Christmas in October

Christmas came a little early to the DuVall household this year.  Instead of on a sleigh that was led by Rudolph the red nose reindeer, our gifts arrived in a 20 ft. container on the bed of a truck.

Living out of nine suitcases was getting old really fast.  Thankfully most houses on the island come fully furnished with most essential things in the kitchen.  However, we had asked our landlord to take out most of the furniture to make room for our own furniture that was coming in the container.  So our house looked pretty empty.  We had been sleeping on the "guest bed" but we were ready to have our own bed back!  We had finally found our place to live and we were anxious to make it our "home".

At first, our container was suppose to be here on the week of the 11th of September.  Then we heard the week of the 20th.  Finally, we received some updates and found out that our container was stuck in the Bahamas.  We didn't even know why.  For all we knew, our container was taking a little vacation!  Then we heard at the beginning of last week that the reason our container was in the Bahamas was due to the "ship breaking down".  That did not sound good at all!  I gave up trying to figure out when we would have our belongings.  It was part of getting used to the "island time"...right?

On Friday, October 5th, only about a week after we found out about our "ship breaking down", Mike told me very casually that our container had arrived here in St. Kitts.  I stared at him and replied "No way, you are joking?!"  But it was true.  He was not joking and our container was really here!  I couldn't believe it!  All of a sudden, I started hearing Christmas music!  Just kidding.  But we definitely felt like little kids who all of a sudden found themselves under a Christmas tree full of presents!  We quickly called the person in charge and made arrangements for our container to be delivered as soon as possible.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 9:00am, our container was delivered.  After an hour and a half of unloading (thankfully they had people that were hired to help!) and checking off each items off the list for customs, we found ourselves standing in the living room surrounded by 200+ boxes.

Christmas was really here and I'm surprised we didn't put Christmas music on while we opened boxes one by one.  We were ecstatic to find all the "goodies" inside!  We had almost forgotten what we packed over 4 months ago!  Mike was thrilled to find a Costco box of Famous Amos cookies and I was glad to finally find my box that said "cleaning supplies" (You can tell where our priorities are).  Of course, our Megumi was babbling on and on over her board books and her long lost toys she had found at last!

I know that our container came just at the right time.  With five diapers left, God had sent me my boxes of diapers just in time!  Could I have gone to the store here and bought some diapers?  Sure, I could've. They may not have had the correct size available and I would've had to pay almost double the price compared to the States.  However, I did not have to do that.  Coincidence?  Perhaps some would argue that.  But I like to believe that it was another small way God was showing me just how He is in control.   It makes me smile everytime I see the diaper boxes.  I'm glad He cares about little things in our lives as well as the big things.

Yey for more diapers! (and my cloth diapers are here too!) 

One of the first things Mike did was to sit on our "couch".

Boxes and boxes...it's a maze through our house!

Four days later, the novelty and excitement of the boxes are wearing off very quickly.  I am still sitting here surrounded by boxes and I am tired of looking at them.  Our living room and kitchen still looks like a tornado went through and I am so ready to have everything put away!  But it is easier said than done.  I under estimated how long it takes to unpack with a 15 month old by yourside. Especially with Megumi going through a "cling on to mommy" stage, I can hardly get anything done during the day without Mike.  So what we found ourselves doing is unpacking after Megumi goes to bed at 7:30pm to about midnight.  Those hours were very productive but definitely left us exhausted.

Why is it that such a blessing and a big answer to prayer can seem to be the source of your stress all of a sudden?  Perhaps seeing all the familiar things, I am painfully aware of just how much I miss my friends and family.  Oh how I wish they could be here with me! (and yes, to help me unpack! haha)  However, as I write this, I am reminding myself of last month when we prayed and prayed for our contianer to arrive.  Yes, these boxes that I can not seem to get out of our living room, each one of them is an answer to prayer.  No more complaining and no more stress!  Instead, I will crank up the praise songs and will rejoice in the fact that I DO have boxes to put away and my belongings to unpack!  So after my Sabbath rest, I will go back to unpacking with a renewed spirit.  I will rejoice.  I will praise.  I will be thankful.