When it rains, it pours....blessings!

Ok, so it's been a stressful past couple of weeks--trying to get the house ready for a garage sale while also trying to get the ceilings painted in every room...and finishing up the kitchen...ect. There were so many times that I really wanted to just sit down and cry--but I simply couldn't because there wasn't time, there was too much to do. I've never felt so overwhelmed so much before. And yet, every time I feel like I'm about to be swallowed the Lord sends an angel my way. For example, I talked to my new realtor yesterday afternoon and made an appt for him to come today to check out the house. Well, that meant that I needed to paint the boys's ceiling, the hallway, and parts of the living room in one night. I was internally trying very hard not to freak out--the above mentioned jobs take a long time! Well, my visiting teacher showed up with dinner (a welcome surprise since I planned on doing leftovers so that I could get started on my long night) and she offered to come back after the kids were put to bed so that she could help me. Do you have any idea what a comfort that was? I didn't care if she helped or not...simply having another adult to keep me company was incredible. We were able to finish everything in only one hour. It would have taken me probably about 3 hours to do it on my own.
Another girl who knows of my situation offered to help last week--I only know her from aerobics class (for perhaps 6 months now). I hardly knew her name, never talked to her in class (which is something everyone ALWAYS does--it's half the reason we go!) or hung out with her. But she apparently lives across the street from Ryan's parents and knows them and Meg. Her husband played ball with Ryan at church. They aren't members, but know of our church. Anyway, so this girl, Ashlei, dropped everything for an afternoon and came to my place with her two girls just so that we could paint Julia and Evelyn's ceiling. Talk about an awesome good Samaritan! I still don't understand why she came over since we hardly knew each other...but what a wonderful woman. I will forever be grateful for her help--and more especially the friendship which was forged that day.

Another blessing--it's been an absolute pain mowing the lawn. It flares up my allergies and Jacob's too (he gets a sinus infection every time I mow). It doesn't help that I have a HUGE backyard. It takes a good two hours to do the mowing and then add some time on to get the weed eating done too. I've been doing ok on keeping everything looking nice...but last Friday after the garage sale I was simply too exhausted to do it. I decided to go and pick the kids up from school and call it a day. Well, I picked the kids up and came home to find that my yard was completely mowed--front and backyard! Turns out my neighbor did it on his riding lawn mower (this man is like another grandpa to my kids--he's the best...even puts up with my kids's toys ending up in his yard and loves taking the kids on rides on his mower). When I was thanking him he told me it was no big deal since he was doing his own yard--it was only an extra 20 minutes to run around mine. :) I have the best neighbors in the world. In fact, I know that tonight while I was busy inside with the kids, he went around my front yard again and even did some weed eating! I need to bake some cookies tomorrow and give my thanks again....

Another blessing the Lord threw my way happened the day of my garage sale. I put up signs that strictly said I wouldn't open til 8am since the girl I was supposed to cohost with was sick and couldn't make it. That meant that I was supposed to man handle the whole thing AND somehow take care of two little ones? Yeah right. I honestly thought I was going to have a nervous break down the night before. I didn't get to sleep til midnight and then I woke up at 2am and couldn't go back to sleep cause I was so stressed out. I kept thinking "How am I going to do this alone? Heavenly Father....I can't handle this!!!!". He heard my plea. Ten til 8 the next morning a sister from my ward showed up to help. By 8:30 Glenn dropped by too to help. He took all the kids inside and had them playing while he finished up some painting on the trim in the kitchen. Isabel and I were able to man the garage sale without kids going crazy everywhere.

It has truly been a humbling few weeks. The stress has been incredibly intense, but everywhere I turn I see the Lord's hand in things. He truly has blessed my family...not the huge blessings that most people only recognize--but in every day little things. I think it's those little things that really add up. You know, I'm not keen on asking for help (unless it's babysitting!). Perhaps I have a bit of pride there. But I'm learning to accept the help when it's offered. It's what has pulled me through these past weeks, especially these past days. I can't thank the Lord enough for prompting so many people to just come by (or call) and check on me (aka rescue me). :) And I'm grateful for all these people who act on these promptings. It has been such a huge blessing for me and my family. THANK YOU!