I'll be surprised if anyone actually reads these long and consecutive posts.
We're becoming more and more unpacked everyday. So much has happened in the less than a month that we have technically owned this home.
We have been the recepients of so much undeserved help and grace. You wouldn't believe how much time my dad has given to driving up here and helping us. I haven't even heard him complain about the time or inconvenience. I know it must have been hard to be away from home so many evenings. My dad took out part of our kitchen wall, to give the dining/kitchen more of an open look and so that I can be in the kitchen piddling and still see Simon eating. He preserved the ventahood by taking it out, cutting out the top, resanding it, painting it, putting it back up and making it look new again. We asked for his help just in setting up a temporary desk in the kitchen's built-in, and he surprises us with putting up something that is not temporary and will look like a built-in, especially once we paint it. With the help of George from church, they rewired the stove and moved an electrical outlet. They also came over one Friday and set up shop for a laminate workshop. What I mean is that some wonderful volunteers and friends at GFA planned to come over one Friday to help us lay flooring. Dad came over earlier and got things ready so that things would be ready for the flooring. Dad and George also began laying flooring in the den and stayed until after 10:00 that night finishing it. This really means a lot to me because my dad has bad knees and laying flooring is hard on him. He also worked for hours to cut the brick at the base of the hearth so the laminate could go under it.
Our GFA crew came after 5 and was able to lay the flooring in the hall and our bedroom. So, what could have taken literally weeks, took one day. PTL! (Praise the Lord for those who are out of the loop of abbreviations...)
Grace on top of grace was that our GFA community not only brought help but dinner that night for everyone working. A couple at GFA let us borrow their moving truck which is what we used to move. A group of 20ish people came over one day after work to unload it. So, what could have taken hours, took less than an hour. Ramble: That particular day the outside trashcan was overflowing with household trash of the previous owners that hadn't been taken to the curb. Matt noticed at one point that it was no longer overflowing. He wondered aloud about it, and Paula C. spoke up that she had taken some of the trash and put it in her trunk. True service, I think, it illustrated in this act. It is very undesirable to put someone's trash in your trunk. The bed of a truck wouldn't be as bad, but actually inside your car. It was very thankless b/c she did it silently without being asked and only telling b/c Matt was wondering. Matt says he thinks others had taken some trash, too. Anyway, that meant a lot to me even though it might sound odd or minute.
Matt was here about a week or so by himself--working on painting and pulling up carpet. GFA families brought him dinner each night. Some people came over to help pull out carpet. Jeff C. came to help pull the carpet to the curb and to bring dinner I think. On two Saturdays, Dave J., came over to help Matt with painting preparations and such. J.D. came over to help paint two nights. The first night we were all here (even Simon), The Christofferson family brought us a casserole and salad which was so thoughtful b/c it was prob'ly going to be cherry cokes and sunchips again for Matt and I. I was going to resort to jarred babyfood for Simon, so the homemade meal actually made our first night more like being at home and not being in a workshop. There's been at least one evening where Matt had to call on some of the single guys to help us move in some heavy furniture.
My mom has helped so much by watching Simon so I could come up to Carrollton and help Matt when Matt was here solo. She also kept him one Saturday and Lisa was able to spend most of the day helping me organize, plan, and buy some necessities.
Our next wave of help came when Matt's mom from Georgia came last Wednesday. Sandy has been a super help cleaning and helping watch Simon so I could unpack. She cleaned windows and mopped floors (sometimes on her hands and knees and even behind the refrigerator and under the stove.) She also cleaned the bathrooms on a level much deeper than I had done. Like mother, like son, because Matt is also known to clean behind the refrigerator. Sandy washed every dish and what not that was unpacked. We also were treated to homemade chocolate pies, turkey, mashed potatoes, turnip greens where actual turnips were added, green beans that were actually strung, homemade blueberry cobbler, and other yummy things. Ollie came in and was a major help in babysitting and playing with Simon. Ollie raked the yard and washed our van.
The more I write, the more I am feeling really thankful and blessed and indebted to so many people.
I better quit while I can still say I am not including everything and that way I don't actually leave any acts of service out because I am purposefully recording the events incompletely.
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