JRaitz

Wednesday's thoughts

Yesterday was one of the hardest days yet for me. Not sure why. We took the kids to school and we met with their principle (a wonderful woman and Willow attender for years) and the kids teachers. It was a tough morning. I think just reliving it with them and seeing their care and how much they want to help with our kids...was again, overwhelming. Bekah shared the story with her class and answered questions. Bobby shared it through his teacher.

From there I went to my office and spent a couple of hours calling bills. On a side note...these companies really need an emergency line. I was able to cancel a few things and get out of an extra or two we had in our budget. Nothing major, but every penny counts right now. Just the weight of our finances is really heavy right now. Figuring our security deposit for a new place, and so many of the little things that come up. All that being said...I just can't believe people's generosity.

To top things off, we had a flat on Sunday...not a bad one, nothing a can of fix a flat wouldn't fix. But, I just didn't want to worry about it. So, my dad and I headed out to get it fixed. My wife called and told me to go to her bosses husband's shop, he's the manager of a Firestone. We dropped off the van and my dad and I headed to a near by restaurant and just ate pizza and watched football for a few hours. I can't even tell describe how much I needed and loved that time with my dad. I admire him so much and he's my hero. Just to spend a few hours alone with him was so incredible.

I am not great at sharing sometimes. It's something I am working on. But, I needed him to know a few things. Now that I am dad and I think back to how he was with me, I just want my kids to feel that way about me. My dad worked hard while we were growing up. Sometimes working two jobs. Yet, he still played catch with me. He still pitched me batting practice. He is a great dad. I remember hearing him get up so early to pray and I just remember his incredible patience with me. So, I thanked him for all that. We turned into a couple of crying guys in a bar...and we weren't even drinking!

When we went to pick up the keys the mechanic handed my me keys and told me it was all set. Again, so grateful for people's generosity.

My parents needed to get back to work, so they left early Monday morning. I woke up around 5:30am and just cried. I just felt so alone. Even though I have Tracie and the kids; it was just so nice to have my mom and dad. About 2 seconds into my cry fest, I realized that we have an amazing family upstairs who are showing us love like we have never seen. I can't even begin to write how much we admire, love and are so thankful for Scott & Lynette & their boys. They have been so wonderful. Once I realized they were still there, an amazing sense of relief came over me.

I also walked through the house again with our insurance person. We had to go room by room and try to make a list of everything we owned. Our renters insurance will cover up to a certain amount, but they have to make sure that we owned that much...even with it's depreciated it value. It was terribly exhausting.

I just keep thinking and wondering how people without a church community go through stuff like this. I am witnessing and am a part how of the body of Christ takes care take cares of it's community.

Today's a full day. Actually the next few days are pretty full. I meet another insurance crew at the house this morning. Then, I need to track down a dumpster and to save money, (instead of paying a company) my brother and I and friends are going to throw away all our stuff. We will also pack up anything that can saved.

It's funny at a time like this what you get emotional about...when you think about losing your stuff. We immediately thought of our family pictures...but we kept them in a rubber maid and they are safe. Thanks rubbermaid! We thought of all of our pictures of our computer. Chris & Matt & Keith from our Elevate team were able to get everything off our hard drive. Thank you guys! And...of course I was sad about my the Office dvd's and my baseball glove. But...I just keep reminding myself it's just stuff. It's going to burn someday anyway and I can't take it with me to eternity. It's funny because I hate clutter, so I am always getting rid of the piles Tracie makes.

Well, no real direction in this post, but I know friends and family are praying for us and I wanted to keep them updated.

Oh...looks like we have a found a house to rent in the same neighborhood! Answer to prayer! It's a little more a month, but the kids will have the same bus and some of the same routine. But, we went the other night to get keys and turns out some pipes burst in the basement. Really!?! So, our new landlord was getting them fixed and we are waiting to hear when we can move it.

Thanks for your prayer, financial help and your thoughts. It's amazing how much facebook messages, emails, texts and voicemails mean at a time like this.

One last thing...I read this verse this morning and it knocked me back.
Psalm 107:43 (Message) If you are really wise, you'll think this over--it's time you appreciated God's deep love.

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