In need of Normal

Two weeks into this interview process, in Ninilchik, we are more than aware of a gnawing need to get back into a routine and find our new normal. We are not the type of parents were we stay on a set schedule. In fact, we were furthest from that, where depending on what was going on the kids could go to bed at 10pm, no big deal. The consistency was more in what the day was. Every Sunday and Wednesday was church, every Tuesday and Thursday they went to a friends house for the day, and Monday, Friday and Saturday we normally stayed home and rested or worked at the church depending on the needs. Now we have nothing to do, no office to go to, nothing. The cabin fever is setting in. Kids are chaotic, Eric and I are getting on each others nerves and Eric is starting to tinker and modify EVERYTHING because he is bored!

HELP!!!!

Problem #1...The Church...the boiler went out the week before we got there....yep. No heat. Winter is setting in and it has been below freezing at night, so it is a bit chilly in the church. We did go over there anyway a couple times this week, to work on Jonathan's school work and yesterday in my boredom I cleaned the sanctuary, because I spend service with my OCD radar going off because the floor needed vacuuming and the entire room needs dusting. On a positive note, we did spend time playing praise music and praying in there yesterday, and I felt God's presence and the Holy Spirit in there for the first time since we got there (I know that is sad, but if you sat through a service you would understand. We have our work cut out for us). Fortunately, the part to fix the boiler should be in next week so it will be warmer over there then.

Problem # 2...The Parsonage...It is going to be so nice when they are done, but at the moment, the plumbing and sheet rock are not complete. There is still lots to get done before it is livable. I were really hoping it would be further along when we got here, so give everyone more room to move around. Don't get me wrong, I love my camper, but when we are home all day...no Bueno. There is not enough room for Eric to work, Jonathan to do school and me to work on my computer with the blog. We need more space, especially if Eric is going to do the AutoCAD from home.

Now that is our reality and frustration at the moment.

What to do...

There are things I can and did change this week.

The first thing I did was put the boys on a strict bedtime routine. Three nights of it and I will say Hudson is doing better with going to sleep. We eat dinner at 6, and then start getting ready for bed at 8:30 pm. Clean room, shower, pajamas, brush teeth, essential oils on feet and in diffuser, bedtime stories (3 max), bedtime kisses, lights out. Hudson fusses and is asleep by 9:30 which is a huge wow, because before he would lay in bed, lulling himself to sleep until midnight most nights.

The second thing, I am putting things into place to try to get us up before the sun rises at 9am...yeah it is dark until 9 and the window of daylight is shrinking 5 minutes every day...which means 9am will be 10 am by the time we get to December. Oh yeah forgot about time change at the end of the month where we will fall back into more darkness. So I am trying to train our bodies to get up when it is still dark. I do not know why we are struggling so much with this. I bought a programmable coffee pot this week, so I can have the smell of coffee wafting through the house at 7:30 so my body knows it's time...that is until the breaker that the coffee pot and space heater for our bedroom is on trips and I have to get up to flip the breaker back on and hit the power button on the coffee pot to continue to brew...then crawl back in bed because no one else is up yet...one day we will get this one figured out.

Lastly, I started doing what I can around the church. This place could really use some TLC, but since we aren't officially the pastors I can't go changing things yet...but I can vacuum and dust the sanctuary. I also gave into some of my OCD alarms. In the front are two speakers on aluminum stands. One has a plant on a side table that is draped with a peach table cloth and lace cover and sits directly in front of the speaker. The other speaker has a plant on a side table with a sea foam green table cloth and a crocheted doily cover that sits to the right of the speaker and not in front...so I moved that table in front of the speaker...I couldn't help myself, the mismatched table coverings will have to change later...ugh. Then, I rearranged the chairs in the sanctuary so there was a pocket chair every other one and put a tithe envelope in every pocket and made sure the bibles and hymnals were straightened in each chair, so the place has a neat look and not a disheveled-whatever look. As I did these things and prayed over the church, a thought came to mind, and I think it was a message from God. He reminded me how particular I am about my house when people come over, and said His house was just as important because he feels the same way about His house as I do my own. It should be a clean, warm place for people to come and worship and want to spend time with Him...Ouch! I was told someone cleans, but so far I have only witnessed her sweeping, so I may go back today and clean some more and haul trash to the dump since it is time for our trash to be hauled off...

Yes, that's right, there are no nice, clean garbage cans to put your garbage in and it get picked up every week...we have to take our garbage to a dump site outside of town and there it is picked up periodically...

So, I understand the tone of this blog sounds like we are staying. It is still up in the air though. We are experiencing mixed feelings. This church is in desperate need of leadership and my heart breaks for them. If we stay here, there will be change, but it will have to be gradual. They want to grow but from what I have heard and witnessed, they don't do well with change. We are praying for God's leading. I told Eric the more I pray the more I feel we should be still until God moves us. So far, He has not moved us, so here we are. We both have a peace about being here and I am starting to lean in the direction of staying. I asked Eric, "Is the only reason we are back and forth because it is going to be hard work?" Not to say we are afraid of hard work, this is a different kind, that will definitely be a learning experience. Please continue to pray for us, that God will speak more clearly. I really want to know that I know this is where we need to be and not be so back and forth on it. My heart is in deep already as I have started to fall in love with the people. I see great potential and I guess at the moment we will pour into this church and try to make a difference here until the door closes.

Problem