Both kids had birthday parties to attend the same weekend. Thats what started off our super busy week ahead. I spent last week helping my best friends get ready for their yardsale. And of course it wasn't just ANY yardsale, this was THE yardsale to end all yardsales! This yardsale was to help fund their adoption (or at least one of the payments). On Tuesday night, the kids and I, along with another dear friend and her kids, went to Katie's to help make all the signs and a huge banner for Saturday (yardsale day). That was a long, but fun night.
Amara's actual birthday was on Wed, May 18. My baby turned 7yrs old! I am so blessed to have had 7 wonderful years with that beautiful child. I love her and I wish Jon could've been here to celebrate with us. Emotionally, Wed was a hard day. Jon has missed a lot of the girls' birthdays. Not that its his fault, or that I blame him. It just makes me very sad that he has to miss out on such special occasions.
Thursday and Friday were back to back appointments and things to do. Thursday I went to the dentist for my regular cleaning. I hate the dentist. I always come out feeling like they cleaned my teeth with steel wool. (yes, I just put THAT image in your brain. and now you're probably saying, thanks Mya, now MY teeth hurt! lol) Thursday was also our day of prayer and fasting for missions at LBC. So being stressed out, along with fasting and crazy amounts of things to be done, didn't turn into a good combination. Amara had a Dr appt after lunch and then we were meeting for a potluck dinner to break the fast and pray as a group for missions and our missions teams, etc. Well, I didn't make it through the fast portion, but we gathered and had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer together. Friday Tay had a Dr appt (and no, I couldn't put them both on the same day, I tried, but ended up having to drive out to Ft. Eustis 2 days in a row).
Friday night....it was time to setup for the yardsale. We all got together and the plan was to "stage" the yardsale and put stuff away, or in the back yard and pull it out in the morning. Yea....that didn't happen. After we got the attic cleared of clothes, and some of the stuff out of the house, we realized we would just have to start setting up for the yardsale now and hope nothing got stolen during the night. Yardsales are stressful anyways, but when you have enough stuff for like 20 yardsales, its just that much more stress piled on. We put up some clothes racks and as soon as we decided we should go in to sleep a few hours before the early morning of 4am, they fell down. I don't do well in the dark. So once it got dark outside, I kinda got useless. I wanted to help set up still, so I kept trying to do things, but basically just stressed myself out and really didn't get a whole lot done. : / I kinda felt like sleep was useless too. the 4hrs of sleep I should have gotten was broken by me waking up every 30 min. So by 4am when I got up to start getting ready for all the volunteers to arrive at 5am, I was more exhausted than when I went to sleep.
Saturday came quick. There were so many people there to help with the yardsale! I was overwhelmed by how many people came out and helped Steve and Katie make it happen. Early on, Katie had asked me to just take charge of the clothing side of the yardsale (yes I said "side" because half their yard was clothes!). So I was giving orders and directions all around. But even though I was totally stressed out, None of the volunteers were. Which made me less stressed. They were all smiles and helpfulness on Saturday even though it was tiring and hot. And I am so grateful for all their help. There was a steady flow of people all day long. It was awesome! By the end of the day, when we finished tearing everything down and putting it all away, we were DONE! I was so tired that I could barely walk! We left at 8pm and I took the kids home, bathed them, fed them and put them to bed. By the time I got to eat, it was 10pm! They were able to raise $4,202 from the yardsale. AMAZING! Which put them almost at the total amount they needed for their next adoption payment. I am so happy that the girls and I got to help them reach their goal. It will definitely be something we always remember. :)
Sunday.....man was I tired! My legs were sore, my back hurt, but I went to church to lead worship anyways. Sunday was our churches military appreciation day. We usually just try to recognize our military members and their families in some way. This time, Steve had picked a special song to play in Genesis. It wasn't anything patriotic, or specific to military. It was just a beautiful song about resting in God's arms. Its called "Arms of My Savior" by Lincoln Brewster. I knew before-hand that Steve would say a few words about the military and the song, but didn't know exactly what he was going to say. Well, we always hear that actions speak louder than words. And its very true. I love my friends and family, and they can tell me they love me all they want. But sometimes I still don't feel like I'm that loved. But if you do something to SHOW me love, then I definitely know it. Well this song was Steve's way of showing love. I haven't told him this yet, so if you're reading this, Thanks you Steve. :) He talked about being in a military family and what it was like as a kid, but that he didn't see what his mom went through until he had friends in the military and saw how hard it was for them when the spouse is away. I've said it many times, being the wife/spouse of a military member means being a single parent about half (maybe more) the time. When they are away, you are on your own. Well Steve made me cry. It means a lot to me to hear that someone gets it. That they see my pain, my struggles, my hard times. Many times, it's all just overwhelming. And thats how I've felt for over a month now. Just overwhelmed. With everything. With life, the kids, cleaning, cooking, bills, etc, etc, etc. (And no, I'm not saying that Katie doesn't get it, or that my other friends don't get it either. I'm just saying it was nice to actually "hear" it.)
Monday night was Amara's Rapunzel birthday party. I spent all day stressing out because I had so much to get done and no time to do it. But, I got it done in time and the party went off without a hitch. I fit 18 people (kids and adults) in my tiny apartment and it wasn't that bad, except that it was so hot! Sorry everyone, my A/C sucks. haha! Amara had a great time and so did everyone else. Thanks to everyone who came and made her birthday so special!
Much Love,
Mya
Mya
picture by Lindsay Collette Photography |
Mother of the Year! You have more strength than anyone I know. Keep that smile, your energy and zest for life, it will serve you well.
ReplyDeletePhilippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.