I know this post is way overdue, but its been brewing in my heart and mind for about a month now and though it is late, it is worth remembering what a good work God has done...
In the midst of packing up our house, and preparing to move our family across the country, my mind and heart was flooded with a deep sense of thankfulness for the time God had called us to spend in Illinois.
In the last days before our move, one of the things I was SO grateful for, was the time we spent with those who were our community and had become close friends, to really say goodbye...well. Without family nearby these past 3 years, the friends God provided to us through our church family and school community really became an incredible support system for us. We will always be grateful for the times spent together and the seasons God placed us in each other's lives so we could weather storms and dance on the mountain tops, together!
In our last week in Illinois, we were able to spend precious moments with those friends...Here are a few of them...(many others were pictured in photos from Cole's party in the last post too)
...Fun at the park...
...Church Picnic...
After weeks of saying goodbye to sweet friends through picnics, ice cream dates, birthday parties, drive-in movies with our small group from church, and a wonderful breakfast with the girls from my small group, it was time to say goodbye...( I have to get the picture we all took from one of the girls!!!)
On the morning of July 5th, the moving truck backed into our driveway...
Eight friends helped us move everything we owned into the back of this truck...
Not only were the friends who helped us pack up the truck AMAZING, helping us finish in only 3 hours, another incredible blessing, was having another friend from church volunteer to make a yummy meal for our "workers!" Then, when she came that morning to drop off the sandwiches, cole slaw, chips, and Texas sheet cake, she noticed my kids running around our packed house, and asked if she could take them for the day to make packing go a little smoother...thank you LORD! Such an amazing last minute blessing. God is GOOD!
We arrived in Illinois 3 years ago with our truck packed to the 19 ft line, and we left with only 17 feet of STUFF to take back with us! "More kids, less stuff" was our motto in packing and purging unneeded things that we were were able to sell or give away to those who needed them more.
After finishing a long few weeks of packing boxes, and a long day of packing up our truck which drove away ahead of us that day...we were on our way to spend the night at our friend's house for the night before we headed out West the next morning.
We drove away from our house in Illinois for the last time, and thankfulness and gratitude flooded my heart and my head.
Thoughts about the last minute goodbyes I'd had with a few dear friends...
Gratitude over the number of friends who had made our packing possible by watching our kids for us SO much in the last days before leaving...
Gratefulness for the travel gifts and prayers we'd received right before we'd left....
Thankfulness and awe over the way God had provided so perfectly for our every need since we set foot in our new home.
amazing. unbelievable.
Words don't do the feelings justice.
I feel like David must've felt as He tried to write the Psalms...putting into words how you feel about what God has done for you is impossible...all you can do is get as close as possible and pray that the Holy Spirit would convey what your trying to say to the hearts of those He wants to hear.
Ryder was definitely in the same mode, because as we passed his little preschool he'd spent the last two years learning and growing in with the most wonderful teachers, he, with tears in his eyes, asked if we'd drive by so he could take one more picture by the sign. We pulled up, he jumped out, took a picture and then quietly returned to his seat in the car. When I looked back to make sure he'd gotten in okay, I noticed him crying quietly to himself. Oh, how I love my precious boy. John and I weren't the only ones impacted by our time in Illinois.
We spent the last night with our dear friends from church who we know, like so many others in our small group, will be life long friends.
It was so fitting, that during our last night in Illinois, we walked through a maze that my friend had made in the property next to her house with her riding lawnmower :) My kids now call it the "firefly maze" since right as the sun is going down and twilight arrives, the fireflies (or lightening bugs as many of my Midwest friends call them) begin their show. There is something so amazing about these little gems that God so creatively put on our Earth. I don't believe they serve any other purpose than to shine in the midst of the darkness, right as darkness is settling in. Cora, of course, had to wear red heels for the occasion...
And isn't it amazing to imagine...the same One who made fireflies, (or lightening bugs if you prefer) made you and me. The same God who made people...beings with souls that were worth the price of His SON...turned around and made fireflies. The thing I think is amazing, is that according to scripture, fireflies were made first. Before we were even created, He created something that would do little more on Earth than to bring His created ones delight each summer night as the sun went down.
In those last moments in Illinois, my mind quieted, my heart stilled, and the past 3 years of pain we experienced over Cole's deafness and being away from family, joy over the two births of our daughters and indescribable intimacy we'd felt with Jesus through it all came to a crowning moment there in the firefly maze...life suddenly seemed very simple.
We know we'll go through dark moments in life...it's how He grows us.
We know we'll experience joyful times as well...it's how He blesses us.
Through it all though, bright times or sad, when we place our hope in Jesus, we'll experience exactly what He knows is BEST for us every time.
We have something in common with the fireflies...
When darkness seems to be closing in around us, He's made us to SHINE.
Not on our own, but through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within us when we ask Him to.
Dear Illinois friends...
God selected you to be our fireflies during our stay in your beautiful state. Our family experienced dark times and beautiful times in the past 3 years. Through it all, the Lord used YOU to sustain us as you reflected His light each and every time it began to grow very dark in our world. Thank for delighting in our God...I'll never stop thanking Him for allowing our paths to intersect as we were all pressing on in our pursuit of HIM. What a beautifully wise and sovereign God we serve! Every time you go outside to catch fireflies this summer and for many in the future, remember that God has used you to be His hands and feet to a family who will forever be changed because of the time they spent with you in your beautiful state. We love you and will forever be grateful for you and the God who decided to allow us the chance to meet! Happy firefly catching!
