A Little Moving Excitment

Steve and I made it to California, moved in and three quarters unpacked; but all this not without a little excitement along the way.  

There were different levels of excitement, one being that of delight.  We finally got our Honda Pilot back the day after we packed the truck and hauled out of Questa, NM on the last day of June.  Talk about hangin' till the very last minute. However, the timing of it all was in God's hand because He was working on the behind-the-scene-dealings of us only having to pay 10% of the total bill...which was huge!  Yes, you read right, Honda America paid the rest..that's 90% of the bill...praise God!  My car runs like new and I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed driving it. 

On the other hand, the levels of excitement fluctuated drastically when a large shredded Uhaul tire came at me on the highway just 30 minutes from Flagstaff, AZ where Steve and I were to stay the night that evening.  An instant "Lord please keep him safe" blurted out of my mouth as I watched Steve calmly steer the truck to the side of the road.  After phoning (what DID we do without cellphones?) the truck company's customer service we waited about 2 1/2 hours for "Help" to change the tire.  We did this in heat and because of this I was extremely grateful for the newly repaired Pilot that provided AC.  Have I mentioned yet, that we were traveling with one dog and one mama cat and five of her kittens?  The AC was a blessing!  That was day 2 of our travels.

Day 3 we started later in the afternoon as we knew the Mojave Desert was going to be a scorcher to travel through...hence, the later, the better, the cooler...sort of.  Side note:  Steve traveled in the truck with his AC off to save on gasoline! 

So, we pass the AZ/CA board with an "Ok" and a smile from the boarder patrol (I observed another moving truck ahead in another lane and the patrol was confiscating their household plants...I learned to adopt mine out a long time ago) and move forward into the dry wilderness, and not maybe 45 minutes had passed and "BOOM!" another blow-out with more shredded tire coming at me and another prayer sent up for safety.  What?!   Same tire position.  Come to find out the last tire put on was a re-thread.  Ugh!  So Steve called the 800 number again ... and again we waited...and we waited.  The sun was going down behind the mountains, which meant the heat was going away slightly.  Steve was sitting with me in the Pilot with the AC on and we were having a ...date?  watching the sun go down, looking at the stars, playing on our phones updating everyone on the excitement of our day...and we were waiting.  After four and a half hours later three men showed up with a brand spankin' new tire!  And we were off to try and make it all the rest of the way to Carson, CA.  We had, I think, 4 hours left, and thanks to my very first energy drink we made it by 4 a.m. Sunday morning the 3rd.  

Then to top it all off, we start to blow up the air mattress to get at least a couple of hours sleep before reuniting with our girls, (at this point it had been a month since we'd seen them!) and I distinctly remember charging the blower up before we left, the motor dies and the mattress is flat and our bodies just collapse on the hard, carpeted floor as we laugh at all the excitement that had taken place over the past 3 days....zzzzzzz.  Sleep finally came over us.

Now for some more excitement...finding me a job.  Oh joy!

Enjoying My Kup, 
                 Cindy

Knowing vs. Waiting

Waiting builds character and endurance for the race set before us.  It causes us to seek for the discovery; it makes room for a process of humility and discipline, if needed....which is most likely the case in most of us;  it allows new perspective to enter in if we allow God to change us in this.  

Waiting for God to reveal a thing...which is always Truth that we are looking for... is difficult;  and if we have not the patience or the will to allow Him to teach us this fruit-of-the-Spirit virtue our attitude can trap us and debilitate our thinking causing ourselves to be wrapped up in spiritual bondage.

However, if we will allow Him, the Master Potter, to mold and shape us, the cracked pottery, while we wait...

...the Truth will set us free and the wait will have been all worth it!

Knowing sets us in motion, sets us free to move forward in a thing.  It puts vision in our minds and a plan in our lives.  

Two out of the three major things we, Steve and I,  have been praying for and seeking God about have been answered.

1.  Steve hit his quota and then some alot for his job and now he is able to keep it!  I am so very proud of him, for he has worked very hard to achieve this goal.  

2.  As of late last night we know where we will be living.  Carson, California is our destination!  Despite the smog and being one block away from the 405 freeway, we will only be 13 minutes away from one of my sisters and just miles away from another.  First time since we were kids under the same roof!  I am very excited about this.

The third and fourth ideas have been partially answered:

3.  The Honda Corporate Office has communicated that they may help us with partial help on fixing our Honda Pilot.  On the other hand, I believe in a BIG God that is Bigger than Honda and He is able to change the hearts of these people.  So I am believing that by tomorrow (Wednesday, June 8th) they will call us and share the good news that they will take care of the WHOLE job...God willing!  And if not, then God has a better plan in this ;o)

4.  Our moving expenses are much and this does not just include the moving truck, car trailer, and gasoline.  There are medical expenses to pay off here in New Mexico (the only debt we have...praise God!), closing of bills and then opening of utilities in California (which can be costly), rent and deposit in Ca., a filling of the refrigerator, and well, for those of you who have moved across country you well know all the little expenses that come with it.  God is providing and I need not worry!  I have to constantly remind myself of this fact and remember all the times that He has already.  I need to remember the stones!

