"the worst fire Colorado has ever seen"

Right now I'm at Whit's End Soda Shoppe at Focus on the Family off Briargate near Voyager in Colorado Springs, for any of you watching maps of the fire.  In other words, still safe, praise God.  :)  Mom, Chaela, and I stayed in a hotel last night and will be staying on the Academy tonight, and I'm praying the air will remain rather clear of smoke for Mom (respiratory problems) and Chaela (asthma).

I still cannot find a listing of our house, whether safe, damaged, or gone.  We'll keep checking.  All other houses on my street are currently (as far as I can find) still untouched, but of course that can change in an instant.

Prayer for rain and less intense winds would be greatly appreciated!!  We've got thunder storms in the forecast, but with the intense heat from the fires, it's predicted that the rain will evaporate before nearing the ground and we're more likely than not to get heat lightening.

Will update again when I can!


                                                         God is good, all the time.

fire

In case you didn't see my post on G+ or Facebook, I thought I'd leave it here as well...  I will do my best to update with key news when I can.

Please be in prayer for all those being affected by both the Black Forest and Royal Gorge fires, as well as for those fighting them!! Mom, Chaela, and I are safe and are staying with some good friends who have graciously opened their home to us for however long we need til we can return home, as our neighborhood is one of the Black Forest ones that was evacuated. We are so blessed! Mom and I were both out when we saw the horrendous cloud of thick, gray-black smoke in the sky and called Chaela to begin getting certain essentials and valuables together; we three were blessed to have a couple hours' preparation before the evacuation was even announced, and had all three of our vehicles packed up and ready to go in good time.

God is good all the time, even in disasters. I pray He will be glorified through this!

Bragging a Bit

My friend Gabriella and I had a long trip back to Colorado Springs this weekend, after an extended stay in Texas for our best friend's wedding.  (More on the wedding later!)  Long story short, our ETA moved rapidly from Sunday evening to Sunday night after a delay on one flight, then from Sunday night to Monday morning after our last flight was cancelled.  (To their credit, United payed for our hotel stay and meals and except for the fact we both had to get to work Monday morning, Gab and I had a blast!)  Anyway, when we arrived at long last in the familiar little Colorado Springs airport, a girl near me asked where I was headed.  I was a bit sleepy and the only thing, the one solitary word that came to mind was "home."

Isn't that a good word?  Really.  Say it out loud.  Say it as if you've been wandering and rushing about with strangers for a whole 24 hours after a week of crazy fun out of town and now all that's holding you from reaching that warm, inviting, special place is your checked luggage and a car ride.  It's a perfect word, I think.

But there's a word I like much better.  I have heard of the tragedy that is reality for some people, that when God is called their Father, they dislike Him a bit because of the poor example their earthly fathers have set.  I will say now that the rest of this post is operating on my personal experiences and understanding of the word "mom."  There, the preamble is over.  On to the bragging.  :)

You were so gracious to participate with me before; please do it once again!  Say "mom."  Say "mama" or "mum" or whatever you prefer to call your mom.  I think this word is among the most pleasant words I know and commonly use.  It is precious and sweet to me because it isn't just a title, it is the name of the woman who gave me life, loves me unconditionally, serves my family tirelessly in whatever way she can, sets an example for Michaela and me as well as others, and has taught or helped to teach me just about everything I know.

I would like to elaborate on a point I briefly brushed over in my last post.  I mentioned there that Mom is "always the one to do online research for cars and houses and things," but that hardly does her justice.  Every single time we have prepared to move into a new house, we all have our own tasks.  Chaela and I mostly stick to packing/unpacking boxes and helping with old house cleanup and new house setup.  Dad does all or most of the heavy lifting, naturally, in addition to packing and dealing with the garage.  Mom?  She has her hand in pretty much everything, but before any of our particular jobs even need to be started, she spends hours upon hours poring over MilitaryByOwner and other such sites, looking for just the right house to rent/buy.  It isn't an easy task by any means.  To be perfectly honest, I typically steer clear of the office altogether and beg not to be shown yet another maybe-this-is-the-right-one house, for fear I'll just get them all confused.  I still don't understand how she can keep all the information and exterior/interior pictures straight in her head!  That's got to be something close to a superpower.

I could go on for a novel and a half about all Mom does (trust me, I just deleted two full paragraphs so you won't be too overwhelmed to even glance at this post!) but let me just leave it at this for now.  My mom is truly astounding and I respect how well she is handling this house hunting on top of Dad being deployed on top of everything she deals with on a relentless, daily basis.

Thank you for reading this.  I mean come on, if no one does then what's the use of bragging?


[ The photo used in this blog post was taken just before Dad deployed by a lady in a company that does photoshoots for military families - for free, as a thank-you to those who serve our country.  What a blessing! ]

Here we go again!

Well, we aren't PCSing quite yet, but Mom was just informed that we'll need to find a new house once more as our current landlords would like to sell this one we've been blessed to live in these last 10-11 months or so.  God has been so good to us in leading Mom and Dad here; we've enjoyed the space to host many people and parties, a gorgeous view, a peaceful and pretty convenient location, and special things we never would have looked for (hot tub, steam room, mini theater, extra guest room, etc.).

I know these next few months will be potentially trying for Mom as she begins her search for our fourth home here in the Springs, especially since Dad isn't here to help her.  She's always the one to do online research for cars and houses and things (she rather enjoys it!), but I know my family and I would certainly appreciate prayer for her to find a perfect new house quickly, so to lessen any stress.

We'll be looking again for a place with as few stairs as possible, no cats allowed (hey! maybe now Chaela will finally get a chance to have a dog!), a place that's realistically near Peterson AFB and even more importantly near USAFA, near school and at least one of the TKD dojongs for Chaela, and well within our housing allowance.  I know God will provide -- it's just the time between now and finding our new home that's going to be especially hectic, I think.

When Mama told me just a few minutes ago that we'll have to move again, she joked that it's too bad we have to leave this house with its magnificent yard and its potential as a wonderful wedding reception spot.  ;) Hey, at least now we won't have to deal with the disgusting and under-cared for septic system, right?  (Eeeeeww!)

Anyway, there's one of the many new happenings from here in the Sadlo household.  Thanks for reading!