Spring Break in Charlotte

Makenna heard that some of her friends were going away for spring break, and she came home one day and announced she wanted to go to Charlotte to see our dog, Bella. We thought about it and decided it was a good idea.  I (Sarah) was nervous about going on another road trip (especially 15 hours) with the kids after just driving to NJ twice in the last month.   Friends offered some fresh ideas of keeping kids happy in the car and off we went. I won’t say the ride was fun, but we survived and it was better than I thought it would be.

We’re very thankful for friends who opened up their home to us while staying in Charlotte. We had hoped to find a number of churches to speak to about our work with Wycliffe/The Seed Company, (TSC) but we didn’t give ourselves much time to make connections.  Since we didn’t have other churches to speak with we were able to go back to 0ur home church, Sovereign Grace, for several services and reunite with friends and supporters there.  Josh was given a few minutes during the Sunday evening service to give an update on our work with TSC.  We stayed busy in Charlotte visiting friends and family.

Makenna also got her wish of reuniting with Bella.   We gave Bella to friends almost  1 ½ years ago, but Makenna has not stopped talking about her and even prays for “our dog Bella” sometimes.  We didn’t know what to expect, but it ended up being a really nice visit.  We appreciate her new family allowing us to come for a visit since they just welcomed their first baby earlier in the month.  Bella came running out to greet us and showed us lots of love.  Her family said we could take her to a park for a few hours, but we didn’t plan on spending that much time there and thought it would be too difficult to leave her after staying that long.  So, instead we took her for a walk around their neighborhood.  Makenna looked like such a big girl holding the leash and walking “her dog”.  Connor didn’t really seem to remember her and was a little nervous.    I tried to stay composed, but couldn’t keep the tears from rolling down my cheeks while watching Makenna play with Bella (and actually, they just started rolling again!).  It breaks my heart that we had to separate them, but, as Josh reminded me, she seems very happy with her new family and we know it was too difficult to keep her as we prepare for our future with The Seed Company.  When we brought her back she ran into her house and probably slept the rest of the day after all that walking and play.  Although Makenna said she wanted to stay with Bella longer, she did a great job of leaving her behind.

Despite our experience of getting broken into last time we visited Washington, DC, we decided it would be a fun place to stop on the way home.  This time we took everything out of the car!  We had a fun time at the National Zoo and then walked around the National Mall and monuments.  Makenna just learned about Abraham Lincoln and was very excited to see his memorial.  It was different than what she expected, but still seemed pleased to be there, which we were happy about after that long walk!  We had the added bonus of having all the cherry blossoms in bloom.  The temperature was 82 degrees but it felt more like 92 with the sun beating on us.  When we woke up to leave the next day it was raining so we were thankful we got there when we did!

It was a nice trip, but as with any other trip we all looked forward to getting home.  As we got closer Connor kept saying how excited he was to get home.  When we got home, he said “home sweet home” over and over.  I think he got that from a Bernstein Bears book we’ve read.

As I reflect on our trip, I realize how very nomadic we are these days.  It felt strange to be back in Charlotte, but I know that God has used all of these moves to make me more willing and ready to move on and see what He has planned for our family.  We are excited have just passed the 70% mark in our support level and feel very motivated to meet our goal of being in Texas in July.

About these ads