Change On The Horizon

Change is Exciting!

(and kind of scary)

Let me step back a bit and let you know what is happening

in our family life.

I know I mostly write about sewing, and my kids, and my hubby.

Well, here is a bit more about my hubby.

Before we moved back home to California,

Don had been a full-time music pastor

at several different churches across the U.S. 

As a family, we experienced a great many health difficulties,

several miscarriages, and many adoption

attempts that fell through leaving us heartbroken and 

emotionally and financially depleted.

Our last home, before we moved back to CA,

was a darling historical home in Historic Brownsburg, 

Bucks County, PA. 

The house was infested with bats and black mold,

but I loved it anyway. 

That house affected our health in a very bad way.

So eventually, when Don's parents built their lovely

home in the Sierra Foothills of CA, 

they asked us to move into it with them.

We gratefully accepted!

We have lived here ever since.

In this time, we have dealt with India's multiple diagnoses,

more miscarriages, more adoptions falling through,

Ahnalin's miraculous adoption, 

and then, of course the recession.

We started to attend a wonderful 

and loving church, 

called Twin Cities.

The people of Twin Cities loved on us

and loved us back to wholeness.

They were with us to mourn and 

to celebrate. 

The admonished and encouraged us. 

The showed us in VERY practical ways,

that we were worth more than just

the sum of our talents. 

They were the Hands and Feet of Jesus.

Almost as soon as we walked in the doors of Twin Cities,
we were folded into the arms of the
Celebration Arts Team.

You see, my husband,
and of course I say this COMPLETELY without bias,
is the greatest guitarist who has ever lived.

REALLY!


For 8 years Don played guitar
with the CA band.
And 5 years ago, he was hired
as the band leader.

Dave Bollen, the man on the right in the above picture,
is the Minister of Music at TCC and a very dear friend.
The first picture you see at the top of this post
was taken October 3 at about 6:30 AM,
on our last Sunday as a family at TCC.

Yes, we would arrive to begin rehearsal when the
moon was still out.
I love this place.

Ahnalin is sitting on a little stool on the stage at TCC
at our last morning rehearsal.

She was so sad that it was our last day there as a family.

TCC is the only church she has ever known
and she is fearful of getting to know a new church,
school, town, and friends.

Oh, I forgot to say why I am writing all this!

This is our NEW CHURCH!!

You see, Don was hired to
be the new worship leader of the
Contemporary Service at First Presbyterian Church 
in Santa Rosa, CA!!!!

Yes!!

Somehow, the Lord decided that it was
time for us to make a change.
And a WONDERFUL, EXCITING
change it is!!

Again, COMPLETELY without bias,
I can say that Sonoma County CA is truly the
MOST BEAUTIFUL place on Earth.

For years, Don and I have prayed that
the Lord would someday, in His Grace
and Mercy, provide a way for us to move back to this area.
And we love being in the ministry.
When we heard about this position,
and met the people,
we fell in love.

I mean,
WE FELL IN LOVE!

The people in our new church are loving and genuine and
they LOVE Jesus!

Sure, we have a few details to work out still,
but God has already answered so many prayers
and questions that I know the rest will somehow fall into place.
Last Sunday was our first official Sunday at
First Pres.
Ahnalin was fearful and nervous.
And because I had decided not to sing on Don's first Sunday,
I chose to stay with Ahnalin in her Sunday School class.

India was very sick and she laid down most of the morning but she
was there with us. So we started out at our new church as a
family.

Our dear friends from TCC,
Don and Lola Stamey, came to visit and support us
on our first Sunday.
Afterwards, they treated us to lunch at our
favorite local restaurant,
"Fitch Mountain Eddies" in Healdsburg.

And then, because I promised my friend Laura,
we dropped in to her daughter's
cupcakery called  "Sift" .

  In celebration, we each chose a different flavor
of cupcake and then cut them up
so we could each taste the different flavors.

(To my Prism diet buddies, yes, I tasted them all!)

After this, we drove around neighborhoods
looking for available homes for rent.

We are praying to find the right house
soon so that we can get moved in.

So, how, you may ask,
can you be praying for our family?

Well, thank you for asking!

Please pray for Ahnalin's anxiety during this transition.
She is extremely anxious, and we find that she is
struggling more with her PTSD and RAD than she has
for a very long time.
Please pray she meets a friend.

And for India, who is waiting to hear whether or not
she has been accepted into the Disney College Program.
This change and move is coming right at a time
when she is transitioning to adulthood.
And she is unsure what this will all mean for her.
Please pray that she is accepted into the DCP so that
she at least knows how to plan and pack. We all
feel that the DCP would be a great fit for her.
And please pray for her health.
She has an ulcer right now in addition to her other
medical issues and is so tired of feeling cruddy.

And for my Hot Rockin' Hubby,
please pray for him as he is learning the culture of a new church and job.
Please pray that he would be able to joyfully embrace the mission of
our new church home. He is making friends already with the musicians
in his new band, and I am so grateful for these wonderful people.
He is so excited and happy,
and I am so glad to see him that way!

For me, well for all of us really,
please pray that
God would direct us to the right house.
I am praying for a school where Ahnalin will feel accepted and
eager to learn. She is a great student but so nervous about it all.
I pray that our new home will allow us to get a dog
for our girls, who have begged for one for so many years.
I pray for a home where we can
entertain friends.
I pray for a home with a place for me to set up my sewing.
And mostly I pray that our family will be a family in our new place.

Yes, I know this is a much different post than I usually write.
I will be back to sewing next post.
If you have stuck with me in this post, thank you so much.
I am so grateful for your friendship and encouragement.

So, I have a lot of packing to do, in addition to
sewing some testers for other designers and
some custom items for clients.
I will try to post as often as I can,
but I really do beg for your prayers.

Happy Sewing!