it can be found here:
but I thought I would be oh so kind enough to post a list of what I consider to be relatively important parenting tips that I have learning through working with [my internship agency]. I know, I know..I'd be skeptical too if I were you, considering I have no parenting experience whatsoever at this point. Just calm down, grab a notepad and a pencil, and jot these little numbers down.
1. If you are a drug addict and you are also pregnant, the time during the pregnancy which would be LEAST harmful to the baby to do your drugs........is NEVER.
2. If you are pregnant and are going into labor, I've heard that it is painful. SO, if you have un-prescribed prescription painkillers it is best to justgo ahead and take them NOT SELF-MEDICATE YOUR LABOR PAINS with un-prescribed pain-pills that you bought in a drug deal.
3. If you want to physically abuse your child, the best age to do it (as to best avoid psychological and physical damage) is NEVER.
4. When those high-maintenance children of yours intrude upon your drug use schedule, just do it in the same room as them. (Getting to be a parent AND use your drugs at the same time!? BONUS.)
4. When you FREQUENTLY USE DRUGS IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOUR CHILDREN, THEY TEST POSITIVE TOO. Imagine that.
5. And lastly, a fun fact! If you decided to disregard the advice in number 1 of this list, and now you want to know why your two month old child has been screaming his head off day and night since his birth date..it's because he is going through withdrawal because he was born addicted to your drugs.
This concludes our time talking about five profound and non-obvious parenting tips! If you try to tell me that these are actually VERY obvious, I will kindly give you multiple examples of how this just can't be true. And lastly, I will take a break from my obvious sarcasm to say..What the heck, people. Children. CHILDREN are precious gifts from God. Abstain from the acts that got you pregnant or invest in some birth control if you can't handle it.
1. If you are a drug addict and you are also pregnant, the time during the pregnancy which would be LEAST harmful to the baby to do your drugs........is NEVER.
2. If you are pregnant and are going into labor, I've heard that it is painful. SO, if you have un-prescribed prescription painkillers it is best to just
3. If you want to physically abuse your child, the best age to do it (as to best avoid psychological and physical damage) is NEVER.
4. When you FREQUENTLY USE DRUGS IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOUR CHILDREN, THEY TEST POSITIVE TOO. Imagine that.
5. And lastly, a fun fact! If you decided to disregard the advice in number 1 of this list, and now you want to know why your two month old child has been screaming his head off day and night since his birth date..it's because he is going through withdrawal because he was born addicted to your drugs.
This concludes our time talking about five profound and non-obvious parenting tips! If you try to tell me that these are actually VERY obvious, I will kindly give you multiple examples of how this just can't be true. And lastly, I will take a break from my obvious sarcasm to say..What the heck, people. Children. CHILDREN are precious gifts from God. Abstain from the acts that got you pregnant or invest in some birth control if you can't handle it.
Listening to my husband do random things around the house. Because the things he says when he does stuff like cleaning the bathroom cabinets out (right now) are hilarious. I'm literally typing this as he is talking (indirectly to me I guess?) I would like to add this this is occurs frequently in our household.
Chris: OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE ALL OF THESE PRODUCTS?....can we condense them? (as in pour them into one container..)
I admit, I have too many. Mainly because I put "lotion" down on the mandatory Tate-Christmas-list-on-gmail last year because I thought it was relatively inexpensive and easy...and then everyone got me lotion.
Chris: How the heck did this fuse-ball ball get into my container?
Chris: WHAT IS THIS!? Oh waiittt...I remember. It was the experiment I did with baking soda.
I have no idea what that was about.
Chris: (begins singing..) "I'm bringin sexy bacckkkkk...YEP..."
Chris: *Sets small ambiguous spray bottle down beside me.*
Me: What is it?
Chris: It says Linen Spray....?
Chris: [in robot voice] what.is.its.purpose.
Chris: (begins singing..) "Caliente chiccaaa, en mi apartment-ayyyy"
Chris: *runs quickly into kitchen* "I NEED BACKUP." *Rips paper towel off and runs back in.
(Jeez, how messy were our cabinets...)
Chris: [mexican accent] We will nay-ver have to look for anyyytheeeng ever agaaaain!!
Okay, that's enough. I better stop typing so my heart doesn't melt any further into the floor. I love my husband.
Chris: OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE ALL OF THESE PRODUCTS?....can we condense them? (as in pour them into one container..)
I admit, I have too many. Mainly because I put "lotion" down on the mandatory Tate-Christmas-list-on-gmail last year because I thought it was relatively inexpensive and easy...and then everyone got me lotion.
