The Lester's Have Left The Building

I knew this day would come, and here it is. They have finally left.

There are so many emotions that go with your best friends following God to another town. We are so happy for them and are so excited they are going to be doing what God has called them to do in another place, but we are sad that this time must come to and end. Boy, has it been a great time!

What's made all of this much more bearable is that the Lord has also called us somewhere else as well. But, unfortunately for our friendship it has taken us in the opposite direction.

Luckily we have formed a friendship that miles cannot separate and are thrilled to be able to continue our friendship across the country. It will be so neat to see what the future holds.

It was a challenge getting to see them one last time. Andy tried to head over there in the afternoon to help them load the truck, but every road was flooded. Then he tried later that afternoon and was able to find a way through. They were all finished packing, so I headed over to hang out for a bit at the Randall's. We had a good time of prayer as we sent them off west.

One last picture before we say our goodbyes.


I know you'll be back! You still haven't had any of my ice cream :)

We love you guys!

And, He's Off!

Andy had his last day of work here in Indiana on Friday. They had a party for him at the office. It's sad to see this part of our lives coming to such an abrupt close. It's not Martinsville we will miss, though, it's the people. And fortunately, we will be able to keep in touch! But, at the same time we are very excited about what's to come.

We dropped Andy off at the airport way before the sun came up this morning so he could catch his flight to Kansas City, Missouri. He'll be there till Friday for training and then come home and head to Lynchburg, VA for another week of training. It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks without him and having to pack for our trip. But, it will sure be an adventure!

He hadn't been gone for 20 minutes and we already had our first escapade. Since our entire town is flooded no grocery store is open, so on the way home from Indy I realized I should probably stop and get some essentials, since it doesn't look like anything will be open anytime soon, and they're calling for more rain. So, we find a 24 hour grocery store and I load the boys in the cart. I should have had my camera, it was hilarious. So here we are at 5:30 am and I'm grocery shopping with two babies. Samuel had on just a diaper and a pair of shorts. Andy had literally moved him from his crib to his car seat. I didn't have a wrap for Joseph, since I didn't think we would be going anywhere. We have a portable car seat carrier that I leave in the trunk for stuff like this. His real car seat is one of those that you cannot unhook from the base. So, I keep this other one in there just for times like these. So, Samuel was sitting in the grocery cart seat with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders and Joseph was in his portable car seat in the basket part of the grocery chart with groceries all around him. I guess it doesn't seem all that funny when I try to explain, but let me tell you, we were a site to see!

Andy took a self portrait at 4:15 am this morning of his freshly cut hair. He ended up having to cut it himself because of course he couldn't find a barber that was open in town. He use to cut it himself, but he wanted to guarantee it would look good for the next 2 weeks and he wasn't sure how well he would do since it had been so long. He did a great job, and didn't mess up a bit!

*Thanks Mike for letting us use your clippers! Not sure how we would have managed without them!*

Devastation in Martinsville

We were not affected by the flooding, but so many others in the Martinsville area were. Just one year ago we were living in the apartments that are in the very left of the picture. We lived on the first floor. The devastation has hit and it's hit hard. Please pray for the families of our community. We have some friends, Destiny and Tyson that were just married in October and their home is one of the homes in the photo. They lost everything. They have nothing. Please pray. Pray for the people who lost everything, but most of all pray for the hearts of those of us who have everything. Pray we will give, not just give what we don't want or give a comfortable love offering, but give sacrificially to these neighbors in need.

Acts 4:32-35 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Mommy and Her Boys

After a few days of not being able to upload pictures, this one uploaded. Hopefully more to come!

Packing Day #1

For a week or so I've been thinking about packing. But, yesterday I actually started to do it. I had fun. I took off all the things off the walls and picture frames off of dressers and tables. It looks like I did much more than I actually did, so it feels good. I'm going to go to the knick knacks next. Just getting all that 'clutter' packed up allows my mind to get down to the big stuff.

Life is going at an incredibly fast pace, but we are accomplishing a lot. It worked out great that once Joseph hit his 3 month mark he really settled down in life here on earth and is more independent than he once was. Packing with a baby in a wrap is not the most comfortable thing. Luckily, he's allowed me to put him down and watch me as I pack. I wish I had his job.

I don't know what the deal is with our computer, but I have not been able to upload any pictures, either to blogger or to shutterfly. So, for those of you (mom) who are waiting for our May pictures, I apologize! We're still taking them at a rapid rate, don't fear.

I've got a doctor's appointment and then we're headed to some friend's house for dinner, so I doubt I'll get much packed today.

***If you have any packing tips or how to help a toddler with a move, please leave comments below.