March: His Tender Mercies Ever Present

The morning we were leaving for our impromptu trip to Virginia, we received an automated appointment notification from the real estate scheduling service. They gave us 1 hour notice that the appraiser wanted to come. So, that's when we cranked things into high gear, dumping the crumbs and whatnot to make the house nasty for his/her arrival. But, Paul didn't confirm the appointment and so no one came. We waited until after the appointment time before leaving.

As we headed out of town, we fully anticipated that the appraisal would eventually take place while we were away. It was with a great deal of anxiety that we headed for Virginia. There was so much uncertainty. Where were we going to live? Where was Paul going to work? Two really important, really big unknowns. I knew I really did not want to live in Abingdon, Virginia, but I had come to accept it, and I was willing to submit myself to it if that was what was required of me. Paul had put out a couple feelers in Greenville, but no doors seemed to be opening and we knew we had a sure bet in Virginia with a hefty payday up front. 

Right about the time we were driving through Asheville, my phone rang. Our real estate agent's number showed on my phone. I answered. She said she had some very good news, it could all be over if we agreed to a couple things. The buyer had found another house and was ready to put an offer on it, but he wanted a check from us IMMEDIATELY or he wasn't going to go away. He wanted $1500, to pay for incurred expenses and his inconvenience. We GLADLY and excitedly scrambled to find someone who could quickly get a certified check from the bank and deliver it to the agent. Our favorite, most reliable friend in the whole wide world, Emily, was our hero of the day. It was done! Our home was saved! Once that check was delivered, a contract cancellation was electronically signed by both parties. It had never felt so good to have our house. At the exact same time as I was making arrangements with Emily, Paul received a phone call from a former colleague. There was a very strong, almost certain job opportunity available for him right in Greenville. 

The timing of those events was not lost on me. We had left home to try to figure out where we were supposed to go from the position we were in, and miracles happened, solving all of our problems, at the same time. 

We arrived at our first fun stop and we were on an incredible emotional high. We stopped at Bristol Caverns and were totally impressed with the beauty and expanse of this off the beaten path attraction. We arrived at the end of their operating hours for the day and were the only ones there, save one family on the tour ahead of us. We received a personal tour of the cavern. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. 

After a disappointing dinner, we went to the grocery store and bought a couple pints of ice cream to eat in our hotel room. Still enjoying the emotional high, we were in total party mode. The kids, of course, really didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. They were just excited to be staying overnight in a hotel and the prospects of the all-you-can-eat continental breakfast the next morning. 

After a hearty breakfast, we set out to conquer the Virginia Creeper Trail, of former Mimi's Major Crash glory. The ride is quite long from Whitetop to Damascus. 17 miles, I believe. There's lots of time for quiet reflection and I found myself pondering over the same topic as the last time we had been on the trail. On that ride, Mimi had crashed, resulting in lots of bleeding, fear, and being stuck in thunderstorms. A surgeon, quite miraculously, arrived to our rescue. On this occasion, once again we had been rescued from a devastating and scary episode. In full disclosure for posterity, 2015 into 2016 had not been good for our little family. Heck, even longer than that really. It wasn't a good time for us on any account- not spiritually, not emotionally, not maritally. Life just isn't always easy. It isn't always sunshine and lollipops. It isn't always what it appears to be from the outside. We had some struggles. And lately, we had some major setbacks. Life felt completely out of control and chaotic. And very, very scary. But He came to our rescue. I know He did. It wasn't just coincidence. It wasn't just dumb luck. He came. He saved us. As I rode on that trail after my mom's crash rescue and again after being saved from homelessness, joblessness, and marital destruction, I pondered about why Heavenly Father sends miracles AFTER the trial instead of just preventing the trial from happening. Now, I have no doubt that miracles also happen that prevent horrible things from happening in the first place, but in these instances when His hand was so obvious in the cleanup of the trial, why couldn't he have just prevented us from experiencing the pain in the first place? I don't have a lot of things figured out. I don't think I recognize lessons very quickly or easily, but the biggest lesson I was reminded of at this time is that God allows us to experience things so that we can see His tender love for us, so that we can feel Him sustaining us THROUGH our trials. If we never experienced hardships, if He always saved us before the terrible things happened, we would never truly see Him or appreciate how he works to care for us. During this period of time when so many disastrous events happened with our move, we were trying our best to seek direction from the Spirit, trying to live faithfully, trying to do what He wanted us to do. We thought that's what we were doing. I won't pretend to understand the purpose in all things. But I do recognize that there were lessons to learn here. And that miracles occurred. And that God is so good and loves me so much. He saved us. Plain and simple. He preserved our family.
We enjoyed our bike ride. It was quite chilly when we set out in the morning, but the sun felt so good. The mountains were so peaceful. The kids were so delightful. We stopped along the trail several times to enjoy the beauty and to search for river rocks. After our ride, we set out on one last adventure for the day. We headed to Grayson Highlands State Park because we heard about wild ponies. From Damascus, it was a decent little drive to get there. It was getting close to dusk when we finally arrived at the trail head that would hopefully lead us to the ponies, but we had spoken to a gentleman who assured us that you couldn't miss the ponies. After a little bit of a hike, with boys who were, by this point, growing quite weary, we finally found ponies. Nathanael was afraid of them, after seeing a sign at the trail head warning not to stand behind them because they might bite or kick. Claire, however, was quite thrilled to see them, particularly after one pooped! She got a serious case of the giggles over that.

After a very long and tiring day, we set off for home. We drove late into the night to get back to our sweet little house. It felt better than ever to walk through that door, despite the fact that it was a total mess. Though it was super late and I was exhausted, I couldn't help but immediately set about tidying it back to normal. 

May we never take for granted the simple blessings and the daily miracles.