The Body of Christ in the words of a Mish

If you have spent any amount of time with us during our stead here in Florida, the title will make absolute sense to you.  My husband has recently been obsessed with shortening words for the fun of it (or really, just to get under my skin), so that was a shout out to him. :)  "Mish" is short for missionary.

So I'm not sure most people think about what it takes to move a family cross-country when everything you planned for just kind of goes out the window...whew, can't wait until we're moving around the world!  You know, let me rephrase that...I'm not sure *I* thought about what it would take to get us moved in the event that all of our plans got thrown up in the air. 

It has been a lesson in seeing how the body of Christ functions during times when we need it most.  It has been humbling, beyond helpful, and just plain amazing to be on the receiving end. 

Our week started off on Wednesday when Trevor's parents flew in to basically just make themselves available to us to watch the older girls while we got busy packing.  They took them overnight, brought them special snacks and coloring books and crayons, took them swimming, to the park, and basically made this whole crazy moving experience for them FUN.  Words can't express my gratitude.  One of my biggest concerns was how they were going to process all of this...not only moving out of our house, but saying goodbye to many of their own possessions--whether it be toys or dressers or giant stuffed animals named Princess, etc.  Because we are moving into a fully-furnished place, we are going through the first phase of detaching ourselves from our things.  Not always easy.

Wednesday afternoon we got busy packing and by Thursday I had several ladies calling me asking if I could use their help, to which I said, "Most certainly!"  By Thursday evening we had boxes of pizza brought over for us and a house-full of incredibly servant-hearted friends giving up their time and energy to make this thing happen.  Around this time Laís decided she was terribly overwhelmed, being happy with none other than Mommy.  Her screaming could have been heard in the next town over, I'm sure of it.  All this to say that I, the one who was actually moving, was doing nothing more than sitting holding my baby while our dear friends packed up my pantry, cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom and the floors, etc. etc. ETC.  It was an incredibly humbling time.  It was all I had in me not to break down in tears...which I may or may not have done when no one was looking;)  These families were the hands and feet of Jesus to us. 

Somewhere in the midst of all this what we thought was just going to be a regular tune-up on our car turned out to be a huge need for a ton of work.  Let's just say that these things always seem to teach us a deeper and more resounding lesson in trusting in God's provisions;)  He is so good.  We went to bed on Thursday grateful and amazed at what all had gotten done.  We were feeling pretty good at the prospect of leaving on Sunday.

Friday started out with Trevor and Mike taking the car in to yet another shop way up in Orlando because there was a small leak in the transmission.  Becky came right away in the morning to once again help me pack and Beth came for the express purpose of holding little Laís.  She officially holds the title of "Baby Whisperer" in our family.  She literally held her for about 8-9 hours to give me the opportunity to pack.  If you only knew how wonderful it was to know that my little baby was happy and content in the midst of craziness. 

Trevor called that afternoon and told me to sit down.  Pretty sure I would've rather gone without the information he was about to unload.  Turns out our car needed a major transmission overhaul (again) requiring it to be in the shop until Tuesday...the day we were supposed to be unpacking the truck--in DALLAS.  So, the next two days were filled with trying to make huge decisions that inconvenienced a whole lot of people who were gracious enough to not let us see how inconvenient it actually was for them.  It was determined that Trevor's parents would drive the truck for us, losing out on what was supposed to be fun traveling time with their grandkids.  The Downeys, Millers, and Borlands would do a grand car swap so that we could have car transportation while we waited for all this to happen.  We packed the truck up Friday evening when a bunch of helpful, strong guy friends came to assist Trevor in solving the puzzle of getting everything in.  Turns out we had more room than we anticipated...I suppose better than the other way around!

Saturday morning we did a garage sale, and I won't even go into how much help we had with that...between pricing things, moving things around, and hauling large furniture around the greater Orlando area.  Whew.  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  Between Grandma and Beth, Laís was a happy camper yet again.  Thank You, Lord.

We met our landlord on Monday and gave her the keys and we are now officially out of our old house.  Kind of a crazy feeling.  Staying in a house that isn't our own, driving a car that isn't our own, and having all of our earthly possessions being driven cross-country by someone other than ourselves.  I cannot imagine going through all of this without the body of Christ.  We have been given gift cards, monetary gifts, and fun travel packs for our girls for the road from people who I know would rather remain nameless because of their desire to simply serve and give quietly. 

I want to shout at the top of my lungs how incredibly good God is.  It has been a hard week, I will admit it.  My emotions have been frazzled and most of our "normal" has been put on the back burner.  But in the middle of all of it, there has been this constant reassurance that God is providing for ALL of our needs.  He's taking care of us.  And He's using His people to show us. 

So, I simply want to say thank you.  I had half a mind to list all of the names that helped make this move possible, but I am afraid I would run the risk of missing someone and I could not live with myself if I did that.  And so, you know who you are.  So many of you don't even live here and somehow found a way to help.  You have made all the difference.  You have blessed this little family in ways we will never forget.  May God bless you in ways you never imagined. 

Hopefully by 3:00pm today we will be off in search of our new "normal".  To God be the glory.