No Ordinary Week

Too much excitement for one week? Nah! We can handle it. But seriously, it's been quite the week. Two nights ago, I slept maybe five hours, and last night wasn't much better. All the excitement is good excitement, but it still keeps me awake, mind racing.

On Wednesday, just as I was finishing my third and final class at 2:30, a text arrived from Eli. It was a photo of him holding up a big, white envelope addressing him as "Elder." His mission call had arrived! I didn't think it would come for another week, so this caught me totally off guard. I told him to hang tight; I'd be home in 20 minutes. I immediately texted Shulamith and told her to leave school as soon as she could and to get home as quickly as possible, albeit safely. Eli had already texted Matt, who was on his way home, and called both Luke and Isaiah, telling them to be waiting for another phone call soon. Gerald was at work, which makes him totally inaccessible. He wouldn't be home until nearly midnight. Before we even knew when the call would arrive, he had graciously and sacrificially given Eli permission to open it without him.

I drove home, with the same level of excitement as back in October when Shulamith texted me a picture of her positive pregnancy test and told me to "Get home NOW!" When I arrived, Eli had just returned from walking Kitty. He said he couldn't just sit home and stare at the unopened envelope. Matt arrived, and we waited another ten minutes for Shulamith. Then we remembered little Seth. No one had thought about him. We looked at the clock and determined that he'd be walking home right at that moment, so we waited another l-o-n-g ten minutes. When he finally showed up, Eli called Luke, and I called Isaiah, and we put them both on speaker.

The time had come.

Eli opened the envelope slowly and methodically, taking care not to damage it. He put another piece of paper over the letter, so he could scroll down, reading line by line, rather than skipping ahead to the important part. Finally, he reached the part that announced that he has been called to labor in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission for the period of 24 months. He will enter the Missionary Training Center March 28th, just two weeks after his 19th birthday.

We all cheered in delight, those in the room, and those on the phone. Most of us have never visited the South, other than to fly in and out of the Miami Airport. We think it's the perfect mission for Eli. It just feels right. And he is one excited kid! From that point until long after I went to bed, he was on the phone. I mean literally (and you know I'm serious when I say that). He called family members and dozens of friends. He left messages for those who didn't answer, saying, "I got my call. So you should call me back." By our dinner celebration at Olive Garden, the phone calls were coming in one after the other. He managed to eat, but only taking small bites between calls. I had texted Gerald with instructions to "Call Eli ASAP!" He called on his dinner break, and Eli shared the news with him as well. Oh happy day!

That night Gerald came home with more exciting news. No, it doesn't quite parallel a mission call, but it's still good for our family, and (hopefully) for my anxiety management. He was offered a permanent job at the company where he's been temping since early November. It's far from his dream job, but it will provide steady income indefinitely and insurance benefits until he can find the job he wants. You can't imagine what this means to me. Let's just say that at the moment I feel healthy in every way, with only a few residual anxiety symptoms.

And if this wasn't enough for one short week, yesterday was Shulamith's ultrasound. Now the medical staff is quick to remind everyone that the purpose of the ultrasound is NOT to determine the gender of the baby; there are many more important things than that to check out. Nevertheless, it's a very nice side effect. Sadly, they would only allow one person to be there with her, and for some reason, Matt thought he should be that person. I've known her much, much longer, but whatever :-) :-) :-).

And the news is....

It's a boy!

And they are thrilled.

After Shulamith and I bought just a few cute outfits for the new baby, Eli and Seth and I took off for Rexburg late yesterday afternoon. This morning we had the privilege to attend Emma's baptism and celebrate with her wonderful parents, siblings, and extended family. It was lovely in every way.

And with that, we come to the end of no ordinary week.