Jump

Not taken today....but captured earlier in the week by Ben.  

Zoo Boo Boo

I decided that I’d start with the present and fill in 2009 gradually. And today was eventful. So here is today.

We’d been looking forward to spending a day at the zoo with friends. This couple are both med students and about to graduate and leave Detroit so we’d been looking forward to spending a special day together. We started off with a dead battery in our van. Last night we had driven home in darkness after the Maundy Thursday service and cheered our kids with the glow of the interior lights. But then we forgot to turn them off. Blessedly, our friends had jumper cables and we still made it to the zoo by opening time.

Shortly before lunch, we were exiting an exhibit and Charlotte had a bad fall. It was one of those moments where you go back over and over it in your mind, wishing you could change what happened. But there she was, a huge gash on her forehead and needing more treatment than a band-aid. I have to admit when I first looked at it I almost threw up.

Isabelle really wanted to stay at the zoo with our friends so they cheerfully continued their day while Ben and I took Charlotte to the local hospital. She was cheerful by the time we arrived but we were still reeling. She got some beautiful stitches by a plastic surgeon and we hope that there will be minimal permanent scars. She thoughtfully recalled the shot of sedative she was given and the fall itself. She’s okay. 

This was taken before she had her stitches.  She called this her "pirate bandage" - ARRRRRR!  We've now had the dreaded first ER visit with a kid.  But this is the part of parenting that they don’t tell you about. When your kids are hurt, you’ll want to take their place. You’ll wish you could do anything to come between them and their pain. You’ll feel like your insides are on the outside.

And it’s Good Friday. The day that God’s son died to rescue his children from their pain. A small window into God’s suffering at losing his son, and also the motivation behind Jesus wanting to take our pain upon himself. “See how very much the Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” I John 3:1 NLT

In Quietness and Trust

And then all went quiet…..

About this time last year, I just stopped talking. Stopped calling family and friends. Stopped blogging. Stopped going out much. The move was really setting in by the end of April and depression had once again reared its unfriendly head. I couldn’t talk. The year in itself, in entirety, was a good year. A great one, in fact. But it was a journey. One that I’m now ready to share and record for my own purposes.

I’ve decided to start blogging again for a few reasons. One is to continue to practice of logging memories. Just jotting things down gives me great fodder for stories for the kids later and for journaling and scrapbooking.

The second is to help share our stories with those who don’t live near us or see us regularly. There seem to be quite a few of you out there.

But it’s mostly for me. To declare my gratitude. To reflect on what is going on around me and what has happened in the past. To continue going forward with new ideas and resolutions. To be still and listen.

In quietness and trust.

Pretty in Pink

Matching dresses and shoes. We tried to take their photos. This was the best we could do.

It was a great Easter. We enjoyed good family outings, a wonderful church service and festive food with our neighbors. I haven't felt much like talking this winter. Lots of processing to be done for the move and daily life is busy at home. But spring is here and things are looking up.

How are things?

I haven't had much time on the computer so I'm going to write as much as I can in a short time. It won't be pretty, but it will be informative.

How are things?

WinterFest on "The Hill" - food, sled dogs, cookie decorating, live music

Location: We are really falling in love with our new community. We enjoy all of the good things, but also feel strong burdens for the broader community of Detroit and its current struggles. I feel as though it is no accident that we are here in this place at this time of such uncertainty for people. It has made me so aware of all the blessings that I have and all I have to be thankful for. We really enjoy walking and driving around our area. We live a 5 minute walk from "The Village" which is one of the retail areas for Grosse Pointe. It is a couple of blocks of shops, including a grocery store, hardware store and big book store. One of our new favorites is Trader Joe's. Isabelle loves it because they have kid-sized shopping carts that she gets to push, and a treasure chest full of free suckers. She wants to go every day. The houses are fascinating. They have such history and are all so different. It is also wonderful to live by a body of water again. I often take the kids on an extended drive after being at the library or on an errand simply to drive by the water. It reminds me so much of home in Ontario. Our rental home has been an absolute gift. Although we have had a few challenges baby-proofing the place, there is plenty of storage and living space. And it is nice.


Church: We are getting to know our new church and it is lovely being in the honeymoon stage. Ben's installation was a very joyful day and the church hosted a really nice lunch for us at a community center. People took turns holding Charlotte so I could talk. I find that I am very excited for Sundays and the kids are as well. Isabelle is transitioning to being in the service and she attended Children's Worship for the first time this past week. In the service, she always wants to clap, especially after prayers, choir anthems and songs. This past week we had a guest choir and after their two offerings, she clapped and shouted out "Thank you for helping us worship!". My heart sung. People giggled. Ben is enjoying his work. His rhythm is very different from his last post in that he is alone in the building a lot and gets out to go meet people instead of people dropping by all the time. I am going to be doing some music leading and planning for Children's Worship, as well as helping with connections for children in the morning service. I found it so funny that I was SO excited to get on the nursery list and get involved with Children's Worship. It feels like a privilege because I couldn't do it before.



