Motivation

A jackhammer, a backhoe, trucks, pipes, and blowtorches all arrived at my house yesterday morning. The long awaited work on the water cistern has begun. There is again a promise of clean running water by Friday. I am hopeful, but I am not holding my breath. In a house that is over 100 years old that has held many people over the years who have each had their own plumbing and electrical ideas, excavating an area can prove to unearth some clever and some not so clever innovations. Depending on the finds, the time frame could lengthen.

The work started early-- for here. Early in our area is about 10. There is not a big hurry here for much of anything. It is very strange to me but strangely nice.

The backhoe guy was to dig the four foot trenches quickly and be on his way. I was occupying myself in the house unpacking boxes of books when I realized that the backhoe man had been here for a while. I looked outside and saw worried looks. Everything was taking longer than they thought. I could hear the cash register ringing in my head. The backhoe guy had done all he could, so the remaining digging was to be done by hand. The water man had a thousand other things he needed to be doing in the cistern and with piping, but he was going to have to dig first. Then I saw my husband with a shovel. He dug for two hours while the water man did his work.

About noon I walked out to put an empty box on the porch when I noticed that the water man was sitting in his truck eating lunch. What is so unusual about that? I still heard the jackhammer. I looked out of the bathroom window to find my husband in a huge hole jackhammering while the water man took a much deserved lunch break.

We have a very long and creepy dirt tunnel crawlspace that goes from the basement and runs under the north side of the house. It has been a place of mystery and just plain creepiness since we moved in. To complete the path for the pipes, my husband was to crawl in there with his shovel and dig out from the inside. He called me down to the basement to ease MY fears about him getting into the dirt. He crawled right in and was pleasantly surprised to find no animals and to find a really nice hard packed dirt tunnel with overhead lighting and all. He dug his way out in about thirty minutes and came up the stairs about to announce his victory. He was covered in dirt and spider webs.

All in all, the water man got to the point he was hoping to get to by 6pm. He spent the majority of his day down in the cistern. I am thankful that inside every man is the desire to be a construction worker-- for the day. My hard working, sweating, cobweb covered husband saved us some cash and had some fun in the process.

This morning, I awoke to find an amazing sunrise, three happy children (today is their Friday- four day a week school), and one very sore man.

The water man should be here soon for round two, but he is on his own today. My construction worker is back to working with his own tools-- his computer and calculator.

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

The list grows longer by the day.

When we bought our home, we were interested in studying the disclosure information from the seller. There were a few minor things in the house itself that were listed, but on the bottom of the form, she had written in an additional section--"SIGNIFICANT WILDLIFE: INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO...". What followed was a long listing of animals. I can tell you that in our days of looking for and at homes in Fort Worth, we never saw anything of the sort.

Each day we are here we are adding to our own mental list the things we have seen. Yesterday we added coyotes to that list. Sunday was turkeys. Last week was antelopes, hawks, as well as more and more deer. We have now seen mule deer and white tail deer- male and female. We just had another of the cattlemen from our area stop by. His name is Grizz. He said yesterday afternoon he was in the field next to ours working on a fence and saw eighteen bull elk come through. I missed them. The only elk I have seen so far has been mounted in Max's Diner and the True-Value.

The birds have been amazing as well. I saw these unusual blue birds and hurried to look them up to see what they are called. They are called....blue birds. It was truly anticlimactic. They are beautiful though.

We are out here in the midst of the SIGNIFICANT WILDLIFE. We are trying to keep our eyes and ears open and our binoculars handy. I am thankful we have seen no more mice-yay! and have seen no snakes yet. I am sure they have all seen us. The deer always look a little perturbed when we stop and stare. The kids say that the deer are thinking, "aren't these new people over us yet?". I don't think I will ever be over them.

Psalm 104:24 "How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."

Waste not, want not.

I was more than a little nervous for all three kids starting at new schools today, but I must say that my sixth grader was my main concern. Middle school has to be one of the strangest places to be even when you are familiar with the school and the people in it. Entering in March cold turkey is a tough thing for anybody to do.

