Every day this week, as we’ve headed over to Monroe Street to work on cleaning and packing and sorting, I have faced a new challenge.

Monday, the children became discouraged fairly quickly, so I was working to keep them motivated.

Tuesday I was exhausted and couldn’t seem to pull out of it.

Wednesday I felt great but for some reason was extra irritated with the children.  No patience with them!

Thursday (today) the children were WILD and I was battling discouragement with the project.  There’s just so much to be done, even though we’ve accomplished so much already.

It’s interesting that each “ailment” doesn’t seem to repeat itself.  But it does make me wonder how many different battles I will need to fight.

Still, having listed all the negatives, I must say that the house is getting cleaner and cleaner, and we are hauling piles of things out every day.  Soon we’ll be done packing and we can start with all the deep cleaning, window washing, wall patching, painting, and other home repairs.

My daily goal is to persevere.  So even if I have to fight battles, I will persevere!

It seems like we get out the door a little later each day.  But still, we are continuing with our work “first-thing” in the morning, no matter what time that happens to be.

The children have learned the routine, so again we loaded up and headed to Monroe Street to make a difference on our house.  I’ve learned a few lessons throughout the week.  One of them is that we work best with definite goals in mind.  The second is that we need a good breakfast in order to have the energy to work.

When we got to the house, I handed out assignments, but Laura’s assignment was to cook up some eggs and bacon for all of us while we worked.  Before long she had a big plate of scrambled eggs and some bacon, so we all took a break for our yummy brunch.  It was the perfect food, and she did a great job.  We all had lots of energy.

Two more rooms were cleaned up before our lunch break.  Then we headed home, glad for the reprieve.

I took a long nap while the children played, and when I got up, we readied ourselves to head back to Monroe to meet Michael for some more work.  My brother, David, met us there at the house and was willing to do any tasks assigned.  He and Laura washed walls, and then Dave carried boxes and helped Michael carry larger pieces of furniture over to the storage unit.  Our two hours of work seemed like a whole day of effort, and by 6 pm we were ready to call it quits.  We had made yet more progress, and things looked even better.

Michael and I parted ways, since he and Isaac wanted to stop and look for a certain Bionicle toy on the way home.  I whispered in Michael’s ear that I was interested in making waffles for supper, and could he pick up the things I needed while he was out.

The children and I unloaded the van and worked on putting things away in the Bobwhite house while we waited for Michael and Isaac to come home.  Once they got home we mixed up the waffle mix, prepared fruit topping, and tried not to trip over each other in the kitchen.

My surprise for the children as a special thank-you for their work so far this week was that we had ice cream to put on top of the waffles.  They were so tickled with this idea.  We’ve never done THAT before!  So they had fun making creations with waffles, fruit, ice cream and syrup.  It was a good way to end the day.

Isaac likes to go for bike rides early in the morning. This morning he invited me to go with him. We were almost able to sneak away before anyone discovered us, but we were caught by Judah before we got out of the driveway. I went back into the house, told Laura where I was going, and asked her to keep an eye on Judah while Isaac and I went for a quick bike ride.  As we rode away, Laura carried Judah back into the house despite his loud cries of protest.

Well, the ride was a bit longer than I’d anticipated. Not only am I terribly out of shape, which makes for slow going when the road isn’t downhill, but my chain slipped off once, and Isaac took me on a longer route to show me a park he’d discovered. Finally I said that I was eager to get home because I wanted to get on with our day.

As we pedaled (slowly) back toward the house, I thought I heard Judah’s voice, but I knew it couldn’t be him, because we were too far away from our house to hear his voice that clearly. I glanced over to where I’d heard the sound, and there was Judah. He was standing in a yard hollering, “Maaaaama! Maaaaaama.” I stopped, thought for a short second, and then sent Isaac on home to get the seat that attaches to my bike. Judah was a long way from Bobwhite Way, and I didn’t want him to have to walk all the way back.

