We landed in Denver three days ago - all eight of us (including Dixie, Dusty and Cuddles). The flights were ALMOST without incident; cuddles did relieve herself in her carry bag while we were in transit in Washington, but after more than 10 hours stuck in a claustrophobic's worst nightmare I guess I can't blame her.
I've been up like clock-work at 3 am every morning so far, doing the jet-lag dance. The only problem is I'm the only one dancing. We went to our favorite restaurant for lunch on Tuesday (Cracker Barrel, of course), then to Billy Bob's favorite store (Wal-Mart). The first time we ventured out of the house, Karine got her first glimpse of the snow covered Rockies and exclaimed, "Wow! I can't believe we're going to live here!"
All three girls are swinging like pendulums from sheer excitement and joy - to anger, sorrow and grief over leaving their friends and all that is familiar. If I'm honest, Daphne and I are doing our share of swinging as well. God always seems to lead us from one faith challenge to an even bigger faith challenge - and each time our circle of comfort expands significantly. Well, true to form, this move has stretched us so far beyond our comfort zone that we don't even remember where the boundary line used to be. And all the while the Lord keeps meeting us at our point of need in supernatural ways. I am still amazed at how He brought a buyer for both our house and our car in our last four days in France - never too early and never too late.
I've realized something else as well: at each step in our journey we've reached a point of "pregnant pause" when have seen the Lord working, and our faith is growing, and suddenly we encounter a "hiccup" and the whole thing seems in danger of collapsing. Big decision time: do we jump in and try to work it out ourselves, bail, or keep trusting and hang on for dear life? It happened with our shipment when we had to leave most of our furniture behind because there wasn't room in the container. It happened with the house when the first buyer backed out. It happened with my future career path when Bob Klamser from CCI didn't contact me for almost a month. It happened again yesterday. We were on our way to show the girls the two schools in Conifer, and I called the counselor at the Middle School to ask about enrollment for Jacqueline. When she heard that our temporary address will be in another school district, she said that Jacqueline wouldn't be able to attend until we actually move to Conifer. I got off the phone, and actually started laughing. When Daph and the girls asked what was going on, I replied, "Well, we have another opportunity to trust the Lord!"
When we got to Conifer High School we had a great meeting with the guidance counselor, who showed us all around the school and patiently answered all the girl's questions. Just before we left his office the school Principal walked in. After introducing us, Justin (the counselor) told him that we would be temporarily living in the Bailey school district, but that our desire is to attend Conifer High School. Would it be a problem? He immediately said "absolutely not" and explained that it is completely his decision whether or not to accept students from outside Conifer, and that he's excited about our girls joining his school (Yea God!). We mentioned our concern about Jacqueline getting into the Middle School, and he said, "Don't worry about it. I'll call Frank (Middle School Principle) and work it out". One more step down the mountain.
One funny, small town experience happened when we walked into the Middle School later in the afternoon. We spoke to the receptionist about getting an enrollment packet for Jacqueline, but when she found out we were from France she got so excited and started peppering the girls with questions. We started to explain what our plans are when a woman walked up behind us and said, "They're from France, and the two older girls will be attending the High School, and they're moving to Conifer". When she saw our surprise, she added, "I'm following you... I was at the High School when you were there earlier today." Our girls have been completely overwhelmed by the friendliness and openness we have encountered here - and they're just waiting for the penney to drop when people will start acting "normal" like in France - reserved and somewhat stern. They're convinced that people here are just faking it because we're new. This is what you call Reverse Culture Shock, and it brings back so many memories of when I first returned to America for college.
One of our most daunting challenges has been to find temporary and (more importantly) affordable housing in the Conifer area, while we wait for the sale of our house to close in France. We will be paying double rent until we close sometime in early January. Since what furniture we own is in a container somewhere between France and the US, we need to rent a home with a minimum of furniture. Our realtor mentioned a friend of his who needs to rent his home in Bailey, which is not far from Conifer. I called him while we were still in France, and we had an amazing conversation. He is also a wildlife artist (and Engineer), and we probably talked for an hour on the phone. He is willing to rent us his home at a very reasonable cost, for any period of time that we need - and we can bring the animals with us. And he has just enough furniture in the house for us to get by for now.
We move in on Saturday, and the girls will start school on Monday morning.
Lord, you are an amazing God! You prove your faithfulness to us in a hundred different ways every day, and all you ask in return is that we trust in your Goodness, and Sovereignty, and Love. Thank you for caring so deeply for my family, and thank you for never giving up on us.
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