Catch Up

Hello!!! We've just been back home to El Paso a day or so and the unpacking, grocery shopping, laundry, yard work, etc. is finally under control so now I'm going to try to CATCH YOU UP on my blog!!! :)

Last Monday, the kiddos and I made the 12 hour drive "home" to East Texas to visit our families. Yes, the solo drive with 5 kiddos in tow was hard but... it was worth it. It was a really nice treat to spend time with our families and I am pretty sure that it was very therapeutic for us all!! To be totally honest and transparent here, after the last 6 weeks of challenges and speed bumps there was lots of stress and unsettled turmoil in my heart and it was nice to escape away for a few days and re-focus. Joel worked very hard all week and then flew to meet us for the weekend and was able to make the drive back with me on Monday. I just love those cheap southwest one way tickets!!! :) I'm thankful for the time of rest and re-focus! It was good for all of us!!!

The kiddos are doing really well. They loved their fun days on the farm with Mama and Papa Carr and also their individual "special-spend-the-nights" with Mommommy and Poppy! The big kids started their new year of homeschooling today with what I call "warm up days"......we're just doing a very light week worth of work to get back into a routine and work out our schedule for this year! They are definitely ready for the "new normal" to kick in around our house!!

The hardest transition that I've been facing is actually our army move. It's been a tough time for me and the kiddos. The logistics of our move went well and we really love the city of El Paso....but we are just ready to plug in here and feel like we belong to a family of friends. Joel went to work right away and immediately became acquainted with his co-workers and "plugged in"--- but the kids and I have had a harder time meeting people here and honestly, it is just lonesome. We are homesick for the friendships that we had in Kansas and New York!! We miss you all so much!! :) We are still searching for a church family and I know we'll feel much better when we get "plugged in" to a family of believers also!!! I am VERY thankful that the kiddos fall activities and sports start here this next week as well as the Ft. Bliss Homeschool Group Co-op and PWOC Bible Study. Hopefully, the kids and I will be able to truly "plug in" over the next few weeks and finally meet some friends!! Please pray for us as we are in the middle of a city of 1 million people yet we feel so alone!

I'm reminded of this scripture that I've clung to during previous Army moves that were hard on me emotionally and it's so comforting to know that I am not alone, that God is with me.....

Genesis 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

and here's one more that has lifted my spirits recently and renewed my hope in Christ...

Romans 8:37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Blessings,
AMY