Over a year later

So, We now have another child! I don't think I have written since before I was pregnant. Levi is now 4 months old, Megan is 6 and Jake is quickly approaching 5. Time flies. Michael is job searching again, but this time we are handling it better... I think. I have been using Facebook to update everyone instead of the blog. I really don't have the time or energy to do a blog as well. Updates will be few and far between. I am really not sure anyone checks it anymore anyway.

I am one week into a new year of home school. I go back and forth on whether or not I am capable of doing this. Obviously I am but it really is difficult. Self doubt is always lurking. We start our home school co-op next week as well as soccer for Jacob. Megan ballet has already started and the teachers were so impressed with her ballet ability that they encouraged her to focus on ballet and drop tap since she wasn't as interested in it.

Levi is currently re-learning to sleep through the night. I has spoiled him and I admit it. He has had such a tough beginning in life that I have held him and rocked him as much as I could. Now as a little four month old he is cutting two teeth and I think it is waking him up at night. So, at 4:30am you can expect I am awake waiting for him to put himself back to sleep so I can sleep. I have been moving Jake to my bed each night so that it doesn't disturb his sleep. We will survive! We always do!

I think we get it now.

(Spring pictures)



I am attempting to write this without crying.

God's goodness is just so overwhelming.

December 2006 we moved here thinking we had it all together, we could do this and we were going to do it well. God had different ideas about who was in control and how it was going to be done. From day one when the tornado sirens were blasting as we pulled up to our brand new house until this week we have been 100% out of control of anything. God has kept us healthy for the most part and we have clung to each other through it all. I won't even say that it is over. But God has certainly shown us that if we are going to be doing his ministry it is on his terms and we have to have 100% faith and trust in him. We have all heard it a million times... trust in God with everything you have... but who can really put themselves aside and give it all over? God has allowed it all to be taken away from us. We knew that we had done everything we could and the only other thing we could do was to give it all over to him and WAIT.

Here is a brief rundown of this past month.

~June 30th was Michael's last day of employment at ***** mortgage
~June 27th and 30th Michael was given vacation days off
~June 30th Michael starts 30 day contract as business consultant for neighbors new oil and gas company
~July 10 Michael is offered job with large company 15 minutes from home
~July 17th (today) Michael accepts new job starting August 1st
~August 31st Michael's severance ends from ***** mortgage

Michael will not have gone even one day without employment and will have had 9 weeks of double pay! It's really all a bit overwhelming right now but the paperwork has been signed and turned in and this really is happening. FYI this job will take care of all of our needs and surpass anything we ever expected!

We tried to do it all on our own, we tried giving ALMOST everything over, but only when we can say with hands thrown up and tear filled eyes "it's all yours God we can't do it!!!" does he give us rest.

It's been weeks since Michael and I have been able to sing during worship at our church. We have been so raw, so on the edge, so overwhelmed with God's goodness. The songs we sing are so much more real. If we were to sing it would sound like craziness because all that would come out would be a weird combo of overjoyed, singing/sobbing amazement. It's strange really, we have been in the middle of our most confusing, uncertain, scary period of time and yet what we are filled with is praises to God. I have literally felt like falling down on my face because I have felt so overcome by his presence. I guess I really lack the words to describe what we have been feeling. We have been at peace and know that God will, as always, provide for us what we need in his own timing. Unlike the past we haven't been filled with fear and stressed out to the max about everything. We knew we just needed to wait for what God had for us. If this was the lesson... it's not been an easy one to learn.

Ted Griggs

Michael's brother Ted had his big surgery yesterday. It went very well according to the doctors. They had to take his entire pancreas and some surrounding lymph nodes, the gall bladder, spleen, and other tissue that could be effected if there was any cancer. Initial study shows that the cancer was NOT malignant, the tumor had not even grown!!! This is great news obviously. The family is very relieved. He will spend several days in ICU and then several weeks in the hospital recovering. He will have to take insulin for the rest of his life but that seems at this point a small price to pay to live a full healthy life.

