Moving to ND - Part Two

Tuesday, July 31st

A tough day. Saying good bye to Allison was something we were both dreading. It was hard, especially after all we had been through together in the past few days! It had brought us even closer together, and the kids also felt closer to her. I woke up at 3 am, and was feeling really ill. The exhaustion and the stress was catching up to me! I thought perhaps maybe I had caught whatever the kids had, but after about an hour, I started to feel better. Again, I think it was just extreme nerves and stress! I told her as we were parting ways that my body was giving out on me. She just encouraged me, told me I could do this, we'd be ok and we'd get there! Even though she was so sad, she still gave me that little boost I needed. She and Matt left for the airport and Derrick and I packed up the kiddos. I think we left by about 4:30 am. The kids all stayed asleep for the first couple hours of the trip, thankfully. I think they were pretty tired out from playing all day with their MN friends! :) I will admit, I was very nervous about driving out of the city, but I knew that once I got out of Minneapolis, it would be pretty easy driving. Derrick was so patient with me and willing to stop whenever I needed. But as we headed west through MN and I watched the sun rise, I just knew everything was going to be ok. God was speaking peace and comfort into my soul. All of the worship songs on the radio were about facing fears and being confident in His strength. I felt my fear and anxiety melt away. And...it was strikingly beautiful to watch the sun rise. We just drove on and on, and eventually there was very little traffic. Just wide open spaces and a giant blue sky. We arrived in Fargo, ND at some point in the morning. Finally! We had made it to North Dakota! Still about 5 hours left, but no more state lines to cross, and very little highway driving left. After our exit off the highway, things got a little difficult only because we were VERY tired and it was just farmland as far as the eye could see. It was lovely....and relaxing...but a little TOO relaxing! I was falling asleep! Staying awake was truly painful. And once we crossed into North Dakota, we found the coffee to be not nearly strong enough...so that didn't help at all. haha. We finally made it to a beautiful little town called Carrington. We stopped there to eat lunch and found a cute park for the kids to play at. It was really lovely and it felt so nice after driving for hours and not seeing a single town! I didn't want to rush, but Derrick reminded me that we still had a few hours to go, and still needed to meet with our property manager and get into our house. We also planned to unload the truck that same afternoon. So...sigh...ok. I got myself moving again. As we got closer to New Town, though, my excitement grew and that gave me a little bit of adrenaline! I was recognizing names of towns after all the research I had done! This was getting real! And then.....

CONSTRUCTION.

Ugh.

