"Between Homes"

"Between Homes" is the polite way of saying that we are more or less officially homeless. "Between Homes" maybe just sounds better to somebody wanting to keep their plummeting pride a bit more intact................

It all started out with a lot of tantrums on my part, which you can read about in my last post. Then it was followed by a whirlwind of packing up not one but TWO homes. Both of the homes, I cried many tears over. When it was all said and done, with the help and kindness of MANY MANY friends, we were out of both in a short time.  Hurry and Scurry to a strange kind of nothingness.........
   
   The first time I felt any joy at all during the past week was when I met the family moving into our house in the Yaak.  It was a crazy day because we only had the weekend left to get out of the other one.  The Spicy Oklahoman home schooling mother of 8 was in a home where rocks from the highway hit her family on the way to the chicken coop.  Due to all the poisons from weed killers, all their trees had died.  They were desperate to get away from the hot, polluted climate and after seeing The Mountain man from Yaak on t.v., they were convinced that Yaak was the place for them.  After a lot of frustrated searching, she found an ad for our place on survival properties.  Since she didn't find our name or number, her husband told her "why don't you pray and ask God".  The next day, she found our ad on craigslist.  She was thrilled and offered cash close to asking price contingent on the closing of their home.
  
   A week and a half of delays with their closing put her at her wits end.  Moving trucks sat with all the family possessions hanging in the balance.  With sheer determination, a large caravan of vehicles eventually made their way here. 

   We met them at the grocery store in Troy and I couldn't help feeling the providence of God.  We both wondered what they must be thinking as we drove the long desolate roads to and of the Yaak.  When they got out, I didn't care any more about losing my home to them.  They were plain dressed, backwoods, country folk with no snooty attributes whatsoever.  They were all plumb overjoyed.  The kids bolted up the hill homeward, and the mom and dad just nodded and nodded and nodded some more.  There was a lot of communication barriers what with our differences in dialect/accents/etc, but we understood that every last one of them was overjoyed to be home and that it was everything they hoped for.  Included in the caravan was an elderly neighbor couple of theirs, movers and their mother in law whom is a part of the immediate family.  She smiled like a ray of sunshine every time I talked to her.  With that, I left feeling hopeful and knowing that God had truly ordained their destiny in this wild place.

   After that, I started getting overwhelmed.  Earlier that week, I'd driven 130 miles that day and as I pulled in the driveway my ball bearing broke and the front tire came off.  It was scary, but I knew God spared me and the kids that day.  Miss Moonbeam somehow developed "nursemaids elbow" and couldn't use her arm.  During her exam in the ED, the Dr. popped it back into joint almost effortlessly.  I developed a strange pocket of fluid in the joint of my elbow.  We began the great migration of house to house to house.  People fed us REALLY GOOD and the pounds began to settle on my wayward hips.

   At first I felt really very thankful for the generosity of so many good people.  Then panic started to take over and I began waking up terrified with the strong urge to run away somewhere, but knowing there was really no place to run.  I wanted to go home, but there was really no "going home" in site.  Despair took me in a way I couldn't have foresaw.  Thankfully on one of those days Elastawoman spent a lot of  time praying for my mental health ;-) 

   The loss of control is a funny thing.  I don't like being dependent on anybody, but truthfully, I'm in a position where I have to just say "thank you" and accept the help.  Our stuff is stored with many kind people, which is a blessing because we don't have to pay for storage and everything is safer.  It is a bit confusing because just making sure everybody has a toothbrush takes forethought.  After my lapse of temporary insanity at Elastawoman's place she has convinced me to keep a journal of things to be thankful for.  I began that today.  It helped me put things in perspective.  She reminded me that when things are at their worst, we are on the verge of a breakthrough.

   Here are a few of the things on my list :

- I am typing this blogpost from someone's HOT TUB.
- Ali cat and Archer gave us food for dinner.
- I felt peace today about my husband's decisions and I am no longer afraid.
- My husband is bringing in income working on welding projects right now.
- All my needs are taken care of today..... even my desperation for chocolate.
- We have money to do SOMETHING and live SOMEWHERE even if its not as much as we would like to have.  Many people in our nation today are homeless without selling, instead they were evicted with no end in sight and no friends to help them.
- Elastawoman and Matthew are keeping our chickens for us.  They fed and housed us the past several days.
- Scottland family are keeping a lot of our stuff, letting us stay here, feeding us, even letting my hubby weld in the shop.  They are generous beyond comprehension.
- Matthew and another man spent their time giving us an estimate on a house and after an hour or more told us "walk away from it".  It would have been a real money pit for us.
- Survival Gal opened her place to us and Saphira has been there for the past week.  Its another place we can stay.
- There is a 5th wheel somebody knows about we might get a good deal on.
- We have trusted friends who are builders and they are ready to build or finish for us if we decide to do any of that.
- So many people have been so much more gracious to us that I could possibly have ever hoped for.  The drone family spent DAYS volunteering their time to help us.
- DID I MENTION I'M TYPING THIS FROM A HOT TUB?