The mundane and the negative

OK, apparently I am in a once a month blogging pattern, which is not satisfactory to me, but probably won't be changing anytime soon. Now, the title of this post is, I fear, a solid preview. Nothing much is going on in our life (hence, the mundane). There are a very few things are going on, and today they are mostly negative. Admittedly, not VERY negative, just not very positive. And admittedly, as soon as I type something such as "mundane and negative", the Spirit pricks me and I am reminded that underpinning all of the day to day bleh, we have very, very much to be thankful for. Starting with Jesus, and well, ending with Jesus (with a long list of other taken-forgranted blessings in between).

So, what about the mundane? Suddenly this week with the beginning of the school year, everything is all about routine and schedule. Our lives, usually different every day and sprinkled with a variety of people, outings, sibling squabbles, and read-alouds, are now ruled by morning drop-off and the afternoon bus stop. We also throw in three meals and one afternoon nap. At times during the dizzying summer months, I longed for the boring winter routines, but this week has been a little too dull for my taste.

School itself is good though. Eva likes her teacher, Sra. Castro, and has nice kids in her class. She has two bus buddies, crisp, unstained school clothes, a gaping hole in her mouth left by one of her front teeth, and a decent ability to be responsible. All good things. Today she also had evening crying spells and angry meltdowns, which I can only attribute to her being a child (naturally) and harboring some unexposed emotional stress. Maybe she is a little overtired at the end of a full day immersed in her second language??? Perceptive, huh :). After tonight's bedtime train wreck, she shared all about the hard parts of her day: boys distracting her, teacher unintentionally embarrassing her, too short recess, coveting school lunch, etc... sounds like Jr. High to me!

Now for the mildly negative. We've been house hunting all summer in hopes of upgrading our digs. In early July we put an offer on a place, didn't get it, but it wasn't too big of a deal. Last week we found a place that we imagine HAS to be the very best thing for us. The house isn't amazing, and would need work, but the lot is HUGE and very private. Our prayer has been for a place that is centrally located in the city (or first ring sub burbs), but feels like the country. Kind of impossible, right? This house seems like the closest thing to that. So, we offered yesterday in a multiple offer situation, and found out today that our offer is the "runner up". This is a short sale, and apparently enough things can go wrong with short sales that they keep a runner up on deck, I guess. This news was pretty disappointing.

Now, we have certainty that God has good things in store for us, whether it be this short sale, a different house, or maybe staying put right here. BUT, of course I still felt a little deflated. We will keep praying, hoping that somehow our offer will move into first place. We will also keep praying that God would guide us to the right place... maybe this isn't it?!?

Alright, moving on to the quite negative news. We found out late last week that our nephew Solomon (Eric's brother Ryan's boy) has leukemia. Big bummer! We are so sad for his family and for him, knowing that they will have a long and arduous journey ahead of them. However, the doctors are giving him a really optimistic prognosis, so we are praying with full confidence for complete healing. Please pray for Ryan, Stephanie, Thor, and Solomon with us. We are confident that God has good things in store for them too!

Ok, now to end on a positive note. The beastly garden season is at it's peak right now, and my counters are covered with jars of lacto-fermented pickles, boxes of plump, red tomatoes, and bags of freshly dug potatoes. Vegetables are the name of the game, and the answer to any hungry plea. "How 'bout carrots? Baby tomatoes? Cucumber slices? Go pick some green beans"! Even though it can be overwhelming, fruit fly inviting, and labor intensive, I am proud of the produce and the hands that earned it. Gardening is rewarding!

Also on a positive note, we are going on our first camping trip of the almost-over summer (gasp!) on Friday with small group peeps. Everyone in our family is excited! Hopefully I'll blog again with pics after the outing.