My mind raced, wondering at how far he had walked, wondering what people thought about a little boy in his bare feet and jammy pants walking through their yards, and wondering at God’s mercy in keeping Judah away from busy streets and dangerous people. What if Judah had walked in a different direction? How would we have known where to look for him? What if someone else had found him and had called the police?  There were too many scary thoughts to process!

Soon Isaac was heading back, with Laura on her bike, racing down the road, still wearing her nightie. She had discovered that Judah was missing and she had been looking for him. What a relief to her to hear that he had been found.

I slipped the seat onto my bike, lifted Judah in, and pedaled home.

What a way to start the day.

Well, if I thought today was going to be easy, I was wrong.  I think I must have just been tired, or maybe it’s because I ate Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast… but either way, I didn’t have much stamina today for working.  The children and I did accomplish some good things, but we headed home after a shorter-than-usual worktime on Monroe Street.  I took a wonderful nap, then got up and took a shower.  I got to my doctor’s appointment and was tickled to be able to hear our baby’s heartbeat.  After I got home again, I did some homey things here that needed to be done (folding laundry, etc.), and then we all headed to Monroe Street to see what else we could accomplish.  Again, we didn’t have much stamina, but we achieved my one small goal of getting the living room table cleared off.  It looks so much better in that room now!

We headed off to the pool and spent about an hour there before leading the tired children back to the van to go home.  Today was hot, so the pool felt especially nice.

Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  We will start attacking some bedrooms, and I’m eager to see what a difference we can make.  Also, I’ll try to offer a more healthy breakfast to everyone before we go.

This morning we headed over to the Monroe Street house ready to work. At least, I was ready to work. The children seemed to be thinking that we’d only stay a short time before heading back home to the Bobwhite house. It took some repeating, but they finally seemed to understand that we weren’t going to leave soon, and there was lots to do.

I decided to start with the kitchen. First we had to clean the areas that had previously been covered by the stove and big freezer. Yuck. What a mess. But we worked and swept and mopped and made it look much better. Then it was time to tackle the stuff covering the island, mostly things I had dragged out of the freezer, like grains and other non-frozen items.

After we had a surface cleared and were able to start packing, I started putting my kitchen into boxes. Seems like I just finished UNpacking my kitchen, and before that, packing it up and getting ready to remodel. While it’s a little discouraging to pack up my kitchen again, it’s ok. It sure doesn’t hurt to sort through things again, re-evaluate what actually gets used and what should be given away, and just get it all put away until we move. I also had to make a collection of things that I wanted to take back “home” to the Bobwhite house to use in the interim.

By lunchtime, I was ready to think about letting the kids take a break while I went upstairs to take a nap. But everyone just wanted to go home. I realized that I had pushed the children pretty hard all morning, and if I wanted to have anything left of them by evening when Michael would be available to work, I needed to give them a real break. So we piled back into the van and headed home. We were all relieved to get back to the Bobwhite house that feels so much like home now. Everyone got something to eat, and Judah and I laid down for our naps. I slept so soundly! What a refreshing break. And the children seemed to really relax, too.

When I got up, I gave everyone a snack, and we prepared to head back to Monroe Street to meet up with Michael. I warned everyone that we were going to stay for a while and work some more.

We worked really hard for several hours. Around 6:30 Todd came home from work and stopped over to help carry some heavy things over to storage. After overdoing it Saturday by carrying too many heavy things, I was very grateful for Todd’s help.

Around 7:30 we loaded up and headed home, tired and a bit grumpy, but feeling like we had accomplished some good work.  Todd had given out popsicles to everyone right before we drove away, so that helped a great deal in making us feel refreshed.  When we got home, I fed supper to those who were still hungry, and worked on organizing some of the things I had brought to this house. I don’t want to create a backlog here of things that need to be sorted and put away.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow. The kitchen has to be the hardest room to conquer. Every other room will seem easy compared to the kitchen.

Today is the first day of our week of work at the Monroe house to get it all cleaned up and cleaned out.  I’m looking forward to seeing how much of a difference we can make there.  Hopefully the weather will be mild and the humidity low.

Next week we’ll start school.  I’m really looking forward to setting up a school area here.  I’ve never had a place to dedicate to school… it’s always had to be in my living room or dining room or kitchen.

