Starting Over: Progress

Baby Steps

So, when you've managed to dig a hole so big, it can feel like it's everything in your power to climb out of that hole.  You take two steps forward and get pushed back three steps.  The way a lot of systems are structured, it can really be difficult to climb out of a rut.

I've not had a good driver's license in probably more than five years.  It started with a ticket I didn't pay and just snowballed from there.  I was driving and didn't even know my license had been suspended until I was pulled over, so I got a "Driving with Suspended" ticket.  Well, I live in rural Alabama, not Urban New York where you can hop on a bus or a hail a taxi.  Driving here is not a luxury but a necessity.  

So, it's been extremely hard to survive without a driver's license.  This year knowing our taxes were coming, I had already planned on FINALLY paying off my last remaining tickets and getting my license reinstated.

However, I was told when I went to Tuscaloosa that by pleading guilty to driving with suspended would tack on another six months to my suspension.  I was completely devastated and overwhelmed by the news and was heartbroken.  

A Light At the END of the Tunnel...

Yesterday, I received a letter from the Department of Transportation stating that in order to be Reinstated I just needed to bring proof of taking care of two places I've already paid off!  So, another words I CAN finally, FINALLY get my driver's license.  

I cannot tell you how HUGE this is for us.  Finally, I can take my daughter places without fear!  It's such a huge weight off my shoulders.  

Progress on Living Situation...

So, sadly I've not had any luck on finding a new home.  We will think we have found  a place and either it gets snapped up or the deposit is an insane amount that we just can't afford it.  I know that there is a place for us and for now we've been fortunate that our landlords have been understanding, I just don't know how long I can appease them.

Hopefully things will fall into place for us and we will find the perfect home.  

Just taking things ONE step at a time....

Rebuilding: Life after a Fire

Moving on After a Fire...

My mother and I have had what can only be described as a rocky relationship at best.  However, she's my mom and I love her.  Back in April my son accidentally set her house on fire.  A scary thing to happen to a 15 year old kid...  And the devestation was enoromous...

The window to the room where the fire began....

 The fire began in what was once my bedroom.

My fifteen year old son was smoking a cigarette (He's a kid, who is going to make some mistakes) when the undersiding of the bed caught on fire...

It happened so fast, and he tried to put it out himself, calling 911 instead of calling my parents for help.

Clearly, it was too late.  Instead of leaving down the steps with my stepdad, he waited almost too late and the flames at this point were fully going throughout the whole upstairs.

Luckily, he was able to jump from not this window, but a window on the other side of the house.

The Dining Room

A view up into the bedroom from the kitchen...

The upstairs foyer...  You can see part of the roof is gone...

The view from the landing on the stairs...

This was a tragic thing that happened.  But, luckily everyone is ok.  My son, hopefully learned a valuable lesson and he's alive and well as are my parents.

They have finally been able to move back in their home.  While they haven't been able to replace everything that was lost, they have started to rebuild their lives.

I am really happy that they now have a new home where new memories can be made.

God can take anything and turn it into a lesson, something that can be learned from and also lives can be healed even through a storm.