When it rains...

We are finally at Mom and Dad's safe and sound but it was a trip getting here! Packing continued all this week, as the house started looking less and less like home it was easier to think about moving. Dad and the boys came down Wed. to get the trailer and some of the heavy packing out of the way. On the way down they picked up Chris who had gone to visit one of his friends as he took his motorcycle to Louisville. It was a good thing they came down a day early since the weather decided to turn wet on Thurs. (our original moving day).

Apparently we have accumulated much more stuff than I thought! The trailer was all the way full before we went to bed Wed. and there was still a lot to go! Mom and the girls came down Thurs. morning to help load up the rest. In addition one of my friends took our futon and another took two of our bookcases, I really don't think all of it would have been moved if they hadn't taken those for us! Despite Mom's concerns, Dad managed to squeeze everything we wanted into the four vehicles headed North. Mom swears 'you couldn't have fit a Q-tip in any car' because we were packed so tight!

It was hard to say good-bye to the place where our marriage began and where we spent our first few married years. I know this is where God is leading us, so many ridiculous doors have been opened, but that doesn't diminish the pain of leaving a place with so many good memories. While fretting over this move Wed. night (while sleeping on our frame-less, box-spring-less mattress) I realized that's one of the cool things about the promise of heaven, the permanence. In this world things are continually changing, and we are continually fighting it (or at least mourning our losses during the changes), why is that so? C.S. Lewis has an explanation for this that makes all kinds of sense to me. We are saddened by change because our hearts, our souls, weren't meant for this world. This longing is universal and therefore indicates something innate to our nature, something we were created with. We were created for heaven, and to my knowledge, if there are changes in heaven they don't involve loss as they do here. You will be continually surrounded by the ones you love, the Bible only talks about one city so there's no more moving, and you will have all eternity to enjoy the Lord while learning more about Him. This is also Lewis' explanation for our preoccupation with being young and immortality, but that's a discussion for another day. Point is, remembering we have a home that will always be there, and we will never have to leave, made this temporary move/loss bearable.

As stated earlier Pandora knew something was up and has been kinda stressed through this whole process. When she went to the vet earlier this month for her check-up we talked to the vet about something to calm her down on the long car ride and she gave us some sedatives for her. We administered them to her an hour before heading out as recommended and the results were hilarious! Her eyes were dilated to different sizes, her third eyelid wouldn't retract all the way and she was really woozy/unsteady on her feet because she couldn't see too well. The kids were cracking up. Fortunately she was pretty much out of it during the whole drive up and didn't throw the normal fit about being in the car... she did however throw-up right as we got in the car port and were getting ready to let her out. Its gross but still a record for cat car trips!

We are still settling in, but we have most of the unpacking/storing done for our 'layover' at Mom and Dad's. Hopefully next time I can post about our new digs and views!