Easter weekend

I'm a little late posting this but I've been tending a sick child this week. Vince has the flu. Poor little guy...

Well, we went back to Kansas to visit Greg's side of the family for Easter. We had to pick up a load of rocks that people had ordered, too. It was a nice weekend. The kids got to spend time with a cousin that's about the same age and they went on a couple of Easter egg hunts. They were worn out by the time we headed back home. And, of course, Vince was at the beginning stages of the flu. Yuck!

Seder Meal

I meant to post this Thursday night but we were getting ready to go out of town and never got the chance until now. We had a very interesting and appropriate dinner on Thursday. The boys came home talking about the lunch they had that day. It was a seder meal (resembling The Last Supper). So, we decided to have the same thing that night. I quickly thawed out a roast I had in the freezer and fixed it the old-fashioned way just like my mother used to cook (in the oven). We didn't have any unlevened bread so I used some crackers we had. We also had apples, radishes, peanuts and lettuce dipped in salt water. We didn't have any grape juice so we used apple juice instead. It was a really nice meal and we felt like we were having something similar to what Christ had for The Last Supper. It was a very enjoyable family dinner. Since it was Holy Week it really got us in the frame of mind as to the true meaning of Easter.

What a great day!

It was a busy Saturday for us but a very nice one. It started off with 3 soccer games this morning. Michael had 2 and Vince had 1.

Then a church in Boonville put on a huge Easter Egg Hunt. Greg said he heard there was about $30,000 worth of prizes for the kids to get. It was really cool. The church putting on the hunt had a little service prior to the hunt with singing, ministry, etc. and then they gave away several bikes. They had breakdowns for about 5-6 age groups for the hunt. Everyone went with they own age group to a specific area where they had layed out hundreds of toys on the ground. When they gave the word, the kids were to go out and get whatever they could. It was great fun. The kids really enjoyed it. They had jumping playrooms and ate popcorn and cotton candy. Plus, it was a beautiful day.

Afterwards, we took the boys out for pizza. And both boys got to ride on the tractor with daddy. Talk about fun!! I love days like this. Even without naps, the boys were SO good.

My heart is breaking

I had a great Friday that ended in sadness for me. Today, at 5:00pm I performed the most difficult job I have ever had to do as a real estate agent. And it will probably qualify as the most difficult job I will EVER have to do (or, at least, of this kind).

We had a family that had not made their mortgage payment in several months, had been warned and finally asked (forced) to leave. Another person from our office and I went over to take a finally check of what was left in the house since this day was to be the deadline for the family vacating the premises. When we were done we were to lock the doors behind us. The locks had already been changed and keys surrendered to our broker.

I was not looking forward to the job. I had already driven by the house at an earlier date and also knew their were 2 small children involved. As we got to the house, the mother and 2 girls were standing outside with a pickup full of "stuff" and belongings all over the front yard and in boxes, carts, etc. The first thing the littliest girl said was, "Please don't go in there yet, my sister is still in there." I felt horrible. As I walked through the front door I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never seen anything like it. The house was trashed with toys, food, clothes, junk scattered ALL over the house. You couldn't even see the floor because of all the clutter.

We walked through shaking our heads and making our lists of furniture still in the house. As I walked downstairs I became overwhelmed and tears came to my eyes. I thought, "How could a mother allow her children to live like this." I was so overcome with sadness and helplessness. I wanted so bad to help the children and make it better for them. God only knows what I could do for them. But I wanted to do SOMETHING.

I kept thinking, "There is absolutely NO excuse for parents to live in this kind of filth, especially when the mother doesn't work. Children shouldn't have to live like this". The girls were probably 7 and 10. They were such sweet girls. And they did actually seem happy. I just wanted to grab them and hug them so hard saying "It's going to be OK. What can I do to help you."

I don't think I had any other point to this story than to just get it off my chest. It was such an eye-opening experience to realize that there are people who actually live like this and unfortunately their children suffer for it. My heart was breaking for them. I cried all the way home. I prayed to God to watch out for the children and help their lives get better. I prayed for God to help the mother GET HELP and stop living like she had been.

Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for listening and letting me get this off my chest. I really don't feel better and I'm still so sad for those girls but I really do know in my heart that God will take care of them and somehow they will be alright. I HAVE to believe that. Otherwise, I think I would go crazy....