House and Job Update

It has been a while since I have updated the blog. One of my sweet friends reached out to me and thought maybe it was a comment she had made that prevented me from doing any more posts. So, rest assured, it is not you that has prevented me from writing, we have just been slammed with life. In addition to keeping up with the kids school work, I was keeping up with my two classes, we were house hunting, then having meetings about the house, traveling back and forth from Concord to Charlotte and waiting to hear on Matt's job situation. Since the last time I have written, Kayla has gotten braces, we accepted our air shipment, we put over 500 miles on our van just for house hunting, over 2000 miles in traveling back and forth from here to TN and other things we have done around town,  Elijah had four teeth pulled and goes back this morning for an evaluation to see if he will need more teeth pulled or if they are going to put spacers in where he had the last teeth pulled, plus he was sick last week.
We also put an offer in on a new house, that was accepted and we are moving ahead with closing. While this is a very good thing, we had to compromise on a lot of what we wanted, so in some ways it's really bittersweet. Every single day some new obstacle has popped up over the last few months, I wish I could say this is an exaggeration, but it is not. I am not in any way trying to complain, I am simply laying out a few details, I will spare you most of them so that it doesn't seem like I am complaining.
Matt took an addition month off of work in the hopes to get a good job and just have the job situation settled before having to go back to work. On Thursday we found out he did not get the job we were hoping for. Today he goes back to work, but in a position they have determined they will put him in and it is a demotion. So, today is also bittersweet. We had a lot of hopes and dreams when we moved back from Greece and quite frankly none of them are coming to fruition.
I had two more classes that were supposed to start today, but since we will be moving into our house soon and there is so much to do, I dropped the two classes. I got burned here as well, but will move on. I hope to pick them back up in September.
So, today, Matt goes back to work after 7 weeks off. As I mentioned a moment ago, this is bittersweet. We are very thankful that he has a job. I am thankful that he is going back to work today as this is the first step of us getting back to a "normal" schedule. The kids and I came back to NC 10 weeks ago today, which is how long we have  been in transition (so far!). Matt came back 7 weeks ago. This week will be hard on us, especially Elijah as we have gotten used to Matt being around all the time.
Next Wednesday we are set to close on our house (pray everything goes smoothly). We will attempt to start painting the house on Wednesday. On Friday we will get our storage shipment and the following Monday we get our air shipment. We are going to be very busy trying to get everything settled...and that Thursday Elijah will turn 11!!! My class that I am still in (and it is kicking my tail!!!) ends April 8th. Hoping to finish strong, but would appreciate prayers through all of these chaotic events!
We have had a lot of questions as to where we are going to go to church, so I will say here we have not made any solid decisions. We are not going to burn a bunch of bridges. We have literally been taking it one day at a time, which is all we can do. Right now we are living in my father-in-laws house and we are attending his church, it's just easier and we of course love the church and the people.  Life has been completely overwhelming and still is. We will continue to make the decisions as we have to, but I refuse to plan to far ahead, I simply can't. I have to focus on today and the tasks that need to be done in this day!
One final note, as a reminder to our family and friends...I had said before once we get settled we were not traveling for 6 months to a year...this still holds true. If you are not in the immediate area we are not making any plans to travel. We need time to settle and heal. We are weary, battered and bruised. We want to see you all and would love to have you come see us!!! Thank you for understanding this.
We are looking forward to getting our suitcases unpacked and we are thankful that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are looking forward to being settled, hopefully for a really good, LONG time!!!
As you think of us, continue to pray for us. I know the Lord has great plans for us and we are just waiting to see the good that will come out of all of this.
"For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13