Thank you all for your prayers. It has meant a lot to our family to know that there are so many out there lifting him up. Please pray for a quick and full recovery for him and continued strength for the family.

here it is

*Michael will be laid off as of June 30th.
*We got more severance then we thought we would.
*We are now facing some major setbacks in the moving plans due to gross under-estimation of our property taxes by our mortgage company.
*We have everything lined up for Michael to get his accelerated teaching certification over the summer!
*Michael felt like his 2 interviews with local schools went really well today!
*Michael's brother Ted is having surgery to remove tumor in his pancreas on May 9th. It may have grown. He will probably end up having a whipple procedure (MAJOR surgery) that has a 5-6 month recovery time.
*This last 17 months since leaving Charlotte has been the hardest we have ever had. Even so, unless God decides to grant us a miracle, we are facing an even harder next few months.
*Megan fell and we thought for a little while she may have broken her arm but praise God it was only bruised.
*We are all feeling healthy, worn out and drained, but healthy.

Moving update

Well, it's been another crazy week for us. Our property manager apparently misrepresented some information to our renters and they have taken back their 30 day notice. They were obligated to the end of the lease (May 31st) whether they lived in our house or not so they have decided to take their time moving out instead of rushing to get out by the end of this month. They were not aware of the lease terms apparently. Anyway, I have had to take a step back and re-evaluate again. I have some cabinets emptied out and all the books are packed. Plus I have packed up 2 large boxes of the kids toys and taken down some of the decorations off the walls including the curtains. I really have no desire to unpack anything at this point. I will have to find a place to put the packed boxes until we can move in May.

I am not terribly upset about it all. I was looking very forward to getting into my gardens and the kids having room to play without bumping into things. Jake wanted to roll on the floor this week but we couldn't find a big enough space for him to do it without hitting his head on furniture or running into a wall. Overall I feel very blessed to have this townhouse. It has been a great place for us to live for a time. I really started having a hard time with it after the seminary laid Michael off. I was angry, hurt, and wanted to get away from this place. Sadly, I have found more people away from here that I have become friends with. It was not my expectation at all. I found I don't fit in very well here. I am either not conservative enough, or something, who knows. Whatever! Right? Anyway, I am still looking very forward to going back to our house. I know God has a plan for us and is looking out for us. Right now He wants us to stay put for a bit longer and that's okay.

Things are starting to pick back up again. January and February are always a bit slow. We have lots of Birthday parties to go to, class functions, zoo trips, play dates, strolls through the Botanic Gardens, etc. I can never forget about the packing though, it is my lot in life right now to be in a perpetual state of packing or unpacking. I can deal. The kids are great, Megan is going to be 5 years old in only a few months, then I will be hitting 30! Jacob is in the middle of a growth spurt. He has been waking up with growing pains. I am glad we are entering shorts season... they don't go all high-water on me when he grows a few inches:) I am trying to prepare Megan for a "little" brother who may just pass her up in height in the next year. He has weighed the same or more than her for about a year now. I get the twins questions now more than ever.

Michael still has nothing to do at work. It was announced this weekend that his parent company is laying off 15% of their employees over the next few months (ends up being in the 5K range). It could be a huge blessing that we have a few more months to rethink our moving plans if he does get laid off again. We are thinking career change this time if it does happen.

Michael's brother Ted is going to his surgeon today about the tumor in his pancreas. He could need major surgery done very quickly. Please pray for him. If it is cancerous it could be pretty bad.

My mom is having major knee surgery on Tuesday. This will be the 3rd time trying to fix it but the most major one yet. She will have a pretty long recovery time this time and might even have to miss her annual trip to Kenya. Please pray for a smooth surgery and quick recovery for her. She is pretty sick and tired of being held back by her knee.

I hope you are all doing great! Keep us updated and in your prayers.

The News

So I have been hinting at some big things to come and now I can let you know what it is. We are moving back into our house! We told the kids this week and have started packing again. Our renters new home was ready for them earlier than expected and they are going to be out by the end of this month. We are very excited about going back to the house, the kids have been grabbing boxes and packing whatever they can think of. Looks like I am going to have to do some unpacking this week too:) So far they have packed up all their books, their dolls and stuffed animals (including some we had to get back out for bed time last night) and some clothes. Jacob woke up this morning and asked "are we still moving back to our nighthawk house?" he is still skeptical I think. As soon as I told him yes he started hopping around excited all over again like when we first told him. I think it's going to be a new excitement everyday for the next few weeks for him. Megan wanted to know how long we were going to stay at our house this time. It really makes me sad that this is a question my 4 year old is asking. I know God has a plan for us and reasons behind all the things that we have endured since moving here over a year ago. I would NEVER classify it as a cakewalk or even a LITTLE bit easy but I know that it has been a necessary part of our journey.

