Our new "home"

People probably already think we are crazy....so let's just add to it by doing this.....

Yep...this, folks, is our new home. It is currently set up in our backyard but only until July 7th....when we will drive it off our land and to Splitrock Park, where we will live until our new house is finished. When will our new house be finished you ask?!?!? Well......the hope is November 1st.....closing on the lot has been pushed back another week. We hope we can stay on track to break ground next Monday, but we will have to ok it with the lot owner, we don't perceive him saying no, but we will get permission to start before closing first. We are trying to not get impatient and trust that the Lord has a plan and to remember that His timing is always better than ours.

Many have asked....why didn't you have a plan in place before you put your house on the market?!?!  We did have a plan in place...to buy another chunk of land and build again. Well nothing came up and we looked and looked. Our kids were getting mad that we were looking at places further away and a longer commute to school. So we came up with our "5 year" plan.

Mikayla graduates in 2018, Colby in 2021 and Keara in 2022.  So we have exactly 5 years left in Gtown before all our kiddos are done with school. Once they are graduated and off to college, we can start looking for land anywhere.  So who knows where we may end up 5 years from now. And we are calling that our "final/permanent" home. It will be the last house we build and it will be where we grow old together at. And maybe, just maybe, it will be a log cabin in the black hills of South Dakota!!! I don't know....but I'm trusting the Lord for my future.

So for the next several months we will be living in a camper, spending tons of time at our new house building it and growing closer together as a family in the process. Adventures.....that is the only way to look at it.....this is an adventure that one day we will look back on and laugh about it. And it will be a story that our kids can tell their kids one day.

I'm scared, I'm excited and probably every emotion know to man.....BUT.....at the end of this crazy adventure is the best reward EVER.....a new home to create new memories with my kids and my husband.  Where the walls will forever whisper our story.....just as they will in the house we have spent the past 11 years in.  Our story is forever weaved in the house on 480th Ave.

Our bedroom

                             

the kids' bedroom area

the kitchen/dining room

the bathroom

Life is about to take a turn and one that we are stepping out in faith with and trusting that the Lord has a great plan in store for us.  We will see!  Let the adventure begin!

In His service,

Cathi

Middle of the night musings......

Tonight (this morning, whatever) finds me unable to sleep.

So many emotions tugging at my heart strings. So many fears, anxiety and everything in between.

While I continue to sift thru the broken and shattered pieces of my life, I wonder.....
     1. What good could possibly come from this current battle?
     2.  How is this working in my favor?
     3.  What is God trying to teach me during this storm?
     4.  How will this bring glory to my Savior, Jesus Christ?

So many variables and so many unanswered questions....and I will probably never fully know the answers in this life.

We live in a fallen broken world....ravaged by sin.  If we look to ourselves or others for fulfillment, we will always be dissatisfied. There will always be some sort of expectation that will never give you what you fully are searching for. Not drugs, not alcohol, not sex, not your husband/wife, not even an affair.  These are the things that the enemy of our souls will tell us we need "to be happy"!

But.....it will never happen in this life. Our true and life sustaining happiness can only be found in the love and person of Jesus Christ.  I struggle with this....daily.  I am a need to see and feel that love kind of person on a human level.  But I know deep in my soul that He is all I need to ride out the storms. It's wrapping my brain around it and putting it into action. I live for an audience of One. But to be honest....I fail at this daily.....I wish I didn't. I wish I was one of those Christians who has it all together, has a near perfect life, with near perfect kids and husband. But I don't....my life is riddled with strife, anger, regret and deep rooted hurts. And only He can lift those burdens I carry and give me rest.

I am broken and I am grieving.  I want to see the joy in every moment of every day. Some days are certainly better than others. But I want it every day. But every day that the enemy sucks me into his lies and deceit and I don't challenge those lies and deceit with Truth, I get further and further away from what is true and pure.  I slip further away from my relationship with Jesus.

So.....my challenge today and everyday is to sing and praise the Lord with HIS truth and watch the enemy go shrieking back into his dark hole. To try and get out of the rut in the gravel road that keeps getting deeper and deeper the longer I walk in it. To step out of that rut and walk on the firm and flat ground of the Lord.

How do you feel challenged today?

What are you going to do to rise up to that challenge and tell Satan to "take a hike"?

Every day is a struggle.....unless you let go and let God. Allow Him to take over carrying the heavy load you bear!

It just might change everything...if you're willing to allow it.

Be bold, be brave and do it all for the glory of God!

The daughter of the One true King,

Cathi

It's been awhile.....

I haven't journaled in over a month and tonight I find myself unable to shut my mind down....which seriously is NOTHING new but tonight especially can't shut it down. So it's time to put my thoughts to "paper"....

My life is going crazy...I have boxes everywhere, my kitchen is a mess and I have a new camper sitting in my back yard that in 24 short days will be our new home until November 1st (God willing). In just 10 days we close on our lot in town and we break ground 3 days after that. July 7th we will say goodbye to our home of 11 years (the longest we have ever owned a home), and go on this new adventure......happy, sad and every emotion inbetween. 😳😢😂😱

Ready or not...this is happening.

So many thoughts running thru my head but I can't seem to get them to make sense. I journal all the time and I have no problem pouring my heart out.....but here....well here I keep very private thoughts just that....private.  My hopes, my fears, my struggles and even how to let go of certain things. This is certainly NOT the place to air my "dirty laundry".  So I stay pretty general about what's going on. I keep it real but not to the point where I broadcast what's going on.

My husband and I never did things the easy or right way.  We had a baby before we were married, and actually we didn't get married until she was 3 years old, we bought a house a month before we got married, we sold that place while I was still going thru cancer treatment and moved into a 3 bedroom apartment while we built our house. Now we sell this place before we really had a place lined up because we really wanted to be in the country....but nothing was coming up so.....we came up with our "5 year plan". We only have 5 years left until our last child graduates and then we can move anywhere we want without being landlocked to Garretson.  So in 5 years we will be making our way back to the country life, with chickens and cats and dogs. City life will be good and I am actually starting to get excited about it and so are our kids.

So many twists and turns in our lives the last couple of years. Some of which have left some noticeable scars, others have given us perspective.  But the one thing all of us in this family are learning is grace and mercy.  Jesus came in flesh, bore our sins and died a horrible death.  He did that for me, for my husband, my kids, my extended family and for all mankind. He did it because He loves us all so very much.  He gave grace and He gave mercy, now I am learning how to give that same thing to those around me. Grace, mercy and forgiveness. Some days it is so hard to remember my own sinful nature when I start to focus on the wrongs done to me. I have done my own share of wrongs to others and I need to focus on my own sins instead of the sins of others. This is a hard one for me and really for anyone in this life. We all at times seek revenge. But we are not suppose to....God has the final say and He will see that justice is served.

I have so much to be thankful for every single day.  I have the most amazing and caring husband (he really is a diamond in the rough, he's certainly not perfect and has done his fair share of not so cool things but hey that's what Grace is for), I have 4 beautiful and uniquely talented children, each with their own personalities and gifts.  I have some great friends, my family and in-laws. My cancer is staying quiet so I can enjoy this beautiful life with my family. Raising my kids and getting older with my husband. I look forward to grandbabies in the future. I pray that God will continue to answer my prayers, never thought I would still be here 7 1/2 years after a stage 4 diagnosis...but I never underestimate the power of the Great Physican.

So come along with me on this "adventure"....it's gonna be interesting, crazy and mind blowing, I can guarantee that!!  My next post in the coming days will be pictures of our "new home" for the next several months.

Sweet dreams friends, my mind is clear to go to sleep now.

In His service,

Cathi