Whew!!

What a relief.

For 7 months (or more), our family life was pretty much consumed by our house.

Last August, we completed repair projects that had been on our to-do list.

In December, we ramped up our de-cluttering to an unprecedented level. We opened a storage unit and donated lots of stuff.

In January, our house went on the market. We endured 3 months of keeping the house clean, uncluttered, and 'show-ready' (no small feat for this family of pack rats). We realize that in the current economic environment, 3 months is a short time period. It was difficult, nevertheless.

Also in January, my father-in-law experienced a major health crisis and surgery, and we spent a good deal of time in Ohio. He's recovering and rehabilitating now. God is good.

In March, Daddy and Grandma spent 3 weeks in Armenia. While they were gone, we kept on showing the house, praying daily for a buyer.

Upon their return in April, we showed the house only 2 more times, and it sold!!! Not only that, but the buyers didn't want to close until mid-June, which gave us ample time to figure out a housing plan and move our stuff. God is good.

I was concerned about keeping the house in order while our family was (and remains still) in the middle of a major adjustment phase. As it turned out, the house-selling phase and the new family addition phase only overlapped by one week. God is good.

In May, we were able to start moving things bit by bit into our rental house. I had the kitchen in order and all our clothes in the closets before the official move yesterday.

This week was crazy busy, but we survived, thanks, yet again, to the generosity of my parents. We actually lived in their house for 4 days and they cared for the kids all day long for 3 days. No small sacrifice there.

Now we're settled in a very nice house with no stairs to the bedrooms and no pressure to be perfectly neat and tidy. As I unpacked books and craft supplies and placed them on bookshelves in the kitchen (the one main thing our realtor suggested we remove from our home when it was on the market), I had a huge sense of relief and return to life familiar. It was a very happy moment. I can put our world map and timeline on the wall, and no one will care.

Yes, we'll be moving again in 6 months or so. Yes, most of our stuff is packed in the basement, not to be touched until we're finally in our new house (which is under construction). I feel settled, nevertheless, because we can live our day to day lives without constant interruption.

Thanks be to God, and bring on summer. And creative clutter. :)