CALEB: FAITHFUL

I am well aware of the popularity of the name Caleb, or Kaleb, but let me tell you why it's popular to us.

Matt and I worked at a boy's ranch many years ago. We lived with and 'parented' 6 boys that came from rough homes. We took care of them like you would your birth children. We loved these boys. There was one little boy around 6-7 years and he accepted Christ at our church, Lifechurch.tv, and then got baptized at Life Stock at Frontier City. (Back in the day, the church had a big shindig at the amusement park. The bands played and tons of people that had accepted Christ could get baptized in front of everyone. It's an amazing thing to see. Those big inflatable swimming pools are filled and people get dunked!) Matt had the wonderful opportunity to baptize this young man. I'll never forget his face when he rose up from the water... Such a happy memory for us.

His name was Caleb.

JANZEN: 

There isn't a definitive meaning of the name Janzen, that I could find.

 Love, Fruity Pebbles, Christ, Muskogee, Braves baseball, history, electric company, laughs, food, German, big hugs... the list could go on and on and on. These are a few of the words that help define this name for Matt and I. His list is probably enless as it's 38 years long. My list is 9 years long.

This name brings great stories and thoughts of Heaven.

Janzen is the last name of Matt's grandparents. (Read the family history here.)

I am Caleb Janzen.

Roots

I've had this post, idea for a post, in my head since the end of August but I can not find the proper words to make what is in my head sound clear to you, the reader. The only way I can think of is to ramble and pray what I want to say will come across and not get lost in the ramblings. Here I go:

Way back in August, towards the end of the month, we were still waiting to close on the house in BA. Matt had begun to grow annoyed with the process. We were standing in the bathroom, getting ready for bed and discussing the upcoming week. We had been told we would close on that coming Wednesday. This was about the 10th time we were given a closing date, so we didn't fully believe we would be given the keys that Wednesday.

Standing in the bathroom, and I have said many times here that the bathroom is a great thinking spot, we began to weigh pros and cons to pulling our offer and staying put. Then Matt said something that sealed our fate, "I dread signing those papers on Wednesday." Ouch. Dread? I knew if Matt was dreading this, then we had our answer. I told him to sleep on it, I would secretly pray his dread would turn into excitement overnight, and we would decide in the morning.

Morning came. He felt the same. He typed an email and sent it to our realtor and our mortgage guy. The deal was undone. We were staying. I cried. And I cried. And I mourned dreams. I mourned visions of my family in that house. And I cried some more. I cried for my kids. I cried for me!

Matt came home that night, we put the kids to bed and we both cried. We both have been waiting to move for four years! Two hours in a car Monday thru Friday has worn him out. Being away from us, getting up early, getting home late, missing school functions, no lunch dates at the house, lots of late dinners... Those things we dreamed of changing were not and we cried. What was going on? We felt God wanted us to move and now we weren't and we were very taken aback by the turn of events.

The following morning, Tuesday, I woke up, headed to the coffee pot and began that process when God hit me. "Megan, it is time for you to stop preparing to leave. You have spent four years waiting to move and not being present not only in your kid's life but in the life of the people you interact with everyday! You prepared your heart four years ago to say goodbye and in turn have made no real relationships. You have no roots! Plant yourself and be happy about it."

Done.

Bam!

There were/are things I have put off because I was waiting for us to move. In my mind, when we moved, the things I was putting off would be easier. Example: Buying a fish. Chloe has wanted a fish for a while, but I just didn't see the room for it. As God would have it, because we spent 5 months packing and decluttering, we now had room for a fish. Sprinkles the Betta and Jewels the African Dwarf Frog are now members of our family and I must admit, I like them.

Example 2: Riding Bikes. I have been waiting to move to a nicer area to teach the kids how to ride a bike. Our current road is a death trap for a kid. When we moved I was planning on buying bikes and watching them go. My vision was of Matt teaching them because he would have more time due to us living closer to his job. When God hit me, I knew we needed to buy the kids bikes. We haven't yet, but it is planned whereas before it was planned for when we move.

Roots! Embrace where I am!

Embracing has actually been fun. We have been making improvements to our house. There were projects we always wanted to do but since we thought we would move we never made them. They are now being done! The idea of staying and paying off our house is very appealing! Will we stay? For now, yes. How long? I have no idea. None. Could we be here for 1 year? Yes. Five? If we are, we are going to need another bathroom.

One thing I know, I will be growing relationships. I will be planting roots. I will grow here and stop waiting for the future to blossom.

KitchenAid Envy

I have drooled over KitchenAid Mixers for the past, oh, four years. 

 Like this yellow beauty. We shall call her Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Isn't she lovely?

Or how about this lovely blue? We shall call her Cinderella. I call these colors, "classic old car colors."

Matt has worked in Tulsa for four years now. Time sure does fly when you are married to a commuter. ha! When he took that job, we knew we would move closer. I would tell Matt at least once every few months, "When we move, the first thing I am buying is a KitchenAid Mixer."

 Then a year passed, then another, then another. Enter the fourth year. We have enough money saved to move and I begin KitchenAid Mixer shopping. We contact a realtor in the Tulsa area and begin the search. Less than 10 houses later, we put an offer on a beaut in Broken Arrow. The realtor told us it was a short sale but he didn't expect it to take longer than three months. "Perfect!" We thought. We could be in our new house early summer and in the neighborhood pool as soon as we pull the U-Haul into the driveway.

We passed the three month mark. Fourth. Fifth.

Once we entered the six month, we were growing anxious, restless and I was fixing to pop out a kid. Matt began having bad feelings about this process and we both knew that meant we needed to back out, so we did.

I mourned the loss of my mint green, I'd name her the princess from that one movie with the frog, but we haven't watched that one, KitchenAid Mixer.

Then it hit me!! If we are going to be here a while, by golly, I am buying a mixer and cleaning out a place to put her! Now I'm off to tell Matt my plans.