Well it looks like we finally have a contract on our house. Through this process of dropping the price and dropping the price etc. God has been teaching me about Greed. I hope I can say I learned a lot about Greed and what it does to people. We'll see though. I did learn what it looks like in others. The people who made the offer kept coming up in price slowly, but then asked for some of our possessions in return! The nerve! The greed! The jerks! We finally came to an agreement. I'm sure they're thrilled. We are not. But I am glad it's over! I am glad that I don't have to worry about the mortgage payment. I am glad that I can feel like my life here is more "real". I mean I could always leave and go back while I had that house, even if we couldn't afford it anymore. I am glad I can look forward to the future. I can even restart my home search around here! I really enjoy looking for houses.

How the heck is that even possible. I remember the little girl with the curls who loved to dance and laugh. The sweet older sister who loved and nurtured each of her siblings as they were born. Now today she's 18! She'll be going to college in less than a year. And now it begins. The new relationship with my adult daughter. That's just crazy and I'm so not ready for it.

I'll try to update my blog on a more regular basis for those few who care.

Lots has happened since I last blogged. We're still trying to sell our house in Villa Park... sigh. But we've finally found a rental in St. Joe, IL. I'd been commuting 2 1/2 hours to work on Sunday morning and then another 2 1/2 hours home Tues. night. I was staying with a wonderful woman and her equally wonderful mom. I absolutely love Donna and Lucille! They're the best. It really helped make the situation easier on me. I did that for about 2 months. Now we all live here in the country, complete with mice! Yikes! Oh the joys of living in the country. Though the deer in the backyard in the morning is a lovely sight. As are the sunrises over the marshlands in the back and the sunsets over the fields in the front.

I'm learning quickly. I know the back road to Urbana so I can get to Walmart more easily, and even onto Champaign. We went to Homer Lake yesterday to hang out. Might check out another forest preserve in Champaign county later today. My kids have started school here this week. Brian is loving middle school. Michele has had a really hard week. She's making friends, but is having trouble missing her old house and old friends. Emma and Lauren seem to doing pretty well.

I love my job, just wish I had more volunteers. It's really hard to plan things and not know if I can make them happen because I don't know if I have volunteers. Sigh. I did my first big family event, which turned into more of a youth event, leaf raking for widows yesterday. We had fun and then invited the widows back to church with us for lunch! The leaves got raked and everyone had a nice time.

Life's crazy. So I left the church I loved. Joe lost his job and I got a job as youth and family minister in St. Joseph IL. So as soon as we secure housing I'm moving out of my dream home. I'm making Emma have her senior year of high school in a new school, Michele will have her 8th grade year in a new school. Crazy! Life is an adventure and I'm excited to start this part of the journey!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my church. They're willing to try anything. They were up for prayer stations, and now they're going to try servant evangelism for worship. We're going to do yard work for neighbors one Sunday morning for worship. I need help organizing everything and I had three volunteers this morning! I'm so blessed to have people willing to step up to help out!