The perfect start to this two week 'stay-cation' was a weekend away with my hubby. Three great friends of ours decided to not only organize people to come in and help us get the house ready to go on the market, but also send Jerod and I away for the a couple of days!!
It came at a very much needed time. We had been on survival mode since the beginning of June, and it had definitely taken its toll on our relationship. So it was great to be able to get away just the two of us, being able to focus on just us. On our friendship and on each other just as husband and wife....and not worry about being mom, dad, doctor, advocate, etc!!
We took a weekend trip to Columbus, but didn't end up leaving our hotel very much. We had considered going to Cedar Point (since we both love roller coasters) but after the hectic couple of months we had we decided we wanted to just veg, and we did just that. That Monday Jerod would be starting his new job, and would have VERY long days working, so we figured we needed to give ourselves a breather. We enjoyed watching 5 diff movies, sleeping in, working out together, and having some great food that we didn't have to cook, and even better, I didn't have any dishes to do!! :)
While we were gone, our friends worked hard on our house. I can't even explain what it did to my heart as I saw them come in Friday night and set up. They had a ton of food, and all of these supplies, and what really made me feel the most loved by them, was when they pulled out these charts they had made to organize everyone that would be helping. Sounds silly, but to me it truly showed all of the thought, care and concern they had put in. For several reasons from my childhood, I struggle with some different hard issues. Many of which have to do with relationships with other people. I easily feel like an outsider, like I am standing on the sidelines and I am not important. I feel as though I have to work twice as hard to 'earn' people's friendships. And that somehow, I am not quite worth the effort back. This was a message that I heard many times over growing up from people that should have been very significant in my life, and its just so hard to undo the damage. For over 6 years now it is something I constantly bring to God, and have made great progress on! But still, many times, including recently, I have felt this way because different disappointments and let downs with others. So to see all of this thought and effort on our behalf, and from people who up to this point I hadn't ever really done anything for. So I knew it wasn't because they felt they owed it to me, it wasn't because I had earned it, but because they truly wanted to do this. It was an AWESOME gift that they gave me!! I am soooo thankful to them for their time and love in a time when I thought it seemed we were carrying all of this weight on our own. What a blessing to find out we weren't!!
So Jen, Bry, and Judy, along with a ton of people that we have had the privilege to share life with these last 5 years took over our home for the weekend! We also had a ton of our Youth Group teens show up to help as well! It was a different experience for both Jerod and I. They painted, mulched, and organized! Most importantly they amazingly were able to clean up all of Naomi's 'artwork' from our walls! We came back to happy kids who had a great time with the friends they had spent the weekend with, and a clean home, just about ready to go on the market. The thought of all we had to do to get this house ready to show was overwhelming me so very much that entire month. As busy as we were I didn't see how it was possible to add fixing up the house as well. And I thank God for all of the people that showed up to help and did it for us! It was so much more than saving us time and work, it refreshed our spirits and revived our hearts. I truly can't express how loved and cared for I felt, probably the most by anyone besides my hubby and kiddos.
For all of you that were a part of that weekend, and we don't even know all who showed up, THANK YOU!! You all were amazing, and were truly the body of Christ showing us love!! Thank you!!!
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