Home: We are mostly unpacked, but the last 15% has been the hardest bit. My energy and mood has been low since after Christmas and the kids have been squirrels. They don't seem to play by themselves but I am seeing improvements each day. We are all adjusting to being together full-time. I joined a community playgroup on Tuesday mornings and we have been twice. The kids love it and it is a 5 minute walk from here. Isabelle is doing swimming lessons for 8 weeks, and I signed up for a Cardio Circuit class for 8 weeks at the public school across the street. I figured winter was the time to do activities b/c once it is warm we can do so much more on our own.

I think my time is up.

First Day

Today was the beginning of new jobs for Ben and myself. It felt a little like the first day of school as we gathered up his new work bag and travel mug and said goodbye this morning. For Ben, he is officially beginning his work as pastor of First CRC of Detroit. For me, I am officially beginning open-ended tenure as a stay at home parent.

I know that there are days when I will feel frustrated, isolated and very, very tired, but for now I am feeling optimistic about my new position, as well as Ben's. I have been scouring the papers and area for activity ideas and there are lots. I'm hoping that these things will give me opportunities to make connections with people outside of our church community. I continue to be thankful that I have the privilege of parenting these two wonderful girls.

This week Ben will lead and preach his first services as the church's pastor. He will be installed on January 4th with John Rottman as the guest preacher.

Arrival

We are here.

After one of the longest days and weeks and years of our lives, we are here. The move went very well, although it had some interesting moments.

Low points:
-watching the piano be dragged up the hill behind our house in a full out snowstorm
-leaving the house in a less than perfect state, with some of our stuff that did not fit in the truck
-getting stuck in traffic and 30 minutes of crying by Charlotte in transit
-some hard goodbyes

High points:
-arriving at our new house to find it stocked with food from our new church
-realizing that the house and all of its rooms were much larger than I remembered
-a house provided by someone at church for our kids to play and eat while we unloaded
-having my parents with us

We are very relieved to be here with no accidents on the roads and no damage to any of our stuff. We are loving our new house. We'll be spending the next few weeks settling in. Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and help along the way.

Birthday Bash

We celebrated the girls' birthdays together since they are only two weeks apart. There were balloons, presents, aunties and uncles and most importantly, lots of sprinkles.

Final Days in GR

I'm going to squeeze in a quick post while taking a break from packing. Did I mention the house is being dismantled? At least I've decided not to clean AT ALL this week. No picking up toys. No nothing. Only dishes. It's just going to be one chaotic mess all week. Packing is going okay. The kids have had some terrific play dates with friends while we've worked.

Some recent activities included playing in the first snow, and a visit to Meijer Gardens. The Christmas displays and trains are up so we enjoyed being out and escaping work at home. Did I also mention that Ben's idea of dealing with the move is to avoid it by watching movies and going on outings?????

Highlights

So not only do we have moving, finishing up work, a surgery and other forms of unusual stress, this week the kids have had a major bug. But as always, there are funny moments that break the tension.

Charlotte just threw up on the carpet. Again. Isabelle says, "You've gotta be kidding me!".

I'm putting Isabelle down for a nap and reading her stories. At a certain point I look over and Charlotte is asleep tummy down on the carpet.

Me: Do you need a drink of water?
Isabelle: Nope. I'm good.

And try keeping your house ready to show when it's full of icky laundry. Forget it.

Charlotte is One

Sweet Charlotte.

You love to chatter all day long and sing.
You hate it when Isabelle is in bed. You wander around the house calling for her.

You are very impatient regarding food.

You love to be cuddled. Games of all kinds, especially chase and peekaboo, are your favorite activities.

You are a paci girl. You have begun pointing...and walking...and are getting six teeth all at once right now.

You have begun to dance.
Sweet Charlotte, today we celebrate your birth.

Up and Down

We've got a place. We've got a moving date. It's been a long month.

I've had the whole range of emotions over the last few weeks, from excitement to terror. The search for a place for us to live just encompassed many of my fears and hopes. With the market being uncertain and not knowing when our house will sell, we felt that renting a place for at least the first year was the right decision for us. But finding a place that was adequate that we could afford was seeming a bit impossible. Last week, on the day that I was the lowest out of this whole process and feeling like our only option was for me to stay here until the house sold, we got a message on our machine saying that the house that we'd pinned all of our hopes on was ours if we wanted it. It was such an awesome answer to prayer that for the first hour I didn't really believe it! We are going to just take the plunge and move together, hoping that somehow we will be able to pay for both places. One of the things we are considering is renting our place out in the New Year.

