Well-ness

Standing in the entryway

"No arsenic detected." Of course it sounds good to you, but to us it's like a song. The first well, the well that took MONTHS to drill, the well that was 8 times deeper than planned, the well that we almost gave up on, THAT well has good water! We waited over a week for the 5 minute water test to be resulted because the lab was backlogged. That seems to be how everything had been going...slowly...so we wait.

The building permits, the ones we paid to have expedited, they are still pending...every once in awhile the status gets updated...but we are a week away from 5 months since they were submitted.

One well completed, time to bore under a stream and under a road, and across our entire property, and hook it up to...our NEIGHBOR'S house! Yes, that's right, this was just for them since their existing well is part of an easement on our property.

I dreaded the second well...after the trial of the first...the depth of the first...the suspense of the first...and having to answer the question of, "Any progress on the well??" which was usually, "No." And then it happened. I almost forgot to look. He moved the drill rig...we waited awhile...he got some pipe...we waited awhile...and then the bottles were sitting there. Two beautiful (actually dirty) bottles sitting in the grass...WATER SAMPLES! The second well is only 40 feet deep and a plentiful source. The water for our HOME has been accessed. Tomorrow at 7:00am I will bring the water samples to the lab. They need to go in within 24 hours so the bacteria count isn't affected...and if the bacteria is low and the arsenic is low, we are on to the next step.

So in the meantime we do what we can. A bit of silt fence, a bit of tree trimming, color choices, siding choices, roof choices, hardware choices, and toilet choices to name a few. It's hard to get excited when the waiting has felt so long but it's starting to get real now.

 

"The goal of this blog is to allow others to share our journey of an expanding family and to ask for prayer as others share in this journey." In hindsight I probably should have written "our changing family" or something like that. Because in the last 6 years our family has grown, and shrunk, and grown again. And one day it will shrink again. But does it really shrink? The members of our family will always have their place, their unique personalities and roles, even when they are no longer physically present, their presence will forever be felt. There has been movement on Sweetie's transition, I won't be surprised if she moves by the end of this year. I also won't be surprised if she still lives with us a year from now. That is how "the system" works. 

We don't talk to her about each small progression. She knows she will move "someday" and that God only knows when that will be. Bringing up small milestones will be too anxiety provoking. For now she is in preschool here. She makes plans for her birthday (which isn't until December) and she continues to grow up. The little girl who came to live with us in January has definitely grown into a big girl. From not knowing how to dress herself to being a very independent 4 year old with strong opinions about what to wear each day! The little girl who couldn't use scissors or draw now makes beautiful art. The little girl who couldn't run across the yard can now keep up with Capper. The little girl who used to wake up with nightmares multiple times every night is now our best sleeper!! This girl has also memorized Bible verses at our AWANA program and can tell us all about how "God made me to love" and "God made me to help others" from Sunday School. We are praying that these little seeds will remain in her heart and blossom into the beautiful young lady she will be someday!

First Day of Preschool