The Good. Yesterday Wayne was informed that he would have to switch over to the afternoon shift for an undetermined amount of time while the company is training a new guy on the day shift. So now he leaves for work at 2:20 p.m. instead of 5:40 a.m. and works until midnight rather than 4:00 p.m. This means that I am able to drive the boys to school in the morning, pick them up at lunch, take them back after lunch, and the only time I have to pick them up "by foot" and struggle to get them home in this bitterly, nasty cold weather, trudging through the snow, is at the end of the school day. We can all handle that. One more good thing about this change in hours is that when the lawyer calls upon us to sign our real estate documents, we'll be able to get to the appointment without Wayne having to take time off from work to do so. We're grateful for that.
Another good thing that happened this week was when God answered a family prayer in a very obvious way. I love it when prayers are answered so obviously, because it's such a great teaching moment for the boys to see God at work in the day-to-day events of our lives. Here's the story. On Tuesday we had a lot of snow here and after work, Wayne got stuck in the parking lot. One of his bosses helped push him out. Prior to this occurring, he called to inform me that he was just about to leave for home (he didn't want me worrying because of how bad the roads were). So, fine. I knew he'd be home shortly and he got home within a reasonable amount of time. When he went to take his cell phone out of his jacket pocket, it was missing. We called the number, hoping it had mysteriously relocated itself somewhere in our house, on our sidewalk, or in our car, but we couldn't hear it ring. Wayne concluded that he must have lost the phone right after he called me, as he was trying to get the car unstuck. Wayne was pretty upset at the thought of his cell phone being buried in the snow, never to be found. Or worse yet, crushed by the snow plow which was just about to start plowing as he left the parking lot. And since we've got a little more than 2 years left on our contract, it meant we'd have to purchase another phone, which we hadn't really budgeted for at the moment.
So, at suppertime after the boys prayed to thank God for the food, I added my own prayer for all to hear, requesting that by some miracle the cell phone would somehow be located. Wayne went to work the next morning and took my cell phone to use in case of an emergency. He called me when he got to work and sadly reported that he couldn't find the phone in the parking lot. I called SaskTel and let them know what happened and they immediately disconnected the service.
When Wayne got home from work, he informed me that the person plowing snow the night before found his phone! And it is still working! We were definitely praising God with that news! It was wonderful for the boys to witness this little miracle. God cares about us so much that He even answers prayers about a cell phone! God is good!
The Bad. Since Wayne now works evenings, I am housebound every night except on weekends. (We only have one operational vehicle at the moment, which Wayne uses to get to work). Not a huge deal, since my boys are usually sleeping by 7:30 p.m. but there are times when I have stuff to do in the evening that doesn't involve the rest of the family (i.e. getting together with my friends for coffee, etc.). And this means that Wayne is pretty much sleeping until noon every day, and then he's only got an hour or so before he has to head off to work again. Not very conducive for packing up his stuff in the garage. But this weekend we'll be working hard at doing some intense packing.
My other bad stuff involves the logistics of moving. This whole move is stressing me out big time! I feel like for the past week I've been on the phone for a large part of the day, every day and arranging for this, arranging for that; getting quotes for services and talking to the lawyer and bank personnel. I'm grateful for e-mail and I use it whenever I can in order to avoid making a phone call when it pertains to some business-related stuff. With e-mail I can just get to the point and wait for a response. I feel like there isn't as much time wasted with the idle chit-chat, umms and ahhs, and "Can I put you on hold?" nonsense.
Now, The Ugly. What is ugly, you ask? Well, that would be my house. There is junk everywhere. Every room has been turned upside down. But despite all that, there isn't as much packed as I had hoped would be packed by this point in time. We get possession of our new place on December 8th . . . we move all our stuff on December 16th . . . the new owner for our current home gets possession on December 20th. So there's not much time left and it seems like time is whizzing by. I don't like that. I wish time would just stay still for a week and then I'd be able to get all this packing done without having to P-A-N-I-C!
What else is ugly? That would be me. Not in the literal sense, as in my appearance . . . what I'm talking about is the inside of me. The person I am these days. I'm feeling very overwhelmed, stressed out and ready to plead insanity at any given moment. Unfortunately, all of this ugliness comes out in ways that I'm not happy about. My poor husband and boys get the brunt of my anxiety, and despite my efforts to stay calm, cool and collected it's not always easy for me. There, I admitted it. I'm struggling to cope with this move and I concede defeat. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I'm overwhelmed.
In order to better cope with my stress level, I've decided to tackle this packing ordeal in baby steps rather than looking at the big picture. Changing my perspective has helped somewhat. And on Saturday I am treating myself to a massage, which I know is going to help. Just the thought of it is helping.
Did I mention that I have the greatest husband and sons? Yes, I do! Despite all the crap I've been dishing out, they continue to tolerate me. Actually, tolerate isn't the correct word. They continue to love me. They wrap their loving arms around me and let me know it's okay. They're trying to do everything they can to ease my load, even when I don't acknowledge their efforts. They are coping so well with this whole moving process and I should be the one setting an example for them - giving my problems over to God instead of (once again!) trying to get by on my own strength and power. When will I ever learn my lesson!?!?!
Okay, I feel better already. Like I've said before, it's amazing how typing out my thoughts can relieve so much tension. My fingertips must be the focal point of my body's stress release mechanism.
That's it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have only Good to report.
1 comment:
I know what you mean about your fingers releasing tension. I love my blog. There's just something about sending all of my thoughts out into the universe that makes me feel better. I think it also might have something to do with knowing that I have been heard and having people tell me everything will be and is fine... So here goes...
Everything is going to be fine. You'll make it. Even if you have to throw everything in boxes and garbage bags all helter skelter and unpacking is miserable... Eventually all of this will be behind you and you will be in your lovely new home in the country for Christmas... Now I'm jealous. Except for the packing. I hate packing too and I've never had to do it with kids... Well, just with Ben, but he was only five months old so that doesn't count cause he didn't have that much stuff yet.
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