Chris: How the heck did this fuse-ball ball get into my container?
Chris: WHAT IS THIS!? Oh waiittt...I remember. It was the experiment I did with baking soda.
I have no idea what that was about.
Chris: (begins singing..) "I'm bringin sexy bacckkkkk...YEP..."
Chris: *Sets small ambiguous spray bottle down beside me.*
Me: What is it?
Chris: It says Linen Spray....?
Chris: [in robot voice] what.is.its.purpose.
Chris: (begins singing..) "Caliente chiccaaa, en mi apartment-ayyyy"
Chris: *runs quickly into kitchen* "I NEED BACKUP." *Rips paper towel off and runs back in.
(Jeez, how messy were our cabinets...)
Chris: [mexican accent] We will nay-ver have to look for anyyytheeeng ever agaaaain!!
Okay, that's enough. I better stop typing so my heart doesn't melt any further into the floor. I love my husband.
That is all.
Much more money to raise, much more preparing to do, but I'm not worried one bit! I can't wait to be over there.
"Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given."
Yes!
Much more money to raise, much more preparing to do, but I'm not worried one bit! I can't wait to be over there.
"Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given."
Yes!
Silence. Pain. Solitude. Hostility. Emptiness. Not exactly what you'd expect to find in the delivery room of a first time mother after giving birth to a tiny, beautiful baby boy.
The newborn lay asleep in the center of the room along in the new and unfamiliar world.
The mother and family sat around the perimeter.
The baby boy scratched his face with his tiny nails producing the first physical signs across his cheeks evidencing that this new earthly body is now susceptible to physical pain.
Nobody put his mittens on him.
He was still, asleep, not yet aware of his circumstances, his surroundings, his regretful, uninterested mother.
Not yet aware of emotional pain.
Every urge in my body told me to hold him and keep him warm and kiss his beautiful scratched cheeks.
I wanted to bring him home to adopt him as my own before he could awake to anything besides happiness and peace and Love.
Then I realized that these earthly maternal urges barely compare to the way the Lord views us and viewed me. The way my heart wanted to explode at the sight of this new life alone in the middle of the room barely scratches the surface....how crazy is that. I found comfort in the silence. I knew he was not knit together by accident.
Nothing surprises Him, and this little one will not be forsaken. Nothing surprises Him, and I will not be forsaken.
The newborn lay asleep in the center of the room along in the new and unfamiliar world.
The mother and family sat around the perimeter.
The baby boy scratched his face with his tiny nails producing the first physical signs across his cheeks evidencing that this new earthly body is now susceptible to physical pain.
Nobody put his mittens on him.
He was still, asleep, not yet aware of his circumstances, his surroundings, his regretful, uninterested mother.
Not yet aware of emotional pain.
Every urge in my body told me to hold him and keep him warm and kiss his beautiful scratched cheeks.
I wanted to bring him home to adopt him as my own before he could awake to anything besides happiness and peace and Love.
Then I realized that these earthly maternal urges barely compare to the way the Lord views us and viewed me. The way my heart wanted to explode at the sight of this new life alone in the middle of the room barely scratches the surface....how crazy is that. I found comfort in the silence. I knew he was not knit together by accident.
Nothing surprises Him, and this little one will not be forsaken. Nothing surprises Him, and I will not be forsaken.
If you read the post directly below this, you will understand why I was alarmed when Chris yelled very loudly, "I THINK THERE IS A BABY IN HERE!!!!" while sleeping.
Don't get too excited. For one because we're not preggos nor will we be for a while (we think..)and for two, because if I know anything about Christopher it is that his brain is full of crazy. So in reality, he could have (and probably) was referring to the baby of a dinosaur. or an alien. or a platypus. Who knows.
Don't get too excited. For one because we're not preggos nor will we be for a while (we think..)and for two, because if I know anything about Christopher it is that his brain is full of crazy. So in reality, he could have (and probably) was referring to the baby of a dinosaur. or an alien. or a platypus. Who knows.
It hurt. But that's okay. Because I was going to have to chop of my whole arm if they didn't take it out soon. Fact: my body just can NOT do hormonal ANYTHING. Makes sense, right? I feel so much better knowing that I can now be aware of my body in it's natural state. It's funny how good it feels to go back to the way things were intended to be in the first place. (Imagine that.)
Okay, so maybe I almost threw up in the doctor's office (big baby), but my sweet husband was there to distract me with his dance moves and weird yoga positions while we waited (shhh, don't tell them.)
OH, and he also made me some rockin' celebratory pancakes.
Is it acceptable to go contra dancing with one arm? I'm going to.
