from a message on April 13, 2008
We have arrived in northeastern Tennessee !Friends,
The good Lord has allowed us to arrive all safely and well. We drove four vehicles here, and only in one was there an extra driver. Yet, God in His Mercy, enabled us all to drive all the way, with brief breaks, and even allowing us enough time to pick up Aaron's belongings he already had at No Greater Joy's ministry (where he has served and worked for the year before our move). We arrived just after midnight, on Thursday, April 4. That night, we drove all 4 vehicles up a very wet gravel-covered dirt driveway, from the heavy rains on April 3 and 4. The hillside driveway is an incline at about 30 to 35 degrees ... rather steep, for two medium- to large-size rental moving trucks. hee hee! We prayed all the way up. And we were quite concerned, when we could not direct the larger truck, especially, to a place that was very level, for the unloading the next day. But we trusted the Lord our Heavenly Father, Who reigns over and directs all things, would take care of it through the night, and would help us move it just a bit on Friday. So, we went to sleep in the living room area, on the floor, with our sleeping bags, quilts and blankets, and pillows. The water and electricity was on, so that was a wonderful answer to prayer. (the landlords had told us about that, so we had all we needed, that night) Oh, the heating and cooling is off, and was off when we moved in, due to the landlord needing to install new heat pumps. They would have been in, when we arrived, but the folks he ordered them from sent the wrong size ones, so we're waiting until the new ones arrive. In the meantime, the landlords provided us with space heaters, which we use only when it's below about 60 degrees in here, at night. During the day, it's pleasantly cool, up on this hill, so we just open the windows, turn on the ceiling fans, and we're fine.
Unloading Day: Arriving late Thursday night gave us Friday to unload the first, big truck. We gave ourselves the morning to rest up a bit, taking a break to enjoy a "slow morning," before all the "lifting and moving uphill" began. We only had phone numbers to use to contact those who had said to call them, once we arrived. I called. One was available. Another family had plans for Friday. So, one family was able to come help us unload quite a few boxes, and ... we were enabled by the Lord, "El," The Strong One, Who is our Strength and Buckler and Shield, to unload things such as washers, dryers, our oven / stove, our furniture and our ... piano. Yes! We laid it on its side, on our metal cart, and rolled it up the hill, guarded on all sides by all of us, ... up about 4 steps or so, and then into the house, through what seemed like narrow doorways, and in through the kitchen into the living room area, which is like a great room. God did it! We even got the large refrigerator we brought out of one truck and outside, covered it, from rain that was falling very lightly, all evening, ... and the next day, we moved it onto our smaller truck, to be taken to the storage place we rented, nearby.
Will have to continue this later. The sun won't wait. We're going to our second church to visit, in a short while. ... see you later ! ....
