Moving in

We arrived in Shiprock on Monday, July 26. We were very busy that day with setting up our new post office box, getting a storage unit and getting the key to our new home. The kids were so tired that they finally we able to sleep a full 12 hours!(Something that they hadn't been able to do in several nights of travel from one hotel to the next.) The first thing that Lily said when she stepped out of the car to see our new home was "Sandcastle!" because our entire "lawn" - front and back yard - is sand. She quickly busied herself along with James sitting down in the sand and playing in it. We also have a neat sand box with a thatched "roof" and built in seat in the back yard that the kids quickly attached themselves too as well. They seem to really like their new home and are finding all the positive aspects of it!

The movers came the next day at 7:00 am to bring in all the boxes. Wow, what a job to unpack everything! We worked non-stop on Tuesday from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. We tried to unpack as many things as possible with the movers help so that they would take as many of the boxes with them instead of us having to dispose of the boxes and packing materials. We are so glad that we sorted through and disposed of many things that either we didn't need or didn't have room for in our new house before we packed up in Indiana. We can't imagine how much more overwhelming the unpacking process here in Shiprock would have been if we wouldn't have started downsizing already. God had really been working on our hearts for our move in terms of letting go of things that we really didn't need. Now the fruits of this change in heart have blossomed in that we feel that this is now our new home. We have complete peace that this is where we should be at this point in our lives.

We are very happy with our new home! It is much smaller than our home in Indiana but it is still big enough for the 4 of us. We have 3 bedrooms in which we were able to fit all of our bedroom furniture. We are especially pleased that we were able to fit our entire bedroom suit in the master bedroom and didn't have to part with any of it. We have a gentlemen who is the spouse of one of the internal medicine doctors at the hospital painting all the rooms for us. Lily's room will be a pale yellow which will compliment her Tinkerbell theme and James' room will be a subtle blue which will compliment his Thomas the Train theme.

We encountered our first dust storm late on Tuesday afternoon right after the movers left. Thanks the Lord that it happened after we had all the items inside the house. How perfect God's timing always is!! A thunderstorm was rolling in and we noticed that the sky was beginning to appear brown. Ryan noticed right away that it must be a dust storm approaching. We made sure that all the windows were shut and it quickly passed in about 10 minutes followed by some much needed rain.

Thank you for all your prayers during our move. We praise God for our safe travels and smooth moving process. The moving crew both in Indiana and here in New Mexico was outstanding. The driver, Matt, and one of the moving crew, Rodney, were both Christians who spoke openly of their faith. They were truly an answer to our prayers and watched over us as Christian brothers during our big move. This is yet another example in our lives at how God not only answers our prayers for a safe move but goes above and beyond what we ask for to provide our needs and give us comfort and peace in times of uncertainty. To God be all the glory and praise!!