Michael's office had a big meeting yesterday and informed everyone that they are going to be merging with another company. The integration/consolidation will be complete by June 30th. Hopefully we won't have to go through another lay-off, but considering that Michael has had nothing to do all day long everyday since he got there, we would not be shocked. The mortgage industry is not one to be in right now obviously. Please pray for us when you think of us. We love you all.

Lovely!

The bad news: The van went nuts today. Look's like we are looking at needing lots of transmission work. After looking it up online we found that we are not alone in this particular problem with the Honda Odyssey. Techniclly speaking it is a "torque converter clutch circuit malfunction" now ask me to explain what that is...

The good news: Praise God we decided last minute to buy the extended warranty when we bought our van out of lease. It was so last minute that we had forgotten about it. Looking through the paperwork jammed in the glove-box while lumbering/hopping and skipping down the highway after church today... looking at some very costly repairs in the very near future we found the warranty papers. We gave each other a high five based on surprising ourselves with such a smart choice 1 1/2 years ago. Thank you God!!!

More fun news to come. Again God is blessing us and showing us that no matter what He is our Stronghold.

Okay, what's next?

Michael starts his new job in Irving on Tuesday. It will be a commute for him of 35-45 minutes both ways depending on traffic. We are looking forward to having the stability and predictability of a large company again. Of course, we understand that nothing is truly stable in this market but hopefully you get what I mean.

Mom came to visit and we had a great time. She had lots of time for tea parties, book reading, general hanging out and fun.

Megan was diagnosed on Thursday with influenza type A. We won't miss our flu shots next year for sure. Megan, Jacob and Michael (and possible my mom) are on Tamiflu. They said I really have no hope, and as expected I am felling "wiggly" this morning.

I have decided (with Michael blessing) to pursue the mortgage business again. We have the brokers license and all the resources we need but Michael won't be able to pursue it as he will be working for a mortgage company. I am actually pretty excited about it. I have been putting flyers in mailboxes and going to visit builders and showing them some of our programs. I will be doing it part time while Megan is in school. If it get busy I will put Jake in a 2 day preschool and really put some more work into it. After I get some business in (mom will originate the loans per the law) I will go to the 3 day class then take the test for my license. My main focus will still be my favorite job of Mommy!

Keep checking on us, there are big things to come...I'm sure!

Deal!

They offered, we countered, they came back with their final offer and we said "DEAL". Michael starts his new job at Avelo Mortgage in Irving on the 19th. It is so nice to have that process over. THANK YOU for praying for us. God is good.

Yeehaw!

Michael got the job offer this evening!!! More details to follow on Monday. Also, Michael had a great Birthday today, thanks to all who called or emailed. God is good.

...

Again, just a little update on us. Michael is still job searching. He did have his interview which he felt went well but they haven't offered the job to him yet. We should know by Friday (HIS BIRTHDAY FYI). Today he is taking his older brother to the hospital for a procedure on his pancreas, yesterday we visited our niece after she had her gall bladder removed and on Sunday after church we went to Mckinney to clean Michael's Dads house for him before he came home from his quadruple bypass surgery.

Yes, it can seem overwhelming at times, many times in fact, but Michael and I have a sense of calm about everything. We know God brought us here for a reason, now we need to figure out what that is I guess. We have had our illusions of what life for us is supposed to look like totally shattered apart. But still, we know that no matter what, God is working out His plan for us and we need to be diligent to seek after Him.

~R

Good news at last!!!

Michael's dad's surgery went better than expected. He did end up having a quadruple-bypass, but everything went very well. He might even be going home on Monday! Wild isn't it. He is doing very well in recovery.

Also, Michael got a call on one of the many job applications and it ended up being a 1 1/2 hour phone interview. He has an official interview on monday at 2pm. The company is a bit of a drive but at this point it's not really an issue. We are really hoping this one pans out really well for us. All of Michael's classes are at night or internet so it won't conflict with work.

More as it develops. Thanks to all of you who have sent us messages, it is very encouraging to hear from you. I haven't responded to many as Michael has been on the computer most of the time diligently working to find a job. Thanks again for your support.

