On Monday night, Matthew, Brandon and a good friend of ours, Raine, spent the night at our home in Austin with the dogs. Ben, Alex and I stayed at another awesome friends' home - the Forans. We had hopes and dreams of leaving at 5:30 am, but Matthew underestimated a bit how much time it would take to do some of the final packing. This was a good thing though for us, I didn't wake up until 5:15 am - AHHHHHHHH!
Several amazing things happened that morning.
When the guys began filling up the car on Tuesday morning (at 4:30 am), they found one of the sweetest ladies I've come to know at Gateway waiting outside, Heidi.
She came to our home at 3:30 am and slept in her car, because she wanted to be able to say goodbye before we left. OK, before you think she was a stalker, it was actually a very loving act. I mean, the woman slept in her car!?! If that's not a loving thoughtful send off then what is?
I felt very badly that I wasn't there to give her one last hug. So Heidi, grab ahold of that monitor right now, no really c'mon, you can do it.
Thank you for being such a sweet sister in Christ. I don't know what I'd have done without you. You have made it OK for me to cry at work and you were totally the "go to" person on moving day. Ms. Heidi, you rock!
Fast forward to the Foran's home - when I came downstairs there were three families and one of the boys sweetest friends (that I love dearly) there and God love them, they were all half asleep and totally exhausted, but they were there to send us off with love and prayers.
Erica brought two big scrapbooks with pictures and notes from all the families at Gateway. Every time I see those books my heart leaps. Thank you for such a special memory book... It's perfect!
It was such a crazy morning and I didn't have much time to think about the fact that we were really leaving until little Lily looked at me with those beautiful eyes and that tiny little voice and said, "Can I ride in your car?"
That did it and the waterworks began.
The wonderful thing about all of this is that I know (without a doubt) that we are eternally connected with all of them. We'll still stay in touch, visit, and until that time - we now have skype! :) (That's another post for another day.)
Alright then, so now we're on the road...
It didn't take long before this was the typical traveling position.
I think the best story of the whole trip has now become known as "The Wallet".
Yes, the big boo boo was mine. The most careful of the bunch.
At one point we stopped to get something (I don't remember what now) and stretch our legs a bit. We loaded back up in the car and began another long trek. About 45 minutes into it, Brandon said he had a strange feeling we should stop - like something was wrong. You would think I know by now to realize that the Holy Spirit also talks to me through my kids, but did I want to listen? No way... We had just gotten back on the road and wanted to put some miles in.
About three and a half hours later (could have been more), we finally stopped. Matthew walked behind the car and came to my window carrying something. It seems I had left my wallet sitting on the bumper the whole time... 3+ hours people! Let me show you what a miracle it is that it did not fall off.
Check it out.
How about that? Clearly, God was with us. I had everything in that wallet. Social Security Cards, Cash, everything.
I have to laugh and wonder how many people may have been following us hoping we'd hit one good bump. :D God is so cool!
Here are a couple of pics from a few rest stops we went to.
Oh, and one last thing! We passed the weinermobile. No free hotdogs, but they did wave. :)
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