So we sat completely stopped on the road for quite a while, I'm going to guess it was about 20-30 minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Especially since we were so close!! I was literally throwing food into the back seat for the kids, who were HUNGRY and not too happy that we were stopped. Thank the Lord for our built-in DVD player, it was truly a life saver! But I rolled the windows down and the prairie was just stunning. Grass blowing around in the breeze, everything had this totally different feel than anything I had ever experienced. I felt truly thrilled and excited. Traffic finally got moving, and we finally got close to New Town! Driving into this area was breathtaking! One part of it that isn't all that pretty is seeing all the oil rigs everywhere. There are a lot! But there was something intriguing about them, just so big and powerful and always moving! Kind of mesmerizing like windmills are. And we saw plenty of those, too! But suddenly we were looking out over Lake Sakakawea as we drove into New Town. Just amazing. It is like being at the ocean, because the water goes as far as the eye can see. At this point I was truly excited. I was crying tears of joy and relief. I couldn't even chat with Derrick because my walkie-talkie had died. So I just talked to God and thanked Him for getting us here! We got into town and I just wanted to hurry up and stop so I could hug Derrick and cry! But....no time for that. We hit the ground running. We found out the moment we got here that our water had not yet been turned on, so we had to go set up our account with the city. And of course pay a nice hefty deposit. lol. So once we did that, we got to the house. I was a bit disappointed to find that "done" meant only on the inside. There were no porches built yet for any of the three entrances, our driveway cement had just been poured and didn't look driveable yet, and there was dirt all around, no grass. I was wondering at that point whether I should laugh or cry, after all the construction at Brookside and being excited to have all of that behind us! I don't think I did either one...I just kept telling myself it was ok and we would figure it out. The beauty of it all was that because of Brookside, I knew how this stuff all works and I wasn't bothered by it for very long! They were still putting a lock on the door on our only entrance with temporary stairs, the electrician was doing some work, and there was no water. hmmm. We walked around the house and were truly excited as we knew it would be awesome once we got settled! But, it had not been cleaned at all and the floors were dirty and have no carpeting (which is fine, but not great for sleeping on which is what we planned to do for the first night). While we were contemplating what to do, we were told that Derrick needed to go to the school to meet his boss. So, we left and headed to the school. Still really not having time to breathe, eat, go to the bathroom, etc. I took the kids to a small park by the school while Derrick went inside. I was getting a crash course in realizing that it was time to be ready to do things on my own with four kiddos! Thankfully he was not gone long, and we went back to the house only to discover that the water was still not turned on and they were still finishing up work there. So, I said, "Honey, this is great, but...we need water and beds. We need to find a hotel." We reluctantly called our property manager, Cheyenne, who is really very sweet and kind, and asked her for recommendations on where to stay. (Side note, she is the first person we met when we got here, and she was very welcoming, gave us church suggestions and was very supportive about us homeschooling as she had homeschooled kiddos as well! The next person we met was the guy working on our door. He had also homeschooled when his kids were young, and told us that it seemed like we were being led out here! More confirmation, and at just the right time, too! OK, back to the story. lol) There is a GREAT hotel right here in town and they got us right into a room, with a teacher discount! We didn't know if the school would reimburse us or not, but we knew we were too tired to do anything else, and the children needed a place with water and beds to relax and sleep. It was really perfect. They had great breakfast there too, which was pretty exciting! (And the school did end up reimbursing us with no hesitation!)

Wednesday, August 1st

We ended up staying there for two nights, because we had some difficulty figuring out how to get the water turned on (I think there was a main beneath the house that we weren't able to get to and there was some miscommunication about getting it turned on.) But by the end of the second day, it was on! This meant we had plenty of time to unload the truck, get our stuff kind of settled, and clean up in here a bit before living here.

Wednesday morning, we ended up having LOTS of help unloading the truck! We thought it was just going to be Derrick and me, and mostly Derrick as I had the two littles who needed my full attention. Because we had no back deck yet, he was able to back the truck right up to the back patio doors and unload from there! Which was kind of perfect! But he was still alone, and there were heavy items. Just as I was planning to leave the little ones in their car seats so I could help him, a group of 4 school employees showed up to help! They are here from the Philippines to work at the school, and were sent over by the superintendent to help. They were so sweet and kind and really took a liking to the kids! Then a lady who also works at the school, someone I met on Facebook before we got here, came with a group of kids who also helped! She also brought us a meal! We were just so blessed. I went back out to the car to get the kids unbuckled, and by the time I made it back in the house, everything was off the truck. It really went that quickly!


Well, this story isn't over! There is still so much happening daily. It's hard to keep track of the days now, as we have been here for over three weeks! It's a little bit difficult to put into words all that we have experienced, felt, and learned. I have posted a lot of the highlights on Facebook, but it isn't all fun and games. We are in the midst of a big adjustment. Daylight starts and ends later here, so we have had to adjust bedtimes. I'm trying to settle into housework, routine, chores, prepare for school, and in the middle of that we still have yet to finish unpacking! We have grocery shopping to figure out, online ordering, connections to make, etc etc etc. It feels exhausting and never ending. Derrick has a lot on his shoulders, but he is doing an amazing job and we are so proud of him. He had a week and a half of training before school started, which means we had to put some of our exploring and unpacking on the back burner. We didn't have internet for the first two weeks, so that also delayed some of our plans. But everything will eventually fall into place. We are trying to take one day at a time, and for me, sometimes it's just a minute at a time. Or an hour at a time. Sometimes I really miss my people. Sometimes the kids really miss their people. And other times we are all doing just fine! It's a bit of a roller coaster. I told Derrick recently that I believe God allowed all that craziness on the trip so that whenever we feel discouraged here, or like we are a bit lost, we can look back on all that happened and know with 100% certainty that it is GOD who brought us here and we are exactly where He wants us to be.