Michael's Dad

Michael's dad, Grant Griggs, will be having triple bypass surgery tomorrow at 11am in Mckinney, TX. Please pray for him, the doctors, Crystal (his wife), and the family as they are there to support him. Michael is going tonight and will be staying the night because it is over an hours drive from here. The procedure is supposed to last 4 or more hours.

Michael's Dad

Please pray for Michael's Dad, Grant. He had a heart attack last night and we just found out about it. I don't know the details, but it seems like he is okay based on the fact that he is no longer in the ICU. But he is expected to be in the hospital for a little while. Michael has a lot on his plate right now, including the unexpected lay-off from the seminary, all of us being sick again, classes starting, no job in sight and now his father has had a heart attack. Needless to say everyone involved needs some major prayer!!!

Update

Here is a brief (because it has to be) update on us. Michael has applied to MANY companies and job postings, we have had 2 positive feedback emails but nothing has come of those yet. We are dealing with a lot of decisions coming up. Megan will be attending kindergarden this year so we need to decide relatively soon what we are going to do. Depending on where Michael gets a job we may move off campus closer to where he works and closer to the church we have been attending. If you want details feel free to email me. Needless to say, please pray for us as we face these difficult decisions.

Off to an interesting start for the year.

Michael has been laid off. Yes, we start the year off with going into work and hearing "we are restructuring and your position is no longer necessary". Thanks so much! Anyway, we were praying for God to give us a clear answer to what we should do for our next step. Well, here is the answer! Find a better job. We deserve better.

December?

It's 85 degrees today, December 7th and it's 85! It's just strange to me... I want to bundle up the kids in their jammas and blankets and go out looking at Christmas lights with Michael and the kids drinking our hot chocolate and feeling so warm and cozy in the van. It's just a bit hard to get into what I know as the Christmas mentality in shorts and a t-shirt. Even in Charlotte it was never this warm. Oh well, we will be bringing our coats with us when we go to Charlotte for Christmas. Then maybe we will be loving the weather here when we get back.

It's finals week next week. I have a research paper and 2 finals on Tuesday, then it's freedom! Actually, the mountains of clean yet unfolded laundry, stacks of papers to be filed, and general underlying disorder that has built up over the last few weeks needs to be addressed, but at least that can be done in my jammas with Christmas music playing and without too much thought.

November

Update on us:

We are going to Charlotte for Christmas! We are excited about being in NC again. We have only really had 24 hours total in Charlotte in the last year. I can't believe it's been a year and yet we feel like we have been here for a very long time. We have had a lot happen in the last year, moved twice (sort of 3 times actually!), job changes, life changes, school changes, man! Anyway, we are having a great time living so close to campus in our little townhouse.

Some new things to consider. I had Megan's first parent teacher meeting which went very well. Her teacher recommended that Megan go into kindergarden next year. SUPRISE! She said she thought Megan would be bored in pre-school, I happen to agree. Megan has asked me "when are you going to teach me how to read?" almost everyday for over a week now. So I researched some books and ordered "teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons". She checks the mail everyday now in antisipation of the book getting here. "Hungry to learn" is also something her teacher expressed. Anyway, we have now started the task of figuring out where she should go to school next year. Public school in this area are really bad so that is out, private schools are super expensive, and I don't think I am ready to homeschool right now. We have found a school called Christian Life Preparatory that is a university style school. Basicly it is a private school/homeschool hybrid. They go to class 2 days a week and are sent home with lots of homework for the other days, and it's about 1/3 the cost of full time private school. I really want this school to work out. We know that if it's Gods will for us He will make it work.

Jacob is turning 3 years old next week. I can't believe that my baby is going to be 3. He doesn't like me to call him my baby anymore, he insists that he is a big boy. Of course he is, but he is still MY baby!!! Anyway, he is having a Thomas the Train Birthday party tomorrow, he has been planning it since Megans Birthday in June. He knows exactly what he wants, presents and all. He has been asking for a Thomas the Train laptop for months now (Grandma Cherry is making sure he gets it!) and even had the guest list set all up. We are going to do our best to make sure his day is very special. Grandma Donna is even making him a Thomas the Train cake! He is going to be so excited.