So, I am thankful for two out of four answered prayers!  This gives me more motivation and strength and encouragement to keep going.

Until the next update I will continue to...

Enjoy My Kup...
                 Cindy

Peace has passed...

... all understanding in the hearts of the Davis'... finally!

California is our final answer.  The decision has been made and dates have been penciled in.  Tentatively we, Steve and I, and the moving truck head out on June 24th...just three weeks from today.  Packing has continued, seeing friends for the last time have begun, and the anticipation of finding out which house in which city is driving me crazy!  (taking a deep breath)

This move is so strange and different from all the other ones.  For example:

     *It has never taken several turns of decision to finally come to the right one, and we always know where we are going.  This time we only know which section of the state and that we still have a job!  Praise God!  
     *Next, our car/s have always been in great working condition for a move; however, this time we Steve is having to make calls left and right trying to "settle" the issues our Honda Pilot is having and has had for the past several months.  What kind of "settlement" will be determined by next Wednesday.  Prayers for favor in the eyes of God and man are appreciated :o) 
     *Lastly, we still do not know where the money is going to come from to make this move happen as well.   

So are we being tested like never before?  I think so! 
 And I hope that by the end of all this our Lord will want to say, "Well done good and faithful servants!"  This is my heart's desire.

On Monday my girls will start their summer vacation in an airport.  Their daddy will escort them from one plane to the next as their flight lands in southern California.  How exciting for them!  On the other hand, I will be driving back alone to a house occupied by a dog, a cat, 5 one week old kittens and a mess of material possessions that have to be packed.  How exciting for me.  Actually, I am thrilled that my girls will not have to go through the drudgery of another move.  Instead, they will be reconnecting with family and old friends and having a blast!  It will be different not having them with us for almost a month.  That's never happened.

So our journey moves on.  We will miss our dear friends in New Mexico as we have missed our friends in Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, and California...have I missed any?   There is no god like our God and He is the tie that binds us all together.  Remember we are only a phone call, a text message, an email, or a chat away....consider even a vacation our way.  Y'all are always welcome in our home ... where ever that may be.  

In all this, however, my plea to the Lord is, "May my rest be at the end of this next road...for a very long while."  

It's the Peace that passes all my understanding that restores my soul.

Enjoying My Peaceful Kup...
                                  Cindy

You Never Know...

Early this afternoon I was lamenting* sharing with my sister that I had no idea when my family will be able to move back (to California) and I had no idea how we were going to be able to afford to send our girls off on a plane to spend some time this summer with their grandparents, aunts, and cousins, when she popped out with..

"You never know what's coming around the corner."

God was already on top of it...before these thoughts existed He put a generous thought on someone's heart.  Minutes after this sisterly conversation my husband called me to share some good news.  

"Money is being mailed to us from "someone" (I'll leave them anonymous) to use for airline tickets to send the girls off on their summer vacation that we have desired!"  

Wow!!  I never saw it coming, as it was "coming around the corner".  Head-on collision with a gracious, loving God Who sees our every need.   I love those divine collisions, don't you?  This motivates me to keep moving forward in faith and expect another need to collide with the Provider.  Again, I'll be ready to testify of His Greatness!!!


*I know with many of my readers this word is a bit confusing because I have displayed how excited I am in staying in the New Mexico area; and a part of me is excited as many of you have been a family for us.  However, there is a huge part of me that desires to be a part of my "blood" family again and be "nested" there for a very long time.  My heart is torn, and tugged, and tossed, and tumbled and when I have conversations with my family of moving back my heart skips a beat; and when I'm with my New Mexico family I'm thrilled!  Do you see my dilemma of emotions?  Understand that I feel like I'm still standing in the middle of "The River" waiting, for what? (and may I remind you that the "riverbed" is dry...I'm not struggling in this position.)  For peace about this move?  For direction?  (In which I feel like we've received a lot of those lately...now to discern what is from "whom".)  For my heart to be put back together in one piece?  I think, either way we go, my heart will be broken.  Maybe we've made one decision over another due to the fact that in our human logic there is no way we will be able to afford to move the longer distance of the two.  Dare I say, that is a lack of faith?  Fear?  Or maybe we have moved forward in one direction "jumping in with both feet" so that God is able to "move" in working out the other.  Maybe, just maybe, we have been in His way in one area, and for this reason He needed us to focus on another.  Or maybe I'm just analyzing way too much...but that's how I was made.  I just want to be where God wants us and be settled and at peace with that.  Yet, I believe that when we are moved in the continuously right direction I will experience that peace that passes all understanding and just know!   So why am I still hesitant with the "place" we've set out to move to?  


