Life - continued

So, after some time, much thought, prayer and convicting of the Holy Spirit, I can honestly say that I am thankful for the housing God has provided us for this season! My attitude and emotions continue to ride the waves of high and low tide, but I am trying to "feed on his faithfulness" (Ps.37:3) and not my circumstances! Life here in the country is really good most of the time, but everytime I get attacked by insects or predators INSIDE my house, I begin to forget God's faithfulness and begin to look for an escape route out of here! For example, one night last week, I was on the computer and saw Robbie swatting a bug out of the corner of my eye. I was pretty sure I knew what kind of bug it was but thought I would ask to make sure!
Me: "Robbie, what was that?"
R: "I think it was a moth"
Me: "No it wasn't, I saw it and it looked like a roach to me."
R: "Maybe it was, I didn't get a good look at it."
Me: (gets up and looks at the "moth") "Robbie that is a roach - I can't live in a house with roaches. I am going to go stay at the beach for a month and when I get back, I want a new place to live!"
R: "You wouldn't do that"
Me: goes to the computer and starts looking for a house to rent in Florida

So, after a long night struggling with the Lord, I awoke with a new attitude that said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:6) even if that means fighting bugs for my living space. With that in mind, I thought we should go ahead and purchase some chickens while we are here, since we might be here awhile! Robbie agreed that it would be a good idea and a "fun" learning experience.

The very next day we decided to go ride four-wheelers after dinner. We all put on bug spray and enjoyed our ride down by creek. When we got back, we discovered that our water was turned off. When we called about it, we were informed that the water and utility were 2 separate companies, whereas in Jackson they were both one company. So, we did not visit the water company to put the water in our name and apparently they like to have some money before giving away their water. We would have to wait until tomorrow morning to go to the water company and sign the papers. Naturally, when the water in the house is turned off, everyone felt the urge to have a BM! MV said, "Now we are REALLY living like they did on The Little House on the Prairie!" We decided to use one of our moving boxes as our "outside toilet" or "stinky box" for the night. I actually took a picture of one of the kids using the box outside, but my camera malfunctioned on me again. I know you hate that!! We all went to sleep smelling like a mix of bug spray and sweat, and Robbie had to go to work the next morning with no shower!! Joy that night was really a sacrifice!

Robbie, being the smart man that he is, decided to forfeit the battle of the bugs and call an exterminator. I protested a bit (not sure why??) but agreed that we needed help if we were going to win the war against these pests. Our bug man came on Thursday and for the first time, we went to bed without seeing any bugs! Success . . . or so we thought!

The very next night, the bugs were back. I actually saw them crawling under and through the bathroom window. The problem, according to my smart husband!!, is that the bathroom light was on. Now, I know I am not as smart as him, but somehow I remember having lights on in the city house and no bugs creeping in. So, the real problem, in my humble opinion, is the holes in the windows, doors, floors, walls, vents, and everything else! I went to sleep praying for strength, because these pesky bugs are really beginning to make me weak!

Now, for today. We were all working to get the house ready for Little E's birthday party. I went to the cabinet under the sink to look for a rag to wash the counters and what did I find?? Well, it looked an awful lot like mouse droppings to me! I am getting weaker! Thankfully, I visited Lowe's earlier in the week and stocked up on mouse traps! Robbie set one out in hopes of catching him - I only hope he is the one who finds him caught! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking of an extended beach vacation again! Glad we haven't purchased the chickens yet, cause they might not like it if we left them out here to fend for themselves when we can the country life and head back to the city!