Easter Sunday at church!
Life has been a whirlwind to say the least!
Sometimes I don't even think I realize just how crazy life has been until I sit down and just relax a bit. Everything has been crazy. My last real blog post was back after Christmas... which seems like a lifetime ago.
For those who haven't caught up with me in person... I thought I would do a catchup blog post! So.. where do we even begin? Oh yes. New additions!
Back when we lived in Columbia, when we first got our cats, which were our children's first real pets, there were three. Dixie, Rhett and Tails. They grew up together for the two years that we lived there. When we moved, we knew we would be back on campus at the Bible college, and not able to have pets. So we had to let them be fostered by our parents for the temporary time we were there. Tails went to live with my Mom, and Dixie and Rhett to my husbands Mom's. When we finally settled down in Staley in our smaller house where we could not have outside pets, we had to make a decision. Tails was happily at my Moms house and was an only cat, so we wanted to let him stay there. My Mother in Law was attached to both Dixie and Rhett, so we just had to make a decision. We decided to bring home Dixie, and Rhett quickly and happily became a Robinson lol.
This October when we relocated back to Eastern NC, our house was much, much bigger. We also hated the thought that Dixie would be home alone during vacation. So with that being said, we decided to adopt once again. My kids ended up with this little rescue kitty from the mountains. He was adorable, and only seven months old. Right before we ended up with him, Stephen and I had watched the movie about Louis Wain on amazon, and when they showed me a picture of him, I was shocked how much he looked like Louis' cat Peter! So I suggested the name, and it stuck. So Peter officially became a Duncan.
This year, new additions were all around! In February I was blessed with another sweet little niece! Clara made my sisters family a family of seven! They are such a beautiful little family!
Stephen and I aren't great at taking photos, but here's our photo from Valentines day! We had such a nice date!
We have enjoyed our new home and getting to know our new surroundings!
We were so pumped when my Dad came to visit with us, and even more excited when we got to
drive down to my sister's house in Fayetteville for the day! We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom, and even got to spend time with my aunt Julie from Myrtle Beach. I miss family gatherings and feel like they are so few and far between- I've got to do better at that....
We also have tried hard to break away from the business that we have had here at this church.
We spent one day in New Bern, enjoying the park, ice cream and donuts!
Don't ask me how Hudson got so tall, because I think it happened overnight...
We are now only about an hour and a half from Columbia, the first town we called
home in Eastern North Carolina. Thankfully we have friends who are always happy to welcome us to stay in their second homes! We enjoyed a trip early March to Bulls Bay, one of our favorite places to vacate on the Albemarle sound, for some relaxation! WE also spend the day at the beach. It was pretty cool, but we got to enjoy our favorite pizza place nonetheless!
Nothing could have prepared us for what would come next.
On March 8th, we were just relaxing around the house when a church member called.
She asked us if anyone had called my husband about an accident at the church. He said no and walked out the door. I had no idea what was going on. He called me back immediately and told me to run the church keys over to him. I didn't' know what to anticipate but knew my daughter was quicker than me. I sent her over and a few minutes later she came back home screaming and shaking. She said a car had driven into the church... and it was on fire. I ran as quickly as I could to the church. When I got there I was just in shock. My church was on fire. My husband was inside. There was a man in the car that wasn't responding. I just dropped to my knees and prayed.
My husband, a deacon and a passerby worked for a few minutes to try to get the man free of the burning car that was in our sanctuary. The ems showed up and were able to pull the car from the building. Miraculously, the man survived and was taken to the hospital. It was a disaster...
The news article from the
baptist press can be found here if you would like a full account... its a lot to have to relive for me. It was traumatic for my daughter. My husband was in Iraq... so it was not as traumatic for him as the rest of us. It certainly gave me a new appreciation for my husband, and a new outlook on how quickly something can go wrong.
Our church has withstood heavy smoke damage throughout the sanctuary. We are
currently in the rebuilding process. We are having services in our family life center at the time, and are thinking it will be around September before we get back into our sanctuary.
It's a lot, but I'm so so thankful that no one was killed.. I'm so thankful for my husband and absolutely think he is a hero!
That evening, still covered in ash from the fire, my husband still held prayer
meeting three hours after the accident. Surrounded by our faithful Wednesday evening crowd, we prayed for the man in the accident, the people who were involved, and our church as we continue onward...
The accident stunned us but it certainly didn't slow us down much! We transitioned well to the
family life center! We have hosted concerts...
Helped host our town's Easter Egg Hunt
Still had some youth trips
Hosted our own glow in the dark easter egg hunt...
Had a wonderful Easter Service along with a full meal
And on "Fill the Tank" Sunday, we held a baptism from a stock pool that we got from Tractor Supply!
It makes me emotional to think about how far we have came
as a family and as congregation after having to experience something so hard and so scary.
My kids have are still adjusting. Moving is hard... but moving as a kid is even harder. Each of them
has found their own little spot in this corner of the world, and although we are still very much adjusting, they are really enjoying being here!
Sawyer began his first year of baseball! He's learning quick and loving every minute of it!
Callie is happy to be close to her best friend again who she has kept friends with since we lived in Columbia. She is excited to be going to a homeschool Prom with her next weekend! She's been able to spend a lot more time with her, and that's been good for her, and made adjusting so much easier! She also has started working! Some church family have a funnel cake truck, so she's been working some events with them and loving it! I think she's really coming into her own, and as hard as it is to watch our kiddos grow up, I'm proud of her!
Without a doubt, I think Hudson has grown and changed more than any of my kids. This was last February....
And this was in April this year...
He's growing into a young man and its breaking my heart yall! But I'm very proud of him.
He joined the choir, and looks so handsome in his choir robe!
He's finished the first two books in the Lord of the Rings series, which for 13 I think that was pretty impressive! His birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, and as hard as that is to believe, I'm very proud of my boy!
And lastly is my beach girl...
Lacey has been interning at Fort Caswell since last May. She's loving her internship
and is so far undecided on where she's headed after its over in August, but I'm very proud of her! She's a sopohmore in college now, she's very active in her church, and thinks maybe she's found her calling to camp ministry! There's nothing that would make me more proud than all of my kids finding a call to ministry! So I'm very happy where she is and the amazing young lady she's turned out to be. She has had a steady boyfriend for almost a year now, as such things happen when one is 21 lol. But he's a kind boy with a good head on his shoulders, so we are happy for them and excited to see where the Lord leads her!
Well friends, that's a LOT for an update! I just wanted to jump on here and say hello. I do have plans for my blog and hopes to write more, but as you can tell- life just hasn't had that in the cards for me lately! But I hope you are all doing well, and I thank you so much for stopping by! I hope I can update soon with prom photos, vacation photos, and updates about our sweet church!
*Joining these linky parties! Come get in on the fun!
What a lovely family you have. Your new kitty is adorable. I love cats. And oh my, a car driving into a church, that must have been horrible. Thank God no one died.
ReplyDeletePraise God that no one was hurt when the car drove into your church! He is so good! I can understand the trauma, especially for your daughter. I was in an extremely traumatic situation at my workplace (life & death for me & there was death for others) when I was 18. A Christian counselor really helped me when it was hard for me to leave my home & even experienced extreme anxiety that something would happen even there. It probably wouldn't be necessary for your daughter, but if it continues to bother her, it could help.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely family & church! I did get your message about co-hosting. I'm going to look for your email. & try to contact you about it. If I can't find it I'll DM you on social media.
Looks like you had a wonderful Easter!! Thanks so much for stopping by!! I really appreciate you taking the time to do so...
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Deb