Blessings...

I'm so blessed to have a job where I get to drive around a little nearly every day. At least I think so right now... when snow and cold hit, maybe not so much. Well, I"ll probably still want to get out as long as it's not blowing snow. The last couple days it has been 65Degrees and sunny. SOOooo nice. And even better, everything seems to be falling into place with the sale of our house. I'm a little sad to let it go. It's hard to leave a place with wonderful memories. Brother's keepers groups, Thomas the Train and Cars birthday parties, fellowship with friends, creating Levi's nursery and bringing that baby home to the only home he ever had. And it is hard cutting that final tie with Texas. While we had the house, it kinda felt like we still lived there, a little bit. But of course I know it's way better to be mortgage-free and not have to deal with renting it. I just feel so blessed that God has seen fit to help us sell it quickly and for a good price. And we even get to keep the mineral rights, which was a major blessing for us.
Joe once told me, when I was getting just a little worried about not having a home to rent yet, that he wasn't worried. I said, "Why not?" He said, "Have you ever seen the Blues Brothers?" "What?" He proceeded to explain that even though everything was going wrong, the Blues Brothers themselves could do no wrong, because they were on a mission from God. I must have still had a blank look on my face, because he said he felt like even though it was crazy for us to move to Maine, sell a house, get a new job (which usually is easy in my field, but n Bangor, was pretty difficult since there is a graduate program down the road), find affordable childcare, find a new house, and be able to afford all of it. And guess what, every single thing on that list (as soon as the house closes) will have been taken care of... in less than 3 months. All this is ever more unbelievable to me when I think about all the things we tried to make work and doors kept closing. I used to wonder how we were ever supposed to know when we found the path God wanted us on. Oh, me of little faith. I guess now I know. He makes it pretty clear. Things that seemed so "easy" were so hard when those doors slammed, and things that seemed impossible just worked out like it was nothing. That's God for you.
We also had wonderful blessings in our family this year... a new nephew, baby Zane, and my sister got engaged! So I will finally be able to say Uncle Jonathan. I've been trying to say that every time I referred to him since May when they joined us in Texas. It was way easier than saying, "Beth's friend Jonathan"...
The greatest blessing has been a church to worship with, classes for the boys to go to, and new friends to be a second family. It was so hard to leave our previous congregation and our wonderful friends there. But it is wonderful to be an encouragement to the church here, and to really feel the need to get out an evangelize a city. I'm pretty sure the church in Bangor is one of only 17 churches of Christ in the state. One of my members mentioned she thinks there might be one other church that has a young family with children in it. So, I guess that is our mission, to increase the church, particularly in the area of young families. Our first attempt was going around the neighborhood with the boys in the wagon, delivering flyers for our upcoming lectureship. People looked at us like we had three heads, but that was ok. I think they're not used to doorknockers around here! One of the little boys we met said he already went to church. He said, "We're Saints." I was thinking, "We are too, but not that kind (Go New Orleans)!". He was a very helpful guide and even volunteered to walk some flyers up to the doors and knock for me. Ha! Bet his mom would have loved that! I declined, since I figured it would be good for the kid to know which church this was at. Of course, it would have also been good to know where it's located, but since I use a GPS for everything and never drive to church (Joe does), I was stumped on that question at least 2x. I just made those lame excuses and said, "The address is on there." Doesn't everyone use Mapquest these days?? At least some did appreciate the gesture. Oh, and I found out this cool fact... the Ultimate Fighting Champion of the World lives at the end of my street. (Joe said he must not be in the heavyweight division since they are fighting this weekend and he was home. I saw him, and I agree... he looked like a middleweight to me). And a police officer and a sheriff live on the street, too. So I think we are pretty well guarded. Gotta run. The CMA awards are over now and I need to head to bed.