It's so Quiet

It finally happened... for real this time. I took Drew to Sam a little over a week ago. Gary couldn't go this time but there were some great kids there that helped us unload all of his stuff from out of the van. He has an apartment style dorm room so that means he has his own bedroom, small as it is, but clean and fairly new. I still keep waiting for him to walk through our door every day...but he doesn't. The first time it really hit me that he wouldn't be walking through our door every day was the first Saturday he was gone. The realization had barely flashed through my mind when the tears started. Things will never be the same... I'm working on that being okay. I spent the afternoon with Derek last Monday. It was just to take of some things for him but I loved every minute of getting to be with him. He is such a neat person and I pray that God will give him someone that will love and adore him the way he deserves to be loved. Dustin is settling into the Austin lifestyle. I called him the other day and he was at a cafe listening to a live band, I could hear them playing in the background. I have to constantly restrain myself from calling the boys every time I think about them. I want to know that they're physically okay, that their happy, and that they're behaving! My greatest desire for them right now is for them to be connected to a church that will be a family to them and where they can be brought closer to the Lord. "Father I know that You hold them in Your hands, please draw them close to You, watch over them, keep them safe, and send them their perfect lifemate" - amen.

Today was the day...or so we thought!

Today was the day we thought we were taking Drew, the last one out of the nest, off to school. Jenny, Drew's sweet girlfriend, was going with us. We all got up, got everything loaded in the van and then headed out. First a trip for Gary and Drew to 'Ms. Patti's' for haircuts and then on to Walmart to pick up stuff for his room. We drove on to Huntsville and arrived at his dorm only to find we had the wrong day and that he can't check in until Thursday, a slight reprieve for me! No problem, his stuff will be ready to go Thursday... Gary and I were headed to Madisonville anyway. An awesome missionary couple, Ivan and Svitlana, and their two preschoolers moved in to our house Sunday. We wanted to go check on them to make sure they had everything they needed and to answers any questions they might have about the house. Their testimony is so inspirational to me. They were deported from Uzbeckistan because of Ivan's ministry. They were given 48 hours notice before they had to leave and then were put on a plane bound for Moscow...with a two week old baby and a toddler! They stayed in Moscow for a few months and then had to leave there. After much dealing with and praying for the US embassy in Moscow, they ended up (Svitlana and the children first and then at a later time, Ivan) on a plane headed for the United States. They can't even try to go back to Uzbeckistan for a minimun of three more years...if they try they were told they would be killed. They arrived in the US with only two or three suitcases. Before they left Uzbeckistan they had to quickly sign over to friends in their church their recently purchased home and all their possesions or the government would have just taken them. Since they arrived here less than two years ago, God has done amazing things for and through them...their testimony is one of trust in and to the faithfulness of God. We feel so blessed that we can play a tiny part in their international ministry. Instead of crumbling under oppression their ministry continues on an international scale and they now also have several ministries to Russian groups here in Houston, the Woodlands and Bryan/College Station. God is so much bigger than anything our finite minds can fathom!

Empty Nest

I'm sitting here at 11:00 pm having gone to Sam Houston's website...again, looking at the total one more time for Drew's tuition before I send in that first payment. It brings tears to my eyes even writing this because it just reinforces the fact that my last precious boy is leaving home. It is so hard to let go. You spend what seems like a lifetime raising them but it also feels like it was just yesterday they were little and you thought you had all the time in the world. People tell you time and again when they are little to enjoy it because they grow up so fast and it's true. It seems like just yesterday we took Drew to school for his first day of kindergarten. Ginger & Calvin, Sandy & Keith and Gary & I all had to drop the kids off in their classroom. I remember how hard it was to leave. We stood out in the hallway afterwards and took pictures of the guys pretending to wipe our eyes. 18 years later we used that very picture in a senior graduation slide show at the church. Raising my children was my second greatest calling from God... the first was to be a minister's wife.
I remember when Dusty graduated... since he was the oldest it was another "first". It was exciting going through the process with him and the other boys were still there to distract me (although I did call Dustin a lot!). Then Derek left, sooner then what I was ready for. He got a job right out of high school in College Station so we didn't get to have a last summer together with him. And now, in just a few more weeks it will be official...my nest will be empty. I'm praying for God to show me how He wants to use me in this next phase of my life. My mom job isn't over but it is definitely changing. I pray daily for God to protect my boys, guide them, speak to them, and direct their paths toward the women that He would have them to marry...it is the greatest gift I can give them.