I picked up the younger two at the elementary school first and then we headed to PJ Craver Middle School to get Ben. They almost talked my ears off on the way. The two socialites had made friends and thoroughly enjoyed their day. Isabel even lined out one of the girls in her class who said she would have to play with her all the time if she wanted to be her friend. Isabel told her that friendship doesn't work that way and that she wants to have lots of friends--nice one.

I waited anxiously for Ben to come out. He was acting all cool with the hood of his jacket over his head and most of his face. Then, I saw it. There was a huge smile on that face and the tears started welling up in this crazy momma's eyes. He said,"I have one thing to say about today...this school is awesome!". I felt like the elephant leaped off of my chest, and I could breathe again. He began telling me of people he had met, classes he had gone to, and favorite things he got to do. It was a great ride home listening to stories of the day.

He told me that at lunch he had some trash to throw away which included some of his food. Someone stopped him and told him to put his food in the pig bowl. Yep---the pig bowl. Someone who works at the school has pigs and gathers up the scraps and takes them home to slop the hogs. Ben was trying to get the tale out without laughing but failed. He said,"Where are we living that they have a pig bowl in the cafeteria?" Reduce, reuse, recycle, I suppose.

Psalm 66:1-3a "Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name, make his praise glorious! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!"

Christmas in March is over.

It is back to reality. I am not sure what that is at this point, but we are officially back to it. The kids ended their two week spring break vacation and headed back to school today. We had the Texas spring break week before last and Colorado spring break last week. It was a great time to move and get settled.

This morning we were up early and three little sleepy faces got ready for school. They wore whatever they wanted to school for the first time-- no uniforms. Ben wore his Texas Rangers American league championship shirt to show his "Texas pride". Nathanael opted for Perry the platypus. Isabel was layered and coordinated from head to toe.

Drop off went without a hitch, and I can't wait to hear the stories when I pick them up in a bit. They were already talking about learning the pledge to the Colorado flag. I told them I didn't think they would be saying that one- just the pledge to the American flag. For those of you who might not have lived in Texas, the kids began every day in Texas with pledges to both the Texas flag and American flag, so the idea that this state doesn't require that was quite foreign to them. I have lived in a total of six states now, and only in Texas have I ever heard of pledging to the state flag.

We saw fourteen deer on the drive to school this morning-- fourteen deer and two cars. What a crazy way to start a first day of school.

Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God."

They are out.

Harland and Isabel went outside yesterday afternoon to go visit our lone cow in the back 40. Their plan was to take a big tub of stinky sulfur water out for her in case she was thirsty. Instead, Isabel ran back into the house announcing that there were two huge dogs outside--- with their owner. One of our "neighbor" cattlemen stopped in to meet us. He doesn't own the lone cow, but he said she would be fine. He said that cows are really smart, and she can hop the fence to get back to water anytime she wants, but if she couldn't, she would pace the fence line in a way we would notice if she needed water. Harland opted not to tell him that the city boy was on his way out with a garbage can of water for her.

The word for the day was snakes. He was warning us of snakes. Of all the things I fear, snakes have to rank toward the top. I cannot even stand seeing pictures of snakes. We have been cautious but also have had a level of security in the idea that the snakes are not out in the cold weather. Well... the cattleman wanted to let us know that his hired man killed a rattlesnake on his main ranch two days ago. They are out.

We have been told that our land has been rattler free for a few years, but rich in bull snakes which are a good snake to have around. I DO NOT THINK ANY SNAKE IS GOOD TO HAVE AROUND!!! They look very much alike, and I will not be taking the time to decide if it is a good or bad snake-- I will be eliminating all that I come across. I have my shovel ready, and I have been teaching the kids to look before they step. I even outfitted my flip-flop loving kids in tall leather boots just in case of a misstep.

Fear of mice-- not so much. Fear of very dark nights- nope. Fear of wildfires- yep, a little. Fear of bears- yep, but probably won't see one out on the prairie with no trees. Fear of snakes- yep. Fear of missing out on the beauty of being in the country because of being paralyzed with fear- yep. We have walked through a few adventures already in these 2 weeks, and I know we have many more to come. I am armed with my boots, my shovel, and my snake bite kit. Let's hope I don't see any. The cattleman recommended we get some cats and not be attached to them. We will be getting cats soon-- hopefully this week.

