WayfaringStrangers

I am in a cranky and ungrateful mood right now. But I looked back at some of my old posts and enjoyed reading about God's faithfulness in Another Appliance Story and The Chest Freezer Story . It reminded me that I haven't relayed how God recently gave us some more undeserved but much-needed gifts. Our dryer broke again. I think we've been through 5 old, stinky dryers over the years we've been married. Sometimes one will last a year or so, then break and if Behn can't fix it then someone will give us or sell us another. Anyway, our dryer broke. And this time we couldn't fix it and so we just started hanging our stuff to dry (which I like to do anyway). I threw it out there on Facebook that we were looking for a used dryer, but after an hour I took the post down because I felt like I was whining or complaining. Just before I took the post down, someone from our church saw it and a few minutes later overheard her co-worker saying "I am moving and need to ...

Well....IT'S OFFICIAL! We bought a house!!! We'll be paying for it for years to come :-) Last year I wrote in my journal that I couldn't imagine us being able to buy a house for years to come. My, how God decided to surprise me. This process didn't come without lots of hiccups though. I know home-buying is always complicated. There's so much paperwork and legal stuff and inspections. But, I think we got an extra dose of complicated a few times. Even our very experienced realtors (who we think did awesome and  they are Christians which is cool) said, 'We've had a lot of firsts with you guys..." The last straw was yesterday when the seller didn't show up to settlement. The attorney and the seller's realtor couldn't get a hold of him at all. They finally heard from him this morning and he signed his share of the papers. If you ask Behn, he'll tell you that he felt a  lot of abnormal anxiety through all of this, especially towards the en...

Well, this is how it worked for us at least: 1. Have Husband research the best deals.  Behn's a great researcher...almost to the point of indecisiveness. He spent a lot of time wisely reading reviews, checking stats, etc. He had 2 cars in mind and I helped him make a final decision (as well as gave him that last nudge to pleeeeease just make a decision and go with it!). 2. Go on a rainy Tuesday when the dealer hasn't made any sales. 3. Pick the cheapest car on the lot (happened to be the car we wanted). They wanted to get that ol' thing away from all the Mercedes and Lexus and BMW's. 4. Don't shower and wear grubby clothes. This was me, not Behn. He'd been at work and looked spiffy. I looked homeless, and as if we were really poor and didn't have hardly any money to spend (true). 5. Bring the baby. Since he's a nursling, Patrick usually goes where I go. We left Toddler with my Dad. The baby attracted lots of attention and gave us the appeal of ...

Gotta write up a token thanksgiving post, right? But there's nothing cliche about giving thanks, about counting the ways we are blessed, and glorifying God in our thank offerings. Here are a few of my favorites: -For a warm home to be in this winter -For Behn's new job- such an answer to prayer -For all of our beautiful Lexington memories -For my parents and brothers, who have made us feel so welcome -For the health of my family -For my wise and loving husband- who cares for me and our boys so dearly -For this one: -And for this one: - And above all, for our LORD- always providing, always pursuing.

Right now Behn and Graham are at church, so I'm taking a moment to document our lives. I feel good and was tempted to go to church too, but decided I'd better take this last opportunity to rest before Behn has to go back to work tomorrow and I'm home with 2 boys all on my own! Patrick is a week old! I can't believe how well this past week has gone. Mom and Dad T (Behn's parents) were here Sun-Fri and they were a huge help! I was so spoiled: I didn't have to do anything all week, they took care of all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, and helped with Graham. And Patrick is a dream- so easy so far. A great nurser and a good sleeper. Our nights have really been pretty good, he's only up twice and goes right back to sleep after eating and being changed. I hope it stays this way, but I know that things can change anytime with little ones. I've been feeling good enough that we've gone on some family walks together. I can't possibly be indoors with thi...

Every once in a while we have a special day as a family. You can't really plan ahead on these things...especially with an unpredictable toddler and a mood-swinging pregnant Megan. Things just fall into place: the weather, our moods, our activities. Days like these are to be treasured :) Saturday was like that. Beautiful, full of sweet moments as a family. First we went to the local Scots/Irish Festival. Gotta get our groove on with those bagpipes from time to time. Saw lots of kilts, men throwing rocks, bagpipes, and our favorite: a sheep dog trial demonstration.  Graham really enjoyed watching the sheep and the dog. The dog owner/trainer was really cool and explained everything. Those sheep dogs are stinkin' smart. After we came home, had lunch and Graham and I napped (Behn did chores such as washing the car because he is awesome), we decided to go to Boxerwood Garden. If you come visit us, we must take you there. It's such a gift. It w...

It finally  snowed! All winter we've been waiting. We've been envious when the storms pass just north of us. And yesterday it was our turn. Perfect white flakes adorning the sky, fluttering to branches and grass, and landing gracefully. It snowed all afternoon and into the night. It was a perfect wet snow, so that it frosted the limbs of the trees and revealed their every detail. This morning when I woke up and looked at the bright sun on the white earth, the word that came to mind was 'enchanting.' Graham, however, did not get to enjoy this only snow. He came down with a high fever on Saturday night. Behn and I had duties at church on Sunday and Tylenol'd Graham, hoping it was a teething fever (he did indeed cut a tooth this weekend.) But it was not a teething fever and we knew it. He was miserable yesterday, insisting on being held and cuddled (no problem there. Love cuddling my boy). The fever raged on whenever the medicine wore out. Last night was awful. T...

The blog's been quiet...but not because there's nothing going on, but because there's stuff going on that we don't feel ready to post about yet. One of those big items is Behn's job search. Behn has a job here in Virginia, and for that we are so grateful. Lots of people don't have jobs in this economy. But the job doesn't really provide enough for our family. This past year has been a test of faith; faith that at time has faltered and sometimes been strong. In it all, God has been working. We absolutely know that the Spirit's work does not depend on the measure of our faith- thank God for that! And this year has been a time to see God provide for our needs when we didn't know how He would. Character-building, witness-building, and humbling. Behn will be done his Master's degree this summer and has been looking for new work in which he can utilize that degree and have more income. Last week, he had a in-person interview in Maryland, in the same ...

This was a Christmas to be together. Last Christmas we didn't have Seth with us, Graham was only 10 days old, and there a couple of pretty pregnant ladies in the family, so no one was able to travel much. This year both sides of the family needed a good Christmas- one where everyone could be there. Do you know how hard that is when you come from a family of 16 or 14? Getting everyone together from multiple states and military branches is a little crazy- and totally worth it!   First stop: Delaware T family pic: Cousins and their mamas:  Celebrating their 1st birthdays- we loved the crowns, but they didn't so much haha:  Family pic...Love it:  Graham was very happy to have Elliot around :)  Lots of playing took place: Next stop: Maryland C Family pic:  Graham enjoying Nana and PopPop  Devotions before family lunch: Every day was wonderful. Being with family is really important to us, and we are blesse...