Preparing

Prayer Requests:

• To hear and obey God more clearly than at any other time in my life
• Healing for my back, hip, and neck (I still go the chiropractor 3x/week and my massage therapist 1x/week as well as do daily physical therapy)
• Wisdom in how to prepare- especially time management and finances
• To finish well at my job- June 5th is my last day, so I still have a lot of teaching to do
• Wisdom in when and how to tell my kids what I'm doing (I want to speak the Name of Jesus when I do)
• Wisdom in what to take/ throw out/ sell/ give away/ etc. and when

God is so good. He is faithful. He does not change. I am more in love with Him today than when I first met Him.

I asked Him for a time to pull away from all my busyness and just be His. He is answering that cry of my heart. The sound of His voice and the peace of His presence are things I just cannot go without.

This weekend, my dad, a few God-sent men, and I built the framework for a storage shed in my parent's backyard. We had to clear out a bunch of junk under a carport thing that leaks, and replace the two main rotten support beams before we could build a floor and put in framework for walls.

At one point, it was just my dad and I. He had a 10+ pound metal stake balanced on his head with an 8 foot 2x6 on top of that while standing on a ladder. I was holding a 4x4 with one end on a jack, trying to place the other end on the metal beam so my dad could be relieved of his acrobatic stunt. You can bet your buttons I was calling in the angels of protection! If the beams had fallen from my dad's head, we both would have had some serious injuries!

The next step after raising the roof (literally), was to knock out the rotten beams and replace them with new ones. My dad was on the ladder again, shimmying the new beam into place. He called my mom over to hold a support pole and gave me the sledge hammer to help settle the new board in place. My mom was having words toward my dad about having to be in the way of the sledge hammer when out of no where we heard a voice. "I'm feeling the family love here!" Jeremy to the rescue!!!! He showed up at the PERFECT moment!!! He was able to sledge hammer the new beam in place and end the "family love" moment. I am SOOO grateful for him! He and my dad replaced the second beam and got the workings of the floor laid out.

That's when Don and Bev, my parent's best friends, showed up. Jeremy left to help a friend move, and I went home to shower and get my papers to grade. Later, Nathan showed up to "help coach" Don and my dad. I continued to grade papers, but got interrupted by being sent on an hour long run to get the wrong screws. :-) Around 6pm, I went out to inspect the progress. I found a new floor catching water from the leaky roof and the framework for walls and a door completed. A few buckets were put in place to collect the water, and we called it a job well done. We ended the building event with a well-deserved trip to Braum's for burgers and ice cream.

Soon, I will have a dry place to put the stuff I'm not taking with me. We just have to tar the roof and put walls on the frame. Anyone want to help? Haha!

My dad is my hero for taking the time, money, and love to make this place for my stuff. His support on this adventure (and my mom's) blows me away! I am so blessed!