The Next Chapter

Okay, take a deep breath, I haven't blogged in over a year and SOOOOOO much has happened since then!  I hope I don't overwhelm you, I'll try to go slow.  First of all let me share a scripture that sums it all up.

Psalm 34:4-8
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 
Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Have you noticed that there are times in your life when the Lord allows difficult things to surround you?  You KNOW that He is good (ALL the time) but it just doesn't feel good at the moment.  These are times of pruning, the Lord cutting away the ugly stuff so the beautiful fruit can grow.  A dear friend described it to me as the Lord chiseling away to make a beautiful sculpture of your life.  If we wince and jerk it could leave deep scars but if we relax and trust the final product will be beyond our wildest dreams.  We had a year of pruning and chiseling in the Neufeld home. It was painful and dark and scary.  Everywhere we turned seemed to be ugliness. We winced and jerked, we relaxed and trusted.  It was a day by day and minute by minute challenge.  We knew that the Lord was good, He was not absent in our suffering but we didn't always feel it.  We cried out to him and He answered us.  Sometimes it took minutes, sometimes days and sometimes months, but He answered. Many times we didn't like his answer and pleaded for a different outcome.  And most of those we look back on now and see clearly why He did not give us what we wanted at the time.  We all experience seasons like this.  But we are also blessed to occasionally experience seasons when he allows us to not only KNOW that He is good but to actually TASTE and SEE that He is good.  That's where we find ourselves now.  Praise Jesus!  That doesn't mean all is happy go lucky as we skip down the path of life.  There is some bitter mixed with the sweet, but we appreciate that too. So I'll start at the part where the Lord graciously allowed us to taste and see His goodness.

In mid-July, Kevin heard of a job opportunity in San Antonio.  A small Civil Engineering Firm was looking for someone just like Kevin.  The owner of the company is also the Pastor of the CREC (Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches) church.  Kevin sent in his resume.  On August 10th Kevin and I flew to San Antonio for his (and my?) interview.  Right from the start it seemed like a perfect fit, both in job and in location.  He accepted the job and we came home.  We had put our house on the market while we were gone to test the waters with the contingency that if this job did not happen we would be taking it off the market.  It was nice that people could see the house while we were all out of town and it looked like a model 24/7.  We came home to 4 offers to buy our house.  One was $25,000 more than we had asked.  (We took that one!)  Everyone was very cautious because surely it would not appraise for that much.  But God was in the mood to show off and our appraisal came in even higher, much to everyone's surprise.  Kevin and I jumped in the car and drove the entire 15 hours in one day because we needed a place to move into.  We found a house in 3 days, made and offer that was immediately accepted and came home to pack and pack and pack.  Kevin drove back out to San Antonio with Belle on September 9th to start working.  He returned on the 18th just in time for the moving truck to arrive on the 21st.  We closed on the Peoria house on the 21st, and closed on the San Antonio house on the 24th, replaced carpet on the 25th, cleaned on the 26th, bought and returned a refridgerator on the 27th (it's a long story), moving truck arrived on the 28th, new undropped refridgerator arrived on the 29th.  Oh and, one hour after we got everything inside the house on moving day it poured down rain.  God's timing again showing care and concern for even the little details.  So here we are in San Antonio, Texas, kind of shell shocked and overwhelmed. I've never moved out of state before but I hear it's not supposed to go that quickly and smoothly.  The boys have started co-op classes and we have almost all the boxes unpacked.

But I skipped a big part. It's the bitter part.  Kevin and I have lived in the Phoenix area forever. At least it feels like forever.  I have lived in 5 houses in the same 15 mile radius for 33 years.  We were ready for a change and knew the Lord was leading us toward a change but we under estimated the pain the tearing away from friends, family and familiarity would cause.  We had some very nice times of goodbye with so many people in the days before our move.  Some people we missed and didn't get to say a "proper goodbye".  How do you tell someone what they have meant to you over the last 20 years and more?  I'm still having mini breakdowns almost every day when I think of my dear friends and family and realize they are no longer a few minutes away.  I'm told this is normal (thank you so much for telling me that or I might think I was going insane! You know who you are).  This is a time of mourning and rejoicing. 

Now the part you have all been waiting for. . . . PICTURES!  These will mostly be of the moving process.  I'll keep you in suspense for the pictures of the new house.

 Belle got to move first :)  She lived happily with the Givler family until we arrived. David and Kathy and Lindsey Givler have been so great, Boss, Pastor, Bed and breakfast attendants, Dog boarders, tour guides, friends, the list just keeps getting bigger.  We love them so much! I'll have to get a picture of them on here soon.

Our night with the Coulters and Colliats.  Did you know we have been friends for over 23 years. . . I may be off by a couple of months, I'm sure Kelly will let me know exactly. Our kids consider each other extended siblings.  We had so much fun that night, we laughed, we cried, we got back in line (for hugs).  I miss them so much it hurts.  Praise the Lord for Texting, Facebook and Skype! Although I haven't been able to skype yet, I'm afraid I'll drown the iPad. 

 I love this picture. . . Kevin and Ryan doing the manly hands on the knees thing and Philippe getting cuddly.  Kevin has leaned on these guys for years.  He may not be crying every day, but he misses them too. 

 The big kids, in birth order. They've spent lots of time on Skype and the phone. 

They will be friends forever!

 Add in the littles, what a group.  Who would have thought we'd turn into all this? 

 Caleb and Nate in the back yard with their hand prints.  They have grown into incredible young men!

 The moving truck almost all loaded up!

 The worst part of moving. . . waiting, out of the way, after the power company turned off your electricity (and AC).  They were such troopers but it was a hard day for these guys!

 I think it shows on their faces in this last picture in the old house. 

 Check out that truck! There were four households on board.  We actually passed it on our way to San Antonio the next day! But it went on to Houston before it came to us. We got to stay in a nice hotel for a few days before we had places to sleep.  It was a good rest before the move in.

Grandma was there for the big send off.  Note the size of the tree in the front yard for future reference.  I have a tree in the front yard of this house too, it's just a little bigger :)