The picture above is the back of a tshirt a friend of ours gave us the day we moved in. I wore it to town the other day and had someone tell me,"It's not really so much the bears you should worry about. It is the mountain lions." AAHHHH!

Psalm 56:3"When I am afraid, I will trust in you."

Vision

From our new home, we can see a very long way. We see mountains that look like they are just at the edge of the field-- like we could walk to them. Some of those mountain ranges are at least 45 miles away. We can see in all directions-- plains or mountains or both.

Remember that I mentioned it gets a little windy here? The blustering, beating, beastly blows of the wind returned yesterday and our views changed. The amount of dust picked up and tossed about, clouded the landscape to the point that entire mountain ranges seemed to have disappeared. If I looked really closely I could see a faint outline of the peaks. Our entire world looked different because of dust and wind.

About the same time the winds started up, we got a call from the water man. Bad news-- the cistern work and pump placement have to been postponed from now until late next week. We should have our system up and running by NEXT Friday. I must admit, I was more than a little disappointed. I had already conjured images in my head of clean running water, laundry, a dishwasher, and a long hot shower in which I could shave by legs at my leisure. Those images were changed into the laundromat, heating water on the stove, and water jug showers.

After the news broke, I took the kids to town for the afternoon for a bit of city-normalcy. We went to the food court, played indoor lunar mini-golf, and went shopping at the farm and garden store to look at the baby chicks, ducks, and rabbits and to buy kids' boots and mouse traps---(well...almost normalcy).

Have you ever been singing along with a song in the car without even thinking? That happened to me on the way to town, and I knew every word. I stopped and listened to what I was singing--- "Be thou by vision, oh Lord of my heart. Naught be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night; waking or sleeping thy presence my light. ... High King of heaven, my victory won. May I reach heaven's shores, Oh bright heaven's sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, O ruler of all."-- and then I began singing it like I mean it.

Our vision of the mountains was clouded, and my vision of things that matter can be clouded by circumstances and discomforts. My disappointment turned back into a clear view of who I am and the blessings I have. My groaning turned to thankfulness. I am thankful for the wind. I am thankful for the views the lack thereof. I am thankful for the small lessons that God teaches me every day.

I will not have a long, hot shower tonight in which to shave my legs at my leisure, but honestly, who cares? Maybe next Friday.

2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight."

How now, Lone Cow?

The noises out here on the prairie are very different than the noises of SW Fort Worth. I haven't heard a train or a police siren the entire time we have been here. The most oft heard sound is the sound of the wind howling. Since we enjoyed a day with nearly no wind yesterday, we heard some new sounds. There were beautiful bird chirps and whistles, some sort of frog croak noise, and the occasional low and loud "moooooo".

Our property is cross-fenced with the front 40 acres having a fence around it, and the back 40 acres with a fence around it. I now understand the phrase "back 40". We have no idea what to do with our land, but the land across the street and behind and to the north of us has cows on it. We noticed the other day that we have one of those cows in our back 40. We were worried and called our plumber. Yep- our plumber is one of our closest relationships here so far. We have spent more time with him than anyone else! He had mentioned he knows the guy who owns the ranch behind us over the hill. He called his friend and that particular group of cows is not his. These cows have an owner who lives a couple of hours away and comes to check on them every few weeks.

The cow is clever. She seems to know how to get back and forth because sometimes she isn't there. She is alone and loving the old grass and hay that none of her compadres has munched over. About three days ago we noticed she had a friend with her- two cows in the back 40. Then they both went home I guess. Since then she has been a loner again. Maybe the other cow was an uninvited guest or maybe the other cow doesn't like to be removed from the rest of the herd.

We drove out into the fields last night to check out the fence line (and for fun). She has bent one little portion of the fence just enough to get over. Harland tried to fix it but couldn't even get it to move. All the while she watched us. "MOOOOOOOOO."

In the other fields we have seen the cows line up and all move one direction or another seeming to follow a leader cow. Sometimes there will be 30 cows in a single file line following the master cow. I just wonder how this cow decided to try out hopping our fence and getting to the high grass? How did she decide to go alone? Was it an accident? Is she an outcast? Do they all think she is crazy? She must like it because she comes back every day. She must not be seen as a leader or you would think more cows would follow her.

