Home Is Where You Are

The first day of school was Monday in the 'Ville. And as first days of school go, it was rather uneventful around the house.

The crankiest people in the house were probably Abby and Daddy. Abby was battling a cold, and I was battling the fact it was Monday. But the actual school kids -- that being Coby and Melody -- were actually getting ready for school quietly and with little argument or disappointment.

Later at work, a thought crossed my mind that I just have to mention here. It was one year ago, on the first day of school, that Coby and Melody first started attending school in the 'Ville. We were in the midst of our nightmare move that included the absolute nuclear waste mess that was our previous home's survey. It's a long story, and those of you close to us know pretty much what happened. If you don't know, trust me when I say -- don't ever buy a home without getting a survey done.

Bottom line was, we were in the midst of selling out old home and moving to the 'Ville, with one of the main reasons being the opportunity to get our children in what we think is one of the best school districts in the state. We signed a contract on our house in the 'Ville, when we hit the snag with our old home in the 'Shall. On faith we decided to go ahead and let our buyers move in and effectively rent from us while the mess was being settled.

The bad thing with that plan was that it left us with no place to live right before school was about to start. Since we had a signed contract on a home in our hands, we were able to get our kids enrolled in the 'Ville. But that didn't stop the fact we had absolutely, literally, nowhere to hang out hat as a family.

Aunt Donnis and Tony opened up their home for a couple of weeks, but eventually that had to end. They were in the process of getting their own home ready to sell, and that's not easy with one family living in it, much less two.

We were down to very few options, when with all my heart I believe God stepped in. At a very low point in my day at work one day about a year ago, I got a call from Stu, my good friend from church. He offered and pretty much told me it was time for my family -- all three kids and the wife included -- to move in with he and Lauren. I honestly tried to resist, but I didn't have much fight in me, I must admit. He was insistent, and, well, we needed a place to hang out.

We moved in with the Musicks in their new home in the 'Shall, and it turned out to be about a month-long sleepover. I am sure that, more than once, Stu and Lauren would lie awake at night wondering what the heck they'd gotten themselves into -- especially when Abigail might make her presence known at 4 or 5 in the morning! But they never muttered a word and made us feel as welcome as we could possibly feel as we were taking up half their home.

I say all this because my kids started their first day of school last year in the 'Ville with Jeannie having to drive them the 20 minutes or so to school, from Stu and Lauren's home. This went on for a month before we were able to close the deals we had hanging over us and eventually move into our own new home here. I can't express to you the despair I felt personally during this time, not knowing where my family would eventually end up permanently, and especially not knowing whether or not at some point I was going to have to yank my kids out of their brand new school and put them back in the same old thing we were trying to get away from in the first place for several reasons...there were some very dark days for me, some of which I can't even begin to express. Not even to my wife.

But God stepped in and provided us with our friends. And I will be eternally grateful to Stu and Lauren for their show of love during this time. We make jokes about it all the time -- the front half of their home is now referred to as the "Weaver Suite" -- but for a month, there was really no joke about it, it was a place we called home.

That was a year ago this week, and we've settled in nicely with our new surroundings. To commemorate the anniversary, I just wanted to express my gratitude and heartfelt thanks as much as I possibly can -- meaning I have to do it in writing because I don't speak such things well.

Thanks Stu and Lauren. Your kindness and friendship will never be forgotten. And if you guys ever need a roof over your head, well...Abby will gladly give you her corner of the room in the 'Ville!