And our story is not perfect. Far from it. We are a flawed family of five, daily seeking and living out God's grace on display in each one of our lives. We continue to be humbled by His timing, not our own. But we remain ever grateful for those perfectly-timed reminders & affirmations and continual life-lessons as we confidently press on in striving to make our home here in Minnesota a reality. The daily strides for the five of us (since my last posting) have been nothing short of exciting and crazy and of course busy as we walked the MN State Fair grounds for 10 hours on that record-breaking Saturday, lost a very dear loved one, enjoyed the farm fall beauty over the span of a few weekends, endured more NV housing setbacks than we'd like to admit, seen the continual impact Legacy has had had on our boys and their personal faith-walk, laughed until we've cried, and cried until we've laughed.
 |
| Minnesota State Fair!!!!! |
 |
| Anderson's and Kraemer's--enjoying those malts from the dairy building |
 |
| Gotta do the Pronto Pup!! (at least once...or maybe 3 times) |
 |
| me & my favorite! |
 |
| And of course those cookies....yummmmm!!! |
I can probably assume there were some curious looks when reading the title of this posting. I can't help but wonder if when you read it you were perhaps expecting Kleenex to pop up as an incentive to read the entire thing or possibly a bunch of sad emoji's to greet you as you dare open this well-overdue blog post. That's not the case. (but do feel free to cry if you must... I certainly have in writing all of this!) But I won't deny that the entire gamut of emotions over the recent weeks have definitely ranged from sobbing to excited to angry to frustration to jealous of others' blessings to extra joyful of our own to confused to "just gettin by" to happy to questioning to.... overwhelmingly exhausted beyond belief. But in that same breath, undeniably content. Simply satisfied with the little, simplistic things. Those of you who know me well enough know how I treasure simplicity. As a mom, satisfied with my littles and the heartfelt smiles & boyish, deep-down giggles that continue to encore on a rainy day and watching them fully enjoy the simplicity of a single leaf pile (turned into a few).
As a wife, continually head over heels for the handsome Mr. Anderson who still causes butterflies to flutter as I see him simply walk by in the hallway at school or even glance in the window of my PreK classroom door on any given day. As a teacher, for those moments when that student finally "gets it", and in seeing a shape that resembles a cross, tell me that "this is what Jesus died on for us!" Yes. That's it! That's all of it. Game over.
 |
| Legacy's Mane Event--a super fun Saturday!! |
 |
| On your mark...... |
 |
| Carson survived the mud pit! :) |
 |
| Austin finishing strong!! |
 |
| Pizza afterward with awesome friends! |
 |
| Love time with my Ames! |
 |
| We love Legacy!! |
But really, it's not game over. Because life still has to be lived. And as I've written over these past months, you know all too well that our life within this move has been anything but 'smooth.' There have been more overwhelming moments than peaceful ones, stresses getting the best of us at times, sleepless nights rather than restful ones, upheaval felt to the core, etc. But while driving home from the grocery store not too long ago I was once again, ever-so-faithfully reminded that my time (our time) on earth is short. I'm not here to serve me. I'm here to serve Him. Jesus' dying on that cross was grace sufficient enough that no matter how 'unsmooth' the road, He deserves all the Glory and Praise.... tears and sorrows and heightened joyful emotional roller-coasters and all! And you can expect nothing less than a lot of joyful sorrows (read: a LOT of joys and probably just as many sorrows) when God is the Author of your faith story. Patience within the perseverance.
 |
| Fun sleepover with the Mulvi boys!!! |
 |
| Austin working on Bible study--he & his best bud started it for all the 6th grade boys! |
 |
| Soaking up these fun mama/son moments with my gents!!! |
 |
| Mason had a fun phone chat with Mrs. Rinas!! :) (his NV kinder teacher) |
No matter the "house hoopla" we had been continuously experiencing, (which has finally come to a close...literally) it's how God is writing our family story! I admit that I've tried, and even out of pure frustration, insisted and pleaded that He let me have the pen because my way, my chapters within this family genre, would be sooo much smoother, so much more timely, so much more convenient in my family's eyes, but it would be mine, not His. And deep down, that truly is what I want. His timeline. Not mine. He knows best. Whether or not we will ever know the whys, the delays, the deep reasons for the headaches and man-made stress. It's only increased our dependence on Him and grateful for all we DO have. Definite blessings mixed in with the chaos. We may have had to endure three extensions into trying to close on our NV house (which delayed the process on closing on this house....& those extensions coming even after that loan falling thru back in August with previous buyers) but we were still able to make these four walls of this MN house our home in those little ways, and at the end of the day it's me and my hottie-hubby and three handsome gents, centered on Christ and His amazing grace.