I think it mirrors people in so many ways. Trying something new sometimes looks like solitude or insanity, but can lead to some of the best food and the most peaceful times. Not everyone understands why you would ever leave the herd and not be content following someone else's wagging tail.

I kind of like her. She looks content. She takes a risk and doesn't mind doing it alone. She is removed from the madness and the peer pressure to follow. I know we have to fix our fence at some point, but for now I am going to enjoy watching our guest.

Psalm 50:10-11 "For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine."

Comes in like a lion...

March is a windy month everywhere. On the interstate close to our house, there is a sign that reads that one should use caution because strong gusty winds are likely for a four mile stretch. It is a true sign. Wind gusts yesterday in the big town 30 miles away were to be 40 mph. In our four mile wind corridor, I would estimate 60mph winds.

I went to the laundromat in our little town yesterday afternoon. I opened the back of my Sequoia to get out my HUGE amount of clothes to wash. I bet you can guess where I am going with this. Yes, as soon as I opened the back hatch there came a wind gust that almost knocked me over and enabled a portion of my clothes to take flight- underwear to be exact. Harland's BVDs were flying through the parking lot, and I began the chase. Let us all hope that the strip mall does not have security cameras. If they do, someone got a chuckle. It was like chasing a piece of paper in Texas wind. As soon as you get close to it, it takes off again. I eventually gathered all of the pieces and glanced around to see if anyone was watching the show. I didn't see anyone, so I secured the clothes as best I could and lugged the seven loads into the laundromat.

I had bought a bottle of coke at the market when I got change for the laundromat. In the wind and in the harried carrying of the baskets and bags, I must have jostled that coke. When I sat down in the chair after starting my seven washing machines, I wanted to open my coke and have a drink while I read my book. Again, let us hope that there were no security cameras because it sprayed all over me, the chair, and the floor. I went to the restroom to get some paper towels to clean my mess quickly, and they had something I had not seen in a long time. There was one of those truck-stop towel rolls that has the big blue attached towel that just rotates back through--- no help. So I took the last little bit of TP and went to clean up my mess.

I settled myself down, and enjoyed calling my mom to lament and then reading my book on simplicity. It was simply a crazy start to a peaceful two hours of laundry. The view from the chair where I sat was the mountains. It is hard to stay frazzled with a fizzy coke, a good book, and a view of the mountains. The wind is gone today, but is scheduled to return tomorrow. We have been told that the wind will blow as long as there is snow on the mountains. I think we have a lot more wind to come.

John 3:8 "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

How many gallons of water does it take to bathe five people?

"Necessity is the mother of invention." This saying rang true in our kitchen last night when my innovative better half came up with a solution to our showering dillema. Just in case any of you find yourself in a similar situation, take note. It was a wonderful temporary fix---the water gallon jug shower.

We warmed bottled water on the stove and poured it with a funnel into an empty water jug with a twist top. Harland then poked holes into the cap. Tada!!! A shower was born.

We took turns putting people in the tub and pouring warm water over them as they lathered up. We all had what amounted to a cleaning that was pretty similar to a real shower. It was also relatively painless to boot. It was a little chilly in the tub with water being intermittent, but better than our alternatives.

So.. how many gallons did it take? Let me preface the answer with the horrifying fact that we figured up that we used 10,000 gallons of water a month in Ft. Worth. That amounts to about 333 gallons a day. We all took showers with 4 gallons total. We have come to love clean water and will be emerging from these couple of weeks of indoor camping as conservationists. That is a good thing all around, but especially since we will be having water hauled to our house or hauling it ourselves.

Friday is the day for city water to begin--- if all goes well. I restocked on paper plates, cups, and utensils just in case, and I am headed to the laundramat for laundry-fest round two. As a side note, our youngest had a stomach virus Saturday. You should try that one with no water. Yuck. Thankfully, no one else got it. Thankfully, someone can fix our water situation. Thankfully, we have the money in the bank to have it fixed. Thankfully, we know the One who offers living water.

Hosea 10:12 "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you."

"I could tell you some stories about this house."