Our rental house in Grosse Pointe has three bedrooms with a garage and a fenced-in yard. It is walking distance to a playground and the shopping area/grocery store. It two miles from church so good biking distance for Ben. Compared to some of the tiny apartments we looked at, it seems like a mansion.

Now it is time to begin sorting and packing. I plan to be quite ruthless about the amount of stuff that I allow to come with us. This from the woman with 5 strollers in her garage.

This will be a crazy month. Next week I am having a surgical procedure on my heart done (by catheter, not open heart!) to correct a fast heart beat that I have had since my teen years. Both kids are celebrating their birthdays. And I need to shop and plan for Christmas. But what I have found throughout this entire process of discernment and waiting over the past 18 months is that the most important thing is for me to be quiet before the Lord and trust Him. I get so tempted to research and be busy with tasks, and those are not bad things. But my priority, as the title of my blog says, is quietness and trust.

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8

My Little Helper

Phew. Now I know how I'll get all that prep for moving done.

Say Yes to Michigan

I've been waiting to write this post for a long time. Here goes.

Ben has accepted a new call. A call to be the pastor of First Christian Reformed Church of Detroit in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

There has been so much leading up to the above sentences that I can't fill it all in. What I can say is that it has been over a year of praying, waiting, discerning, listening, worrying and wondering. Just over a year ago, a chain of events began at our church that led up to a decision to go from two pastors back to one. At this same time, Ben and I were feeling restless and wondering if God was leading us to a new area of ministry. The two things collided and here we are looking ahead at this new call that we have said yes to.

I think I'm going to blog through this process of leaving, saying goodbye, arriving and saying hello. I have so many mixed emotions and I'd like to document them, but also let you all in on what's happening with us and how you can support and pray for us. Right now the biggest thing on our minds is housing - hoping our house will eventually sell and that we can find good accommodation in Grosse Pointe. There is no parsonage so we will be looking most likely to rent a place.

I'm very excited about the new post. It's a good match between pastor, pastor's family and congregation. It's an interesting church in a unique area that I am looking forward to living in. But I'm also very sad to leave the many wonderful people at Shawnee Park. And our awesome house. It has been such a privilege to live in this wonderful house for the time we had it. We ENJOYED it.

But please pray that now someone else will want to enjoy it.

Big News

Charlotte has been taking a step or two unassisted for the last week, but tonight took three steps! And did it a few times. We couldn't capture it on video....Isabelle was bonking either of us with a huge ball and it was pretty funny. But we tried!

Isabelle asked to sleep in her twin bed for the first time on Friday night. She has been sleeping in the crib until now. She's been in it for four nights now, including naps, and she has not gotten out of bed ONCE. She likes how it is "so cozy".

Now if we could just make the potty cozy and we'll be all set. :)

Back to the Gardens

My parents were the next to visit in late July. Mom and Dad helped us get some much needed work done around the house, as well as babysitting for us while we went out to dinner. Of course we went to Meijer Gardens again during the visit, so that's where these photos were taken.

Isabelle was thrilled with the opportunity to dress up as a ladybug and proudly displayed her costume.

The highlight of our visit is always a huge splash in the fountain at the end. I always bring a change of clothes for Isabelle so that she can just get totally wet. I love her face in the final picture. I know the first one is washed out - but it is such an awesome picture and I couldn't seem to retouch it (suggestions, anyone?).



This was moments before she had a big fall on the paved stones near the big horse. Last night (two months later) when we walked past the plaza she said, "I had a big owie." She remembered even though we have not spoken about it since that day.

Summer Visits

Oma was the first of our summer visitors. Ben's dad and his sister Lisa went to Europe for 2 weeks, while Cathy remained in Michigan. Isabelle got quite used to the routine of seeing Oma every day for a while and talked non-stop about all the things she did with Oma. In her own words, here are two of Isabelle's favorite things she did with Oma:

I stamp some bugs with her.
Cathy has a great stamping collection, including ones with bugs! Isabelle made a paper with the bug stamps that for weeks was toted around our house as a prize possession. Cathy also made some cards out of stamps that Isabelle did.

We go to Meijer Gardens!
Meijer Gardens is always a highlight of a visit by Oma and Opa. The summer flowers were out in full bloom, and Charlotte enjoyed being in the carrier with Cathy for the morning.