Well, possibly there is still more to collide with in God's timeless fashion.  Indeed, "you never know what's coming around the corner."

Waiting with My Kup...
                        Cindy

Dry Stones

"Rest", is what she said, and continued with "He's not telling you to do it, He's going to give it to you."  My friend sensed the Lord impressing on her these words for me a few weeks ago and I received them...still do.

I'm tired and weary.

We're moving.  Oh wait!  Now we're not moving, but we're still moving.  Confusing, I know.  Let me explain a bit.  California is not happening right now and I really have no idea when it will.  Meanwhile, we are staying...in New Mexico.  On the other hand, we're moving out of the house we've been in for almost a year.  It will be a year when we do, only a year, as all the other recent time frames-of-stays have looked in the past.  Instead, we are heading to a beautiful, spacious mountain valley called Eagle Nest (overlooking a lake, in fact), just 45 minutes through the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.  Now let me clarify something:  anywhere around the northern New Mexico mountains are beautiful; where we live now is beautiful, but that's not the point of the move.  This has nothing to do with discontent; it has everything to do with following God's lead.  For what reason this time, we have no idea.  We just know to obey and follow.

I'm tired and weary.  Oh yeah, I already wrote that...but I am.

This will be the 25th move we've made in 18 1/2 years of marriage.  I am 40 years old...and "old" needs to be strongly emphasized because that is how my body is feeling.  Moving does not do a body well when one is not in shape.  Yeah I know, that should be a clue to get in shape, right?  But a previously fractured lower back brings on a bit of difficulty in this area.  (Ok, that's no excuse, but I tried)

These past few days have been like a roller coaster ride of emotion like never before.  Feelings of anguish, sobbing, convulsing sobs overcame me the other night; feelings that hit like a two by four.  (If these are the tears I've prayed for several years I take it back!  Tears of joy are what I want; yet, I suppose "joy" does not always mean "happy".  I experienced tears of empathy...sheer heart-wrenching-brokenness.  Could this be a new gifting?  Hm, it hurt too much.  I don't know that I want it; but what do I know.)  Hormones haven't helped.  Yesterday, overwhelming waves of feeling came over me.  Moving again.  Therefore, in just one month I need to be ready to do so...house packed.

May I "whine" a little on here and just be plain honest with y'all?  Wait, first I will say that I am truly grateful for the "manna" God has provided for my family.  In addition, I am extremely thankful for the "tents" He has "set up" for us over the years.  What blessings!  (Yes, I parallel this with the wilderness experience of the Israelites...and I know that whining could cost me another several years...I know...so I am taking a risk in my honesty.  May I not forget that Grace has since entered HisStory.)

Ok, here goes:  
     *I'd like for a year to go by and not have to think about packing for another move.  Instead, I'd much rather enjoy the thought of planting flowers and cultivating a plot of yard for a vegetable garden...and then watch it all grow!  
     *Now that I'm home schooling my daughters I'd like to be able to not have to think about if I can afford this next year's curriculum because that money is being used on moving expenses...and fixing a broken car.  
     *If we lived in one place for more than two years maybe, just maybe some family members might take an interest in considering moving near us.  Or maybe other family members...and even friends could "plan" to just visit.  
     *We have a variety of "roots" planted in several places in this country and frankly I'd like for a root to take hold and continue growing, but "where oh where will that be?" I wonder.  
     *I have to admit, moving is adventurous and exciting because we get to experience new beginnings of all kinds; however, after 25 times I'd like to experience that adventure as a vacation knowing that when the week is over our destination is back at "home".  We've had to use our vacations as moving days.  They've been fun in the past, but definitely not relaxing, refreshing, or restful.  

Does all this make sense to anyone?  Have I lost it?  Gone off the deep end?  Flipped my rocker?  We all want these things.  That's the normal life.

However, I don't live in it.

All these wants and desires...that are normal and common...can surely be asked of my gracious, loving God, but are they His best for me?  Are they His will for my family's life?  I don't believe that we've been "wandering in the wilderness" because we are not floundering to find our way; but I do believe that God has called us (my family) to jump in with both feet from one "Jordan River" to the next in faith and trust that He knows best and has a plan for us (see Jeremiah 29:11),  a plan not to harm us...or disappoint us...but one that gives us a future and a hope.

