Week 3 in North Carolina

"All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust him

In his presence daily live.

I surrender all

I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender

I surrender all."

This was the last hymn we sang in church yesterday morning. I had no intention of joining Carmel Baptist Church but I did. During the sermon, the pastor talked about how God will take us to where we've never been before, and I was thinking, "That's where I am right now...where I've never been before!!" New city. New state. No job. No house. Alone. I talked to God in my mind and reminded him I had no intention of joining this (or any!) church, till I found out if they had a Divorce Care class (they don't) and if not, why? I'd been told they had had one at another time, and  I was curious to see what their position was and why they didn't offer that class currently. God told me He'd take care of that. I waited and as they began the second verse, I thought what better way to "surrender it all" than to claim a church home before I got a "real" home.


Speaking of my "real" home, the TX sale has still not closed. I've been strung along with promises of "tomorrow" or "next week" or "the middle of next week". All stories. All thrown to us by the "other side" in hopes of placating us. I've felt frustrated, bamboozled, lied to, between a rock and a hard spot....all not worth thinking about. As I've talked to God, my emotions have calmed down and I've prayed that my real estate people be blessed as they deal with me. Not by me, of course, but by God. I've made the decision to keep trusting Him in spite of daily frustrations. My realtors call every morning and as of today, "we should close by Friday". BUT I've been down this road many times, so don't hold your breath, but pray that I'll be found faithful and trusting.


I miss my kids, grandkids, friends, familiar streets, Blue Bell ice cream, house, and sunshine. I'm enjoying my stay with my sister, my Apple classes (on my MAC), going to visit Nancy Magby, a friend from church when I was in junior high, learning my way around new streets, finding a Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Steinmart, eating Brusters' ice cream, cooler weather, and watching Netflix with Jayne each night and laughing over foolishness!!

Moving...Phase 2

   The packing and pod-filling, the vacuuming and cleaning behind the refrigerator, the ordering of the second pod and filling that, the saying "good bye" to friends, the actual leaving my daughter and grandchildren, and crying, the driving to Atlanta to see some family and celebrate my new adventure, and then the drive to my new city are over. I am here. Saturday at noon, well, 12:15, I arrived at my sister's.
   Since I am staying with my her, we are both trying to wrap our minds around the fact that this is not a visit. I am here. In her house. Getting to know Charlotte as my new home. 
   Today, Labor Day, I had the scary thought again, "what have you done?". You gave up you familiar life. You left your friends. You left your kids. You won't see them anytime you want to. YIKES!!
   As quickly as that seeped into my brain, I thought, "Wait a minute. God is still in control." Yesterday at church, I listened to the sermon on "Preparation" and felt that I have been being prepared for this change in my life. I heard that getting prepared is harder than doing the thing (test, vacation, basball game, for instance) we're preparing for. We train hard, or we study hard, or we do all the things that are required to take a vacation.
   In life, we get to the point where God has taken us (prepared us) but we still have to take that next step of trust. And then I realized. Trust. That is my word. Do I trust Him enough that I'd leave my family and friends to do this thing that I still don't know what it is? Yes. This part, the continued preparation, is all part of the plan. Selling my house. Good part. Waiting to close. Hard part. Getting to live with one of my sisters. Really good part. Missing my kids/friends. Really bad part.
    So as I go forward, I need prayers to be willing to trust. Trust that I'll know what God has for me to do. Trust that I'll get through this "what have I done?" phase. Trust that I'll have enough money to keep me till I find a job. Trust that I'll know what to buy for a home and when to buy said home. 
   Now I think of that song again. "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." Hmmmm, three years ago, I sang this song in my kitchen. Guess I need to sing it again.