Virginia here we come- hopefully!

We have had amazing family time over the past few weeks (I'll post more on that later, pics & stuff) but we are now in route to virginia for two months of training. We left at 8am yesterday, making amazing time & our kids are traveling angels at this point. 5 hours in, in flash flood zones & pouring rain, heavy traffic on i10 & our van breaks down! So here we are in Baton Rouge, la with 3 littles sitting on the side of  i10 in heavy traffic waiting for a tow truck. We get towed to a ford dealership who says they can't even look at our vehicle until Monday. We are supposed to report to va by Monday. We know what is wrong with it because it has happened before, water in the engine. We go to enterprise to rent a car for the night and get a hotel, while there, maddy proceeds to choke on a cookie where I am with all three kids by myself. I beat it out of her and she throws up all over makayla, me, Nate, and the floor! Everyone justs stares at us while I try to get my kids to the bathroom to clean up. Thank God for this guy who hangs up his phone to help us while everyone else just stares. He looked like the last person in the room that would have helped, yet he was the one who went out of his way. Reminds me not to judge.  We got a rental and a room. We had major decisions to make at this point, how will we get to va by Monday with all of our luggage? What will we do with the van? Should we fly? What do we do about the hotels we have already booked and paid for? After many phone calls, our uncle has a vehicle we can use for the next 2 months that stephen's parents are bringing up now. We have sold our van as scrap and should continue our journey this afternoon. Props to my husband who has done an incredible job in the midst of a very stressful situation and to all my kids who are so flexible and find joy in everything! Just one of the adventures in the lives of the Alexanders! Praise God for all of the provisions and lessons He is teaching us each day!

Packing & Crating

Our moving, packing, selling process has been very long and drawn out. It all began back in January when we got back from Christmas. Our goal was to declutter our house in order for us to put our house on the market by the first of February. Our house had to be sold by mid April because you are not allowed to be in any debt with the company we are moving with. We thought it would take a couple of months for our house to sell and we would be in Lubbock until the end of May. Well that was our plan, however God's plan was different. Our house sold in less than 48 hours! Therefore, our declutter strategy turned into a get rid of everything fast. At this point, our country was on the "Do Not Crate" list which meant, for a family of 5, we had to fit everything we wanted to carry into 10 suitcases. We spent the next month going through everything trying to figure out what we would need to live on in the States over the next 7 months, what we would need overseas, and what we would store. Everything else was sold or sadly thrown away :( For those of you who know me, you know how cheap I am and how hard it is for me to throw something away that still has use in it.

We all had our individual breakdowns during this process. Our girls were seeing everything they knew going out the door, their bed, toys, clothes, bikes, …. You would think their breakdowns would be over something sentimental right? No- Makayla broke down over a basket we put our outdoor shoes in "But what are we going to put our shoes in?!"  Madyson started carrying around her toothbrush holding it close to her chest and rocking it back and forth "I don't want to get rid of my toothbrush mommy!"  I said, "Baby, I think we can take that one with us :)" My breakdown was over a stuffed bear that had no sentimental value at all! And the roller coaster ride had begun…

After we moved out of our house, the kids and I went to stay with family while Stephen continued to work in Lubbock bunking with a friend and then getting a house from our church for a couple of months. When we reunited, we found out that we could now crate to our country. This was a huge blessing as there were some sentimental items we were hoping to carry along with some items you cannot get that we wanted to take. We also began to shop! Some items, such as clothes, are approximately 3-4 times as much as they are here in the States. Therefore, we stocked up on childrens' clothes for the next 3-4 years!

So all that to say… here is what we are left with/ blessed with :)

80 cubit feet of clothes, sheets, kitchen items, home decor, toys, art, and a bike. Probably still too much but it has been a cleansing experience!

“Look at the lilies! They don’t toil and spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are." Luke 12:27