Ok...so now that we've "jumped" and have landed in the "flooded waters" moving forward in this plan of His (and I've stopped whining) I'll keep trusting and holding on to what He spoke to me through my friend, 

"Rest.  I'm not telling you to do it, I'm going to give it to you."

I can only hope and pray that "rest" will look like a very long break in our moving journey...soon.  Maybe I ought to reach down in this river we're standing in and grab a stone and write "REST" in capital letters, hold onto it and watch it happen.  I refuse to be swept away by the "flood waters"...oh wait, what flood waters?  The riverbed is dry!

Enjoying My Kup...
                     Cindy 

Real Talk...Real Times

I was blessed to have a great "heart to heart", father/daughter talk with my girls today.  We talked about how the environment you are in usually has a big influence on who you become.

It is true with children, teens and adults.  From the music we listen to, to the clothes we wear, to the people we hang out with, to the car we drive and the money we spend, the environment we choose to participate in, "molds" us.

You notice I said "molds" us.  It doesn't happen overnight, it takes time, in many cases, years.  We usually don't even know it is happening!

Now this "molding" can be positive or negative.  It depends on our environment, who and what we surround ourselves with.  If we surround ourselves with Godly people who love to serve, give, praise and study the word of God then the molding that takes place resembles a "heavenly perspective".

If we choose an environment of the "worldly perspective" then we begin to love power, money, status, self and we look out for ourselves above all else.  Before we know it our words have a "Godly Tone", but our actions don't reflect our words and our witness is "shot".  By the way, that is just how the evil one likes it to be.

For many years, our family has lived a simple life.  We don't want for anything, but we also don't have "extra".  The towns we have lived in and the people we have chosen to invest with and in have been relatively modest.  We have lived in some larger towns, Dallas TX, Surprise, AZ, Santa Maria, CA, but we have made a choice to live simply.

As the girls and I talked, mainly about styles of dress, makeup (or too much makeup), how a boy mind thinks, I am blessed and honored to be their dad.  My girls are growing up, but they have a solid understanding of how God expects them to live.

If they live how God expects them to live...then why should I worry?

Because that's what Dad's do......

Enjoying My Kup...

Steve

The Pow-Wow Of The Unexpected!

Their response was neither unexpected or uneventful.  
Quite the contrary.

This afternoon Steve and I gathered our girls for a pow-wow.  We had some news to share.  

"We are moving to California...to the big city."

And with that, our 13 year old daughter's face perked up and her body practically lept a foot off the chair she was sitting in.  "The City,  Really?" she exclaimed with a big smile.  None too happy was she.   No, she was ecstatic!  She's our city girl who enjoys primping in semi high heels (mommy approval of course) and a fashionable outfit to go grocery shopping!  And may I not forget her polished nails to add to the ensemble.  Can you imagine this person in a small mountain town?  :)  I love her unique, fashionable personality!

Our nearly 16 year old daughter was just as excited.  How do I know?  Well, as she did not jump out of her chair like her sister, I saw her eyes and imagined her heart jumping out of it's shell.  She's been long awaiting this day to arrive.  You see, I believe her spiritual maturity has grown the most out of all of us through this past year.  And so she was holding back to make sure that what she heard was in fact true.  Last year's move was ...well....not agreeable to her.  I am learning more about her and discovering her sense of discernment!

Our dear 11 year old, on the other hand, covered her face as tears made their way down her soft cheeks.  She's at the age of living in the "here and now", a tender age that perceives life as she knows it right in front of her.  Her mind had not inputted the realization, yet, that her cousins close in age were at the end of the "moving road".  She could only see the friends that will be left behind.  Her heart is at a tender stage that God can work with His gentle hands.   BUT, may I add that SHE wanted to call one of her aunties to share the news.  :)  I'll take that!  

Moving is not easy.  It's adventurous and exciting!  But not easy.  I should know because this will be our 25+ (I've stopped counting!) move in the duration of our 18 years of marriage.  No, we are not military.  No, we are not missionaries (not technically anyway).  We are Christ followers that, for the past 8 years, have genuinely sensed God calling us to where ever we have been.  With the admission of Steve, and I agree, a couple of those "stops" were mistakes, but we believe God used them just the same for His glory and purpose.  We have voiced in most every move that we "hope" to settle down, that this is our last stop...but in turn I find myself on the road again following a UHaul or Budget Truck (which ever is cheaper or available at the time) to the destination of choice.  Choice meaning: we make the choice to follow God's leading.  

In this present circumstance, Steve and I were confirmed today of a decision we made just recently of needing to move back to California so that we can continue with the job that God blessed us with a year and half ago.  In this we are grateful!  

Life is an adventure...a journey we must take.  But it's the choice of who we take the journey with that makes all the difference.  I choose God!

 Enjoying My Kup...
     Cindy