Home Free

We are now officially "home-free" -- we have turned in the keys to our apartment. The movers picked up our stuff and put it in storage to wait for us to go to Guam.
We are almost "home free" in the sense of being finished with responsibilities here, too. It doesn't quite feel like it yet, though, since it may be one of Loren's busier call weekends.

Having not yet fully said goodbye to St Louis and all our friends/church family, I am kind of having a hard time mentally preparing for our upcoming trip. The friends we are visiting soon have started asking questions about timing, meals, etc.... I just can't wrap my mind around that! By next Friday night, we will have stayed in 5 places, visited friends in 4 states, and celebrated our 8th anniversary!

We have spent most of the last week or two packing...packing lots of suitcases, lots of boxes, our van...unpacking the storage unit, and thankfully just watching someone else pack the moving truck!
We have also squeezed in time to savor St Louis, hitting some of our favorite spots again, and trying to make this still a fun time for our kids.

We are extremely thankful to have had Loren's mom here.  She was an incredible help during this time. I don't know what we would have done without her!!

This week, God has been teaching me more about his promises, particularly in two situations.
After we moved into a hotel, we were a long ways from the house and Loren's work. Where were the kids going to nap? I hung on to the verse from Psalm 23 about God leading us by quiet waters and finding places for us to rest... I trusted him to meet my needs, and he did. Every day.
Yesterday morning, I read Philippians 4 for worship time, which includes "don't be anxious about anything, but in everything...present your requests to God, and the peace of God...will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Immediately after that, I went to find my daughter's shot record for our appointment that morning. It was in a folder with all our passports and other important papers. I couldn't find it anywhere!! Very stressful...but yet I still had in my mind the words I'd just read..."do not be anxious about anything..."
After a while, Loren's mom prayed for me to find it. I went back in to look in the hotel one more time. This time I noticed another possible place it could be--and there it was. So yes, it was an answer to prayer for sure! But just as important was the timing of my reading that verse, and that God's word kept me from totally freaking out during that hour...

I have seen God's hand at work even more than I can recount right now. One more I want to mention is the timing of a neighbor dropping by when I didn't plan to be home. We were able to connect one more time and say goodbye.

As you can see, there is a lot of change going on now... Since we know God cares about even the little details (from Matthew 6, my experiences, and many other verses, too), I ask that you will continue to pray for us...not only for our hearts and minds as we deal with all these transitions (we are doing better than I had expected, but it is still hard on all 4 of us), but also for the details of packing up many times, not forgetting or losing things, where to feed our kids and ourselves, etc.

Thank you for your prayers and your friendship.
Sincerely,
Karen and family

Saying goodbye to the arch from Daddy's work