Move #8

I am happy to announce I reached my goal of ignoring my blog for a really long time.

Actually, I've deferred to writing in the physical form of the Millburn family journal. However, I think the following post should be left somewhere in cyberspace for our posterity to find. I will never know if the physical forms will be lost or even make it through the next move. Which is what I am about to talk about.

7 moves. 9 years. I don't think that's something to brag about, but its just life. Most all of the moves were anticipated, planned months in advance, and had much excitement built up for them. In the next two weeks we will move for our 8th time. Unplanned and unprepared for.

Its a local move, so its not like the Air Force had anything to do with it. More of a long winded story about a landlord who was not easy to deal with in the first place and who decided that selling his 60 year old house was best.

But I'm pregnant. And about to have this precious baby in 4 weeks. The same week the lease is up. And there is no paid team of professional movers provided by the Air Force.

For the record, I just didn't think it would happen. When I got pregnant last November, a happy little surprise, I thought, "Obviously we wont move in August, because that is when the baby is due." And I recited that for the next 8 months.

Yet here we are and I have to confess I can't remember the last time feeling so overwhelmed, shocked, and heartbroken. I can barely make dinner without getting tired. So packing a house seems like a punch in the face. Not to mention leaving the few friends I have made. Mostly, my good friend Shazia and her family whose children my kids love, her oldest daughter who is the worlds best babysitter, and not to mention our much needed "grown up" chats after taking care of kids all day. She is my first Muslim friend and I am her first "American friend" she calls me. I love her and her family very much and am not looking forward to not being able to see her every day or every other day.

The first few days of this shock were a dead end. Especially the parental guilt you feel when you know you are going to change your kids life.... again. My dad was here though, just for a casual visit at first. But later it turned into a "how much work can I get my dad to do in 2 days" visit.

But he made me promise when I left I would ask my ward for help. A ward I don't really know as I've been here less than a year and been in primary (of course) the entire time. I finally emailed the compassionate service person and laid it all out for her. That felt really good. Sometimes its easy to feel like the people around you don't care or wouldn't be there for you, but that is just not the case. True, people are busy, but they want to care. And the Church is set up so perfectly organized that service can happen. Once I contacted one person the Relief Society president, Donna Doll, called me up the next day and offered every service in the world. Meals, babysitters, cleaners, heavy lifters, and my favorite, the Missionaries. I don't need meals, and shouldn't need babysitters, but when the Missionaries came over that day they did plenty of lifting I couldn't do. Simple things like lifting a box of books to take up stairs. Taking down the drapes. And hours in the garden that I had let overrun as I grew more tired with this pregnancy. Also, one the few friends I have from church watched the girls so I could girls so I could get more done. She has 3 tiny kids including a small baby. But I know the goodness in her, all the Christ like attributes she has came into play when she took the courage to ask if she could help. I know it wasn't easy, but she made it seem like it was.
It really is embarrassing to need help. But when people have Christ in their hearts they don't make you feel embarrassed, they just make you feel loved and lift your burden.

I love this church organization so much, because it brings my closer to Christ in ways I would have not designed for myself.

Our saga continues as we continue to pack and look for a new place, but my burden is lighter.