New toy

May 31, 2012 | Stacy

Last week on the way to the parade we found this treasure.

Actually, the whole story merits telling.

Sunday night, while John and I were out to dinner, I talked to him about keeping our eyes open for a set of drums. I have had in on my mind for well over two years that this was something I wanted for our family. I didn’t think about it steadily, but it was pretty regular. John agreed that we could watch for a set.

After I said all my serious prayers Sunday night and was drifting off to sleep, I added, “And LORD, if it is Your will for our family to have a set of drums, or for one of our kids to learn to drum, will you please lead us to a set?”

Monday… Not 24 hours later, we were driving to the parade. And lo and behold a man was carrying this drum set to the curb. He had only gotten the first bits out when I called out to John, “Drums! John, stop! He’s putting out drums!” We pulled over and I instructed Nigel to jump out and help Daddy. The man who was putting them out was glad to see our interest. He helped us load them and kept going back to his garage for more and more pieces. He said he was so glad to see our family take them and be so excited about it.

They are totally beat up. We need two new skins. But we’ve had people blessing us already with helping hands to minister to the set.

And I wish I could share the video of John playing them the other night, but he is getting wise to me; “Don’t put this on your blog, okay?”

I am so stinking happy about our find! ♥

It’s such a “pool” story

July 18, 2011 | Stacy

I grew up in a home with an above-ground pool.

JB grew up in a home with an above-ground pool.

When we got married we bought a house without an above-ground pool and promptly had one installed.

When we bought this house, without a pool, in 2007, we said, “We will go one summer without a pool.”

We went without in 2007 – as expected.
We went without in 2008.
We went without in 2009.
We went without in 2010.

At this point my mom, Nan, offered to purchase us one. We refused! Nan is not well-to-do. She is a widow on a fixed income. Besides, our yard is on a hill and it would require a lot of work. We have a new baby and no time to do it ourselves [as we prefer], and we have no $$$ to hire someone to do the work!

In spring 2011 Nan offered again. She insisted that she would take it from her 401K gladly, offering, “I know I will have everything I need.” We prayerfully accepted her offer.

Installation began 7/11. Because of our septic system and lines, we had exactly one place it could go in our back yard.

The first day we watch a Bobcat work 2 hours to just get an area level enough to start the assembly.
By dinner time it was starting to fill.
And the yard work began.

Tuesday, 7/12, at 7 AM when Home Depot opened, JB was at the door to buy the required black silt fence.
You can see here at the back of the pool just how high they had to build it up! It is taller than me!
He also made the decision to hire out the electric. This was a hard choice for JB. He is really good at electric and it was VERY expensive to have it done for us. But the town’s code has gotten much more complicated than it was 13 years ago, and the yard is very large.

On Wednesday, 7/13, a 5-man team of electricians worked 6 hours to do the electric.
We went to Seabreeze…

On Thursday 7/14, while the girls and I ate at Pizza Hut, JB and the boys worked at home on the landscaping.
As the parents came to pick up their daughters, they picked up their tools and jumped in to help us complete all we needed to complete in order to pass the inspection Friday for our C of C.

As we went to bed Thursday night John said, “Isn’t it just like God to send us help like that?” ♥

On Friday, 7/15, after passing inspection, I let the kids go in for about 20 minutes before I went to work.
Champ had the Inaugural Splash.

On Saturday, 7/16, I finally got in.
Scooter, although smiling in this photo, is not all that sure about the big-chilly-bathtub!

More friends freely offered up their help. As kids swam and played the dads built a French drain.

And we had our first “pool party” afterward for our friend, L.

Trusting God for all things – big and small!

July 27, 2008February 3, 2019 | Stacy

I have to tell this story!

Last Wednesday, Angel woke having saturated her bed with urine. As I changed the linen I was grieved by the condition of her well-worn baby mattress. After four kids and almost 8 years of continuous use, the vinyl covering is SHREDDED and the inner layer is so threadbare. I flipped it over to see if the exposed side was perhaps the “worse” side, and in fact it was not. It was that bad.

Now, we of course are not poor. Our every need is met abundantly and we are so grateful for all the ways God provides for us. Our home is comfortable, our bellies are full and we are blessed with many, many means of entertainment. However, even after acknowledging all that, we all know that unplanned expenses are unpleasant and a new bed and/or mattress was not on our shopping list. As I made up her bed I breathed a small prayer to God, “LORD, guide us as to what to do,” and went on about my day. Some twelve hours later, as bedtime approached, I brought JB up to speed on the bed situation, and we agreed that sometime this fall, if the mattress could make it that long, we’d buy at least a mattress and just put in on the floor. You know how kids are; the older ones would probably even be jealous of her fun conditions.

The bed was all but forgotten these last two days. Then this afternoon, after church, we went home where I left the family to eat lunch and start cleaning the house for the boys’ birthday party this Tuesday. I went running errands. As I was driving I was replaying a conversation in my head that I had had with a friend at church. As I was congratulating her on her new son, she asked about JB and I having more children. I admitted how much we’d like more, but acknowledged that many times it is worldly concerns that cause us pause. I confessed that sometimes I get caught up worrying about how we could afford vacations if we had more children. Or how we’d need a bigger car and that would mean a car payment and increased fuel costs to use it. She’d nodded in understanding as someone else came to our conversation and I really needed to get going home. Here, an hour or more later, I am thinking about it again and how I just need to trust Him. Because I know in my heart of hearts that these are small things to God and if He calls on us to increase our family that He will meet our needs.

As I was mediating on our conversation, and what it means to trust God, something caught my eye on the side of the road. “Was that a crib mattress? Whoa! That looked like it was in great shape. Aw man, I bet it was for sale, not for free. I don’t have a cent on me. I don’t even have my checkbook. Dumb debit-card society! Still, maybe I could just look,” I thought as I maneuvered into a side road and turned my vehicle around. As I passed back by I noticed the homeowner mowing his lawn and I saw that it was an entire crib set up. “Wow that looks good!” I thought as I parked in a neighboring driveway and jumped out of the van. As I walked over I was amazed at the condition. The man was watching me, I could tell. I scooped up this wonderful find and made a hand signal toward him and mouthed the words, “Thank you.” He smiled warmly and nodded and waved. He looked so pleased that I took it. I got it back to the van and I was TICKLED. “WooHoo,” I thought. “I want to take it right home now and show JB! No. Stay on track. Get to ALDI. Wow. I can’t believe it. The vinyl is completely intact. It looks hardly used. Wow. God, thank You. That is amazing. I can’t believe it.” My smile was ear to ear and I was slowly coming off of Cloud 9. As I did, I tried to find the train of thought I had been in before it all started. And then it dawned on me. He provided. For all of my needs. A crib mattress! He sent me a crib mattress. It is so comforting to know that He will look out for and provide for us. Trusting Him is so often an exercise for me, but one that I am SO blessed by!