Home Sweet Home

Thursday, September 12, 2012

Last summer some of the great people we met were Bill and Darla Moxon, and their daughter, Emily. The Moxon's live next door on the Manna compound. Many years ago they were instrumental in starting Manna, worked and served with Manna for many years, and returned stateside after a time of civil unrest in Haiti. Last summer they returned at the encouragement of their youngest daughter, Emily, who had been an infant when the family left.

The Moxon's are a family with great heart, open to the Lord's leading in their lives, and willing to open their hearts in fellowship with other believers. They are not ashamed of their flaws because they are able to praise God for the on-going work he is doing in their lives to make them more like Him. They have an amazing life testimony of their own, but suffice it to say we are happy to have been reacquainted.

Today, after talking with Nick (the COTP Director) we talked with them about the options for living at Manna.  Before leaving MN this had been the plan we had discussed with Jamie.  The choices were between remodeling a half of the bunkhouse/volunteer guesthouse or cleaning up a small 3 bedroom cement-walled apartment, attached to the main house. The Moxon's have lived at Manna on their own for some time now, and asking them to make changes on short notice is asking quite a bit. We decided on the apartment and Moxon's agreed to allow us to move in. While it is a very small space, it is somewhere permanent for our kids to call home and get settled into.

So we got to work on the cleaning project. Kirk told Moxon's we were ready to get started and went to find someone to help with the exterior. I went to the Depot for cleaning supplies. While there “Tiernacielle” told me she was assigned to help clean the house. She was a godsend! She could clean circles around me and seemed to know just what to do. Do you spray poison first to kill the hand-sized spiders or take out the screens to remove the coating of dust and bugs? (Oh man, Grandma Breems would cry!) Okay, spray first, is the right answer! Soon Kirk arrived with Blan and, you guessed it, or maybe you didn't, a power-washer. They sprayed from the inside out, blasting the walls and ceiling, and then from the outside in. Then after brooming out 2 inches of water, mopped the floors. All very handy, I must say. By late afternoon the bulk on the apartment was done and floors were nearly dry. Not as clean as what I like my house to be stateside, but frankly, good enough to move in and call home!

This little lovely was on the back porch... thankfully, dead!

The “master bedroom” is just big enough to fit two twin beds side by side with a small space to walk around on each side. A bunk was taken apart to construct our bed, with one 3 inches higher than the other. It has metal bars with a piece of thin press-board over them, and a 3 inch foam mattress above that. There is a 4 foot length of shelf with a bar below for our clothing, and large windows with slated metal lever blinds on the outside of screens. Metal bars form the outermost layer. You can crank out two different areas of levers for air and/or privacy. After they were washed and re-installed, Kirk put duct tape around many of them to help seal out mosquitoes and bugs. So far we are not sleep with a mosquito nets, and are not getting too bit up in the house.

The boys will be sleeping in a small room next to us, with metal bunks and the same set-up for clothes. The girl's room currently houses Bill's workshop including a motorcycle and motorized bike, but he will soon empty the room and we'll clean it prior to the girl's arrival.

Noah was genuinely happy about the small room to share with Elijah and hugged me saying he was so glad to have our own home. He is thankfully much more content than on the first night – which is an answer to prayer. Elijah is not so sure. He's concerned it might be too small and wonders where a couch will go. This is a fair question as the main living space is one small room with cement and tiled counter tops. There is a makeshift “island” in the center of the room, and Bill and Darla have kindly left a few plastic deck chairs for our use for the time being. Those few items pretty much take all the available floor space. The long term plan for a little more living space may include an addition.

So after a long, hot day of work, we hauled our yet-packed suitcases over and proclaimed ourselves “home”! Thank you Lord for providing for our needs and wants. Lord, build our house, lest it be built in vain.