Off to work!

We went “home” to Monroe Street yesterday morning to spend a few days, working, living, packing, and otherwise existing. But when the children found out that we were not going to sleep at the Bobwhite house, they were dismayed. So when Michael got home from work, we had a family meeting. Each child, going from youngest to oldest, was given a chance to express his desires and thoughts. Every one of them said that they really wanted to sleep at the Bobwhite house. Michael said that if he agreed to it, he realized that he’d be agreeing to just move over early. Finally, with a sigh and a lecture about saving energy and electricity conservation, he agreed that we could go back to Bobwhite Way to spend the night. But that meant we needed to put in some hours of work transferring more of our belongings.  Everyone pitched in, and with great delight we headed “home” to Bobwhite Way for the night.  Michael seemed a bit weary, though he did perk up a bit when I handed him a large cup of Dr. Pepper I’d picked up at the gas station while I was out.

This morning we worked some more on arranging things in our new digs before heading over to Monroe Street to work there.  My sister, Joyce, came over for coffee and I was able to show her around.  After she left, we assembled bunk beds, moved dressers, unpacked clothes, and in general made ourselves at home.  Then we headed to Monroe Street, worked again for a little while, and then brought a full van back to Bobwhite Way.  Seems like there’s work to do no matter where we go.  Fortunately the children are able to help and make themselves quite useful.  Laura has kitchen duty this week, so she’s been cleaning the kitchens at both houses.  Isaac and Luke carry things in and out and up and down.  Amelia and Miguel are designated door holders as well as being able to carry smaller things.  Judah is even pressed into service sometimes, though he mostly just plays and gives us more work to do.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we’ll rest and enjoy the local Sweet Corn Festival.  Monday we will start working hard again to get the Monroe house clean and ready to put on the market.  The children and I will work hard while Michael is at work, and no doubt Michael will work hard in the evenings when he gets home from work.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed at the thought of all that needs to be done, but I remind myself that we just need to take one step at a time.  One day at a time we’ll press on.

We have started moving things to “the Bobwhite House”, and we are still working on cleaning out and fixing up “the Monroe House”.  It’s a strange feeling of transition, but it’s going well.  I’m looking forward to being done with the Monroe House and living at the Bobwhite House full time.  Until then, we continue in transition, enjoying the best of both worlds.

Last Sunday was typical for our family. As we sat in church, I kept nudging and tapping and whispering little reminders to the children…

“No, that toy is not allowed.”

“Stop talking.”

“No, you may not sit on the floor.”

“Quiet, it’s prayer time!”

At one point, a friend sitting behind me leaned forward and said with a smile, “You remind me of a Border Collie, keeping all your children in line.”

What a great analogy! She was right. I was constantly nudging, not relaxing my guard for a minute; watching and nodding and tapping and pointing.

If I carry the analogy further, it’s even more interesting. God is our Good Shepherd, and He has given me these lambs as my assignment. If I am an attentive Collie, I’ll nudge and urge my little ones to follow the directions of the Shepherd. But that’s where I need to be careful. I’m a bit of a bossy one, and I tend to add a few of my own orders to the mix. Sometimes my Boss has to get me back into line and insist that I only bark the orders He’s handing out.

I hope I’ll do my job well. I need to stay alert, stay on the job, listen carefully, and never let down my guard. I need energy that defies the odds. I need to be in more than one place at a time.

It reminds me of some verses in 2 Timothy 4 that say…

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, …I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

I’ll do my best to be a good Border Collie for as long as my Shepherd needs me, and for as many lambs as He assigns. And, believe it or not, I’m flattered to be compared to such a competent servant.

Just a quick update on my packing venture…

Today I tackled the toybox. I had quickly sorted through it a few weeks ago, but today I worked all the way to the bottom. A bag went into the trash, two bags went to the mission, Judah’s favorites went into his blue treasure bin, and the rest went into a big cardboard box to save for another day.

Now we have only Judah’s blue bin in the place where the big laundry basket of toys was before. I’m eager to see how this affects our living room cleanliness.