A few things I want to add about all that happened. First of all, NO one else got sick but three of my kids. Not any of the Howry family who were all there when Chloe got sick, none of Jen's family even though we definitely germed-up their house, no one we were around before we left, and not Judah, Derrick, Allison, or me. Even though were were all SERIOUSLY exposed to any germs that were possibly there. Call me crazy if you wish, but I think something bigger was going on than a possible bug. I think it was a spiritual battle, or a test....and it was crazy but I think it made us all tougher and stronger. And maybe that was the only point. Either way, I'm glad it did not spread to anyone else!

The other thing I wanted to mention here as a testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness, as well as our gratitude, is the way we were supported financially by so many for our trip. This was humbling and overwhelming, in the best sense of those words. We felt truly honored that folks who we love dearly, and who love us dearly, chose to give of themselves in such a generous way, to help us take this huge step as a family. We truly could not have done it without you. As always with things like this, we had some unexpected expenses for the trip, both beforehand with vehicle trouble, and upon arrival with electric and water security deposits! The school also reimbursed us a little less than we thought for the cost of moving expenses. But it didn't matter! We were blessed immensely by our loved ones and it all worked out perfectly. God has prepared the way for us. He told me several months ago when I was sitting at my computer looking at pictures of New Town, that we were going to live here. I knew then that when God speaks like that, I had better listen and watch to see what He is going to do! It has been painful, amazing, overwhelming, exciting, nerve-wracking, and everything else you can think of! But as I said before, the story is not over, it has really just begun. I plan to revive this blog and update you all on what is going on with us. We are feeling more and more led to connect with people right here in our community, and we have already taken steps to do just that. We will continue to follow His lead and see where He takes us! I just hope He doesn't lead us in the path of any rattlesnakes....LOL!

In all seriousness, I can't thank you all enough for the many ways that God used you, our dear friends and family, to get us here. From prayer, to encouragement, to financial support, to cleaning and packing and loading and childcare and letting us stay in your home...even getting in the car with us and driving us here...you have all played a part in this story. And many of you still are! You are staying in touch with us and praying for us. Sending me encouragement and chatting with the kids. All of these things help so much. To all who have done these and more...THANK YOU. From the very bottom of our hearts. We love you all!!!

More to come soon....from the ND prairie! In the meantime, I'll leave you with a You Tube link to a Rich Mullins song that tugged at my heart when we first learned of this job opportunity. Please give it a listen and will also add the lyrics here. And I am also sharing here a verse that my dear friend Erin reminded me of when we were first making the decision. God is good and faithful! There are no mistakes or coincidences with Him!

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Isaiah 43:19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaNwTYJrYtA

Calling Out Your Name Well the moon moved past Nebraska And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills And angels danced on Jacob's stairs Yeah they danced on Jacob's stairs There is this silence in the Badlands And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled By the whisper of a prayer The whisper of a prayer And the single hawk bursts into flight And in the east the whole horizon is in flames Chorus: I feel thunder in the sky I see the sky about to rain And I hear the prairies calling out Your name I can feel the earth tremble Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves And the fury in the pheasant's wings And there's fury in a pheasant's wings It tells me the Lord is in His temple And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move And a love that can make the heavens ring And I've seen love make heaven ring Where the sacred rivers meet Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains Repeat chorus From the place where morning gathers You can look sometimes forever 'til you see What time may never know What time may never know How the Lord takes by its corners this old world And shakes us forward and shakes us free To run wild with the hope To run wild with the hope The hope that this thirst will not last long That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain Repeat Chorus And I know this thirst will not last long That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain I feel thunder in the sky I see the sky about to rain And with the prairies I am calling out Your name