There are some things that make me shudder. This week I can attest that a new one for me is the following statement: "I could tell you some stories about this house.". That is what the water man just said when he walked in. He evidently plumbed the whole house in the 1970s and then the owner ruined the plumbing system and rigged it up himself.

I immediately thought someone must have been murdered here. Then I thought maybe they just died here. Maybe there was a terrible accident or a terrible mutilation by bears and mountain lions. Maybe someone had a meth lab here. Maybe it was a house of ill-repute. All of these possibilities rushed into my head in a nano-second.

No death or mutilation--- turns out the man who lived here in the 1970s was a drunkard and would drink himself into oblivion and sit in the kitchen and kill flies in the house with his 45. He would shoot the flies---in the house. The water man said that the last time he had seen the house it was riddled with bullet holes in every wall. I guess he had lots of flies or was a terrible shot.

He also said that this is just about the worst water he has seen. He said cows love the sulfur water. I guess they like a little eggs with their milk. Too bad we aren't cows.

He then ran some of the water and held the glass up to his nose and made an audible gagging sound. HA! I say try showering in it. He remains in the yard now checking all of the cisterns and well pumps and plumbing. We will see if he can help us. Maybe if we drank alcohol like a former owner we would not notice the awful water. Alas, we do not, so we await his verdict. What will it cost? Name a price, Mr. Waterman. We will pay it.

Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is lead astray by them is not wise."

Go to the end of the line.

You might think we are living in the middle of nowhere. You might be right. We have been making daily LONG walks to our mailbox and have noticed that some days we have mail and some days we don't. Well... we found out that our mail comes only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I thought the mail came everyday, everywhere no matter the weather-- rain, sleet, snow.

You might think garbage service is a given. Not so much. We just had our Mountain Disposal dumpster delivered, and I am very excited about it. Yes, you read that right. I am VERY excited about a dumpster. Moving creates an enormous amount of trash. Add onto that all of the paper products and plastic water containers we have been blowing through since we have no actual water yet and you get a huge amount of waste. They come and empty our dumpster once a month. We got the garbage man to take our trash from the garage with him so we could have a fighting chance of not filling it before the 30 days is up. Now we must bear-proof it-- tomorrow. Today, the water man cometh. But that is a story for tomorrow. Hopefully a good story.

You might also think that when someone asks where you live, you answer with a neighborhood name or a street address. We have had multiple workers and contractors out to the house over the past week to help with our many issues, and I will tell you that I have found myself giving the strangest answer to that question. "You go south on 181 until the dirt road turns into gravel, and we are the only house you come to on the right. Our roofs are blue. You can't miss it." Or we could say, "Go to the end of the power lines on 181. They end at our house.".

Psalm 36:5-6 "Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast."

Mice like peanut butter.

We were welcomed to our home by little gray mice--not like the ones on Cinderella. I would not want these to help me get dressed while I sing. These critters have to be the fastest things I have ever seen.

Our second night in the house we heard noises about 9:45 as we sat on the couch. Next thing we know we see a little mouse sticking his head out from under the couch looking at us. Then he headed for a crumb on the other side of the room. It was almost as if he knew we would have no idea what to do. We had no traps. We were too slow to put anything over him. We just sat on the couch in horror that an animal would be in our house.

Night three we were ready with traps. At 9:45 our trap tipped. (It catches them alive.) The kids had their hamster cage ready for a temporary pet mouse. We dumped him into the cage and we were all watching him run like crazy in the cage. All of a sudden he was out. He climbed through the cage opening somehow. The openings are only slits! We all screamed like little girls and jumped about two feet into the air. We screamed so loudly that we scared him back into the cage! Harland picked up the cage and ran outside. The mouse was so scared he would not come out the cage outside with the lid open. So... Harland put cage and all into an empty cooler which we would come to call the mouse cooler. He took it a few miles down the road the next day and freed it. So... we then did late night therapy with the three kids who were all traumatized.

After we finally talked everyone down and got them into bed, I was walking to the bathroom (still totally surrounded by boxes and junk) and stepped on one of the kids' zou-zou pets. It makes a lot of noise and doesn't stop-- rodent noises. I was trying to make it shut up before my children woke up panicked. I have to admit, I could hardly stop laughing.

