"I get knocked down, but I get up again"

Alun and I were moving house. I was SO EXCITED about it as the first home we moved into was something Alun chose while I was working long hours and when I saw it, my heart dropped. It was an old (VERY OLD) yellow cottage on a quiet street near a Primary school and really, really far from any public transport.

Getting to work and back each day took me over 2 hours and the house itself gave me a headache. Every room had been painted a really different bright colour. The kitchen was bright red, the living room was bright green, the bedroom was bright orange, the bathroom was bright pink and there was a ‘spare room’ which was really large with carpet (the only room with carpet, the rest of the house had lovely wood flooring – perhaps the only thing I liked about it) that was from pool tables. Green and fuzzy. The walls were made of corkwood and horrible. Alun loved that room. Because of the carpet, we called it “the green room” and Alun would spend hours every night sitting in there and singing, bless him.

Anyway.

We were both earning a little more in our jobs, so we could afford a nicer place – and the lease on the horrible ‘rainbow house’ was due to finish soon, so we were moving. Again, Alun picked our new home while I was at work so I was worried about where we were going to end up.

The day he got the keys to our new rental, Alun took me after work and showed it to me and guess what? I LOVED IT. Wood floors throughout, high ceilings and on a busy street close to the city WITH A BUS STOP IN THE FRONT GARDEN. YASS!!! No more long, scary walks after work at night through industrial buildings with hardly any street lights. Woohoo! All the walls in the new home were a light beige and everything looked well-looked after (no peeling paint or horrid walls in the bathroom). It even had a separate toilet, so that if someone wanted to shower, they didn’t have to wait until the other person had finished in the bathroom. Huzzah!

Alun was working long shifts on his Uni placement so packing the house was left to me.

GRR.

I was stressed with Uni assignments of my own, but I asked my boss if I could do part-time hours while we moved house and he agreed. I then had time to pack our things and I was excited to move out of the ‘crazy rainbow house’ and into something with a lot more peace within its walls.

But I was overworked, burnt out and overwhelmed.

Where to even start? Should I start wrapping the dishes/glasses in paper and putting them into small boxes and marking them fragile? Do I start with bedding and towels? How do we transport books – in boxes too or just in open cartons?

I remember sitting on the kitchen floor and crying, typing out a desperate Facebook status saying something like “I’m so overwhelmed, guys – I don’t know where to start with packing up the house on my own“.

How do I do this, Lord? How?

About 30 minutes later, there was a knock at my door and I saw my friends Terry and Kira there. They turned up with big smiles, warm hugs (Terry gives amazing bear hugs), PACKING TAPE, Empty boxes and thick marker pens.

“We’re here to help” they both said, and together, the 3 of us packed up the house -ready for the move to a nicer suburb closer to the city.

It made such a huge difference having Terry and Kira there to help. They filled the house with love, laughter and warmth and I loved being able to have some extra hands on board and not face it on my own.

I’m so thankful for their practical help when I really needed it.

I’m so blessed to have such amazing friends in my life, truly I am.

My family might drive me crazy (MOM!!!) but my friends have always been people I can count on. I’m so grateful.

#thankyouGod #gratefulthankfulblessed #Blessed #Friendship #PracticalHelp #Whatfriendsarefor