Excitement and Uncertainty

December 12! THE day!

Lupe's last "working" day would be December 10th.

Seemed like we spent days of weighing out our options- especially when we had limited resources, no job/home yet, and Christmas right around the corner.

Lupe had been sending out resumes and applications at every opportunity, but had not heard back on anything yet.

My parents had eagerly invited us to stay with them indefinitely without any hesitation- this brought huge relief!

We had been primarily looking at moving to the Lakeland, FL area- this is where I was living while Lupe and I dated and we both loved the area- and it was in a central location to a lot of family and friends. But, no doors had really opened as of yet- so we just continued to look and pray...look and pray...!
With limited resources and Christmas so close, we decided it would be a good idea to store our things in Texas and return to get them instead of shelling out so much money up front to get all of our things in storage in Florida (a decision we would late regret). We rented a trailer to bring the stuff we needed immediately with us to my parents and stored the rest of our things in Houston.

A few days before we left Texas, Lupe felt prompted to call a friend of ours, Ventura, from the church and inquire if he knew of any jobs available in his field (Independent and Assisted Living Facilities for Seniors). Ventura asked Lupe to send him his resume and give him a couple days to make some calls. He did call Lupe back and put him in touch with a friend in the field who had a facility in the Ft. Lauderdale area. By the end of the day, Lupe had an immediate interview lined up on Thursday Morning- the day after we arrived in Florida. (Funny part is, Lupe had fallen in love with Ft. Lauderdale when we were vacationing there that August- and was always "joking" about how often we could visit there.)

We would have the weekend to pull last minute stuff together, we were to be at church, Sunday December 12, so the Pastors and Leadership could pray over us and send us out from under that covering with their love and blessing. After church that afternoon, the girls and I were headed to the airport to pick up my dad and Lupe was headed to pick up the truck and trailer to begin packing our things.

Well, December 12 came and went. After our last service, we felt good. We felt the release we needed and wanted, not so much by the Pastors and Leadership- although that was great, but by God! We felt more than ever that we were following His leading and making the right decision for us and our family! The love, hugs, and encouragement that we were given by so many helped to give us even more peace. It was an emotional day- but very sweet.

After FINALLY getting back to the house, I became quite overwhelmed! I felt like I had done such a good job packing up- but there were still so many loose ends and last minute stuff that I really didn't expect. I wish I had pictures of all of the people that showed up and stayed with us late into the night and came back so early the next morning to help and just show us their love- it was so overwhelming. I remember for instance, Hania showed up that night and played with the girls while I ran around crazy- then came the next morning with our favorite breakfast and stayed until we pulled out of the driveway (all these memories are bringing me to tears even now). My friend, Catherine, took the day off of work at the last minute and helped until we had the truck unloaded in Houston- not because she had to, but because she wanted to.

My dad, the girls, and I followed Lupe, driving the truck, down that long road- I remember wishing Lupe was with me as we passed the entrance to the ministry grounds. I cried out of excitement, memories, leaving where our family began, fear, and anticipation.

It took us a couple of days to get to Florida. When we finally arrived- and we drove past the ocean on every side (which I had missed immensely)- we knew we were home (I joke with Lupe, that I believe he's really a Floridian at heart). We unpacked the trailer and car, and actually unpacked and had everything put away in our little bedroom at my parents before we went to bed. It was very hard to say goodbye to Lupe early the next morning as he left for his job interview- it was a 3 hour drive so he would come back the next morning. We had no idea what to expect , all we knew how to do was trust God.............................