Mouse problem solved. Well... not quite. We have since caught 6 more mice. One was pregnant and went into preterm labor while in the mouse cooler awaiting release. She had three little pink babies that were too little to survive---- four for one. Now it is no big deal. We set our traps and catch at least one a night. We are no longer using the mouse cooler. Harland is simply executing them quickly outside with a shovel. We decided a day or more in a cooler was not exactly as humane as we thought.

Our plan is to be soon adding a couple of barn cats to our family. One day at a time, though.

By the way, I never knew mice liked peanut butter. I thought you were supposed to set traps with cheese. You know.. like the cartoons. We have been using three different types of traps and they all say to use peanut butter. My youngest hates peanut butter. He has always said it is his enemy. He is feeling affirmed in that opinion since we are using it as bait for mice. I told him they can't seem to resist the smell. And it is something they can't just steal. It takes a minute to eat it. Slowing down is bad for the mice.... good for us.

Psalm 34:8 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."

Do you smell eggs?

After our beginning with no heat or hot water because of lack of propane, we then had the realization that our water is absolutely disgusting. The water purifier man was scheduled to come soon so we went ahead and used it to shower but used bottled water for everything else.

It is now almost a week later and the water is no better. It may actually be worse. Harland just got off the phone with the THIRD water man. Third time is the charm, right? I hope so... Isabel and I have hair that is dangerously close to dreadlocks.

Turns out that our well water is so bad that they don't make purification systems big enough to handle the stench. It is sometimes brown but usually gray, and it smells of boiled or rotten eggs with some iron (which smells like blood to me) mixed in.

City water is the final step. We will have water man #3 plumb our cistern to hold city water and be pumped into the house. We will then have city water delivered every 2-3 days. Harland will be soon trading in his sporty little 1995 BMW for a pick-up truck that can hold a water tank in the bed. His plan is to eventually haul it himself. Sounds like a lot of fun.

In all of this, we have become quite the water conservationists. I am a little like Caroline Ingalls pouring water from a jug over hands and fruit and toothbrushes ,etc. to wash or wet them. Do we shower in it at this point? Only when we stink worse than the water. That came last night for Harland and me. It had been 2 or 3 days since a shampoo and shower. I finally got my stove hooked up yesterday as well, so I warmed bottled water on the stove and bathed kids one at a time in the middle of the kitchen in non-stinky water. We have no blinds by the way. The good news is that only cows, deer, and mice might have been watching.

Isaiah 12:2-3 "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."

New Boots Can Be Uncomfortable

New shoes can be uncomfortable no matter how beautiful. Some shoes just have to be broken in. My husband and I are breaking in our new boots both literally and figuratively. We left city life last week and moved to a little house on 78 acres in rural Colorado.

My hope is that I can write about some of the challenges we face and the sheer craziness we walk through. I feel sure it will be therapeutic to write and to be able to step back and get a good laugh at my own expense. I look forward to breaking in these boots as I adjust to a new life.

We drove out of town last week, and I saw in my rearview mirror a huge traffic jam in North Fort Worth and everything I had known and been comfortable with for the last seven and a half years. I was in the suv with one child and my husband was in the biggest Penske moving truck towing his car behind with the other two kids. I had so many picturesque ideas of what arriving at the house would be like the next afternoon. Needless to say...

Well... did I mention that things are sometimes uncomfortable? After we moved the furniture and boxes in (with the help of wonderful friends who basically moved us in), we went to one of the three diners in the little town. I ordered a grilled cheese, and it was literally two pieces of toast with three slices of American cheese inside- unmelted. It was no big deal. They served only Pepsi products. That was no big deal. We drove back to the house- no heat. Now, that was a big deal. Come to find out our propane tank was empty. We dug out a space heater from one of the 7000 boxes and set up the older two in one room with mattresses on the floor and the heater. We climbed into our bed with the youngest and five blankets and hoped for the best.

The first night was cold, and if only I could have found the coffee pot, filters, and coffee. Maybe I would find them the next day. I was just thankful I had other warm bodies to keep me warm. I was also thankful for a good night's sleep blissfully unaware of the little rodents likely watching us and coming close to us as we slept. Yuck. But.. that realization would come the next day.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."