 |
| Fall on the Farm!! |
 |
| Happy Anniv. to my amazing parents! (56 years!!!) |
 |
| some mama/daughter time! (insert a lot of laughs of course) ;) |
The Minnesota fall air is autumnly crisp and yet mild, with God's perfectly detailed beauty overwhelming as the leaves show-off their spectacular array of color before slowly covering the ground with the crunchiness beneath our shoes as we step from the driveway to the front door. I love that sound. ;) We
LOVE living where the fall colors are vibrant, where the apple cider
tastes especially sweeter as it partners with the chill in the air. Our foresty neighborhood is just past it's prime with ripe colors for viewing of the Fall season!
 |
| Just around the corner from our house...God's Creativity is breathtaking! |
Within that drive home from the store I mentioned above, the song "This Is My Story" (the Big Daddy Weave version) came across the airwaves and I could hardly see the road as fresh tears stung my eyes with musical lyrics ringing true to the very 5 of us. (I may have belted out the song as I drove!) It's the lyrics to my hubby's favorite hymn, and what seems to be the very lyrics to our faith story as we continue to trust His leading no matter where/when/why/what/etc. Maybe part of those tears was because as I drove home from the store, it was on a day and an hour that this gal wasn't used to and part of the struggle is finding that new routine and know that above all, God's Sovereignty prevails. Within the questioning comes comfort as our Savior holds that authoritative pen. I pray that these lyrics will sink in, that maybe you'll even sing them as you read:
If I told you my story
You would hear Hope that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear Love that never gave up
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life, but it wasn't mine
If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him
This is My story, This Is My song
Praising My Savior
All the Day Long
This is My Story, This Is My Song
Praising My Savior
All the Day Long
This is our story....this is where God has clearly called this family of 5. It's exciting. It's hard. It's authentic. It's real. It's awesome. It's testing. It's the 'real deal.' It's trying. It's exhaustingly joyful and questionable. And yet it's everything we wanted it to be and more!!
 |
| Leeeeeeeeaves! |
 |
| Our new fall view....#home :) |
 |
| I just lost to this handsome guy at Dominos! |
 |
| Super fun day with cousins!! |
 |
| A fun day for these 3 with Auntie Karla & uncle Jim!! |
 |
| Austin leaf-blowing! |
 |
| Carson's turn! |
 |
| Those leaves have fallen! Family work day :) |
 |
| My literal barrel o' monkeys!! |
 |
| Austin will always find that tree to climb... |
 |
| Love this kid :) |
 |
| Making progress in our 'forest'! |
As we've had to learn that persistent patience on all kinds of different levels and also walk through some of thee most trying times of our marriage and family of five to date, we rejoice that His love and faithfulness have carried us though. I know I haven't written all of the essential details to this particular portion of our story, partly because there are just too many to consume your time like that. But I'm always up for some coffee chat if you ever want the nitty-gritty....and there's a Caribou just down the road! (yes, that's also an open invitation for out-of-state visitors ;) He continues to be our Jehovah Jireh, in His perfectly unexpected ways. We surrendered the pen to Him from the start. And we pray that you are also able to loosen the grip on your own pen and let the Lord Almighty, the Creator God write your story. I guarantee, it'll be awesome. Nothing like you ever thought you'd experience. Joys and hardships and all!!
 |
| Woohoo! House hoopla complete! |
 |
| Celebratory Caribou of course with my favs of course ;) |
And our story is far from over....
Let the Anderson Fam of Five house projects begin!!
 |
| #HOME |