I have applied for a job at a local pre-school as a sub teacher while Megan is at her school. Jacob will get to go for free and I will get to make some extra income for us. I have registered for classes for next semester, 7 hours this time! We shall see if I can do it. God keeps providing for us even when we think we can't make it work. It's almost like going back to when we first got married, except we have 2 kids along for the ride. Makes life fun! Today when I went to the free food line here on campus they were giving away frozen turkeys and all the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner. Never would have thought a year ago that I would have even been in a free food line, but most of all that I would be so incredibly greatful for a free turkey and fixings for Thanksgiving. God has changed our perspectives on a lot of things.

This week we went through everything in our storage unit to attempt to move into a smaller less expensive one. We ended up taking about 5 big boxes of clothes, toys, household goods and some furniture home with us to give away. We set all the stuff out in front of our townhouse and put signs up letting everyone know that it was all free. There were so many people looking through everything and thanking me for giving it all away. I want to thank those of you who have given us so much. There are now lots of little Korean and American seminary kids running around with clothes that say "Greek" on the tag, or with things from various Charlotte,NC botiques, the Schuler exer-saucer (a little worn out now but still usable) went to a Chinese family across the street, my parents old kitchen table went to a family with 5 kids to use as a homechool desk, it really is so much fun to give it all away. The rest went to the seminary ministry called the Helping Hands House. Seminary students can go there and get any thing they want for free. Lots of international students have nothing when they get here and are able to furnish their appartments for free.

Okay, I will stop rambling now! I hope you all have an incredible Thanksgiving Holiday. We are Thankful for all of you, Rebecca

Keeping busy

So, with my classes (2 papers due soon), Megan's school events, teaching jake and keeping track of all Michael's stuff I am keeping very busy. Today Michael is going to the race with his brothers and I have the entire morning to chill out at home before the day starts rolling. We have a class get together for Megan at Chuck-E-Cheese then it's off to N. Richland for Dinner with my Grandpa who is in from Charlotte for a few days. Yesterday we had a Birthday party at the Zoo in the morning and one 30 minutes away after lunch. I know it is my choice to go or not, or to pick one but I have a hard time with that. But I was exhausted by the time 4pm came around. I had been accidentally bitten, Jake fell from who knows where at the playground at party #2 and got a huge welt on his head (the debate on whether or not to go to urgent care ensued), and Megan had scraped both knees and bumped her head. Good things though were that I met a new friend and have playdates with her and her son to look forward to, Jake ended up being okay (I was up several time during the night to check on him though), and the kids were just as tired as I was and went to bed without a fight. I have to keep perspective!

Here's a fun note, we are going to Charlotte for Christmas! We will be flying in on the 21st, Michael will be going home on the 26th and I will go home with the kids on the 28th. We are excited to see family and friends and check out what's new in town. It's been a year almost since we moved and we have only been back one time for about 24 hours. If anyone wants to schedule a get together let me know.

Megan's first ER visit

So we just got back from the ER at Cooks Childrens hospital. Megan and I were home having a girls night (actually I have a stomach bug and sent Michael and Jacob to dinner at his brothers while Megan and I stayed here to watch movies). Megan was doing crafts and I was doing some paper work at the kitchen table. All the sudden Megan screamed that she had cut her finger, in a moments time I realized that while I was absorbed in my papers she had begun to cut pipe cleaners into small pieces in order to bind her book together. She had been trying to cut through a big pipe cleaner, obviously using a good amount of force, and instead had cut into her finger. Turns out she took a good little piece out of the side of the tip of her index finger, about the size of 2 small grains of rice. After lots of blood and screaming I determined that the ER was in order. Michael was 30 min away but eventually got there, we went to the ER and in 10 min Megan was smiling and we were heading home. We walked in, I quietly told them the situation, they looked, called a wound specialist, 30 seconds later 2 showed up, they said stitches were not necissary (thank you God!!! I already had an upset stomach and Megan was hoarse from crying so much), cleaned it (by far the worst part!) Michael cried because it was painful to watch Megan being hurt and being so brave about it, neosporin, 2 band-aids, 3 stickers and we were out the door to go get Jacob from Grants house and on to Mcdonalds for cookies for bravery! By far the best ER visit I have ever had! Thank you Cooks Childrens Hospital! No wonder everyone says they are the best. Mommy will be paying a lot more attention when Megan has the scissors (safety or not!) and I think Megans pipe cleaner cutting days are over:)