A Difficult Decision

I haven't been posting as I'd promised myself I would because the last couple of weeks have been an absolute nightmare. It's also been a time of prayer and seeking the Lord's will. 

I don't want to go into a long detailed explanation now; there's too much that needs to get done right now and I don't have the time for lengthy posts. Suffice it to say that the harassment has intensified. I've turned to my attorney for advise. He told me I have 3 options: 1 - I can file charges of stalking and harassment and have this neighbor arrested (this is the route the police want me to take); 2 - I can sue the neighbor and the HOA for intentional infliction of emotional distress and failure to enforce the association rules (making me the hero); or 3 - sell my home and get out ASAP. After discussing this with my attorney, my best friend, and my children, I've made the difficult decision to go with option 3. 

I've tried through every possible means to resolve this problem amicably but my neighbor only gets worse. My attorney explained that with options 1 & 2, I would probably win a court case, a court order would be issued, but there's no guarantee he would abide by it. If anything, his behavior shows he wouldn't, and I would be in court every month trying to force him to obey the court order. I don't have the desire to go through all that, nor do my children want it for me. 

I have prayed and prayed asking the Lord for guidance and clarity. He has shut every door, so that the only clear option is selling and leaving. It's not what I expected nor wanted; I've made this a comfortable and pleasant home for my son and me. But God has other plans. 

My home is now on the market, and it looks like the Lord is going to grant me what I've wanted for many years. I have a realtor looking for a home for us in Central Florida. I've wanted to move back to Central Florida for years, decades really. If that is the door God is opening, then I will obey and be thankful.

That's it for now. I'm off to start packing. I'll try to post but life is on the fast track right now. Prayers appreciated.

Not Another One...

We interrupt this house tour to bring a special announcement: Hurricane Isaias is the first hurricane of the season to threaten Florida. This is significant for two reasons: one, the height of hurricane season is September - October, yet here we have a hurricane headed our way that should reach us by August 1. Two, it's July and we're already on letter I of the alphabet. That means there's already been eight storms in the Atlantic and we haven't hit peak season. 

Forecasters predict that hurricane Isaias will brush along the eastern border of Florida, but that's just a prediction. Hurricanes rarely do what the weatherman says they're going to do. While it's only a category 1 at this time (late afternoon July 31) it can potentially strengthen to a category 2 or weaken back down to a tropical storm. Either way I've decided it's best to be prepared. I've brought in my small plants to allow them to acclimate to the indoors, and tomorrow I'll bring in my patio furniture. Thankfully it isn't much. We're blessed to have hurricane shutters on most of the windows, though I doubt I will have to use them since it's a weak storm. Still, we haven't been through a hurricane in this new house, so we don't know what to expect. Will the power go out? Will it take long for it to be restored? We're experiencing a heat wave right now, with temps in the 90's but "feels like" temperatures above 100 degrees. The thought of no a/c is frightening. The water levels in the canal behind us have been lowered in anticipation of heavy rainfall, but will there be extensive flooding? It's too soon to know anything, but I'll try to update regularly.

We are praying for this storm to go out into the ocean and stay there, where it won't affect anyone. If you're reading this, I hope you will pray with me. "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:16b). Thanks. God bless you.   

Tropical Storm Isaac

In case you haven't heard, there is a tropical storm named Isaac entering the Florida Straits.  We are on the alert, getting ready for what is to come.  South Florida is under a tropical storm warning/hurricane watch.  That means we are expecting tropical storm conditions within the next 24-36 hours, and could possibly experience hurricane conditions within the next 36-48 hours.

Living in Florida means we know what tropical storms and hurricanes entail.  We are more lax when it comes to anything under a category 2 hurricane, but we also get ready for what may come.  Tropical storms are nothing to sneeze at; sadly, 3 people are reported dead in Haiti because of Isaac.  There are preparations that need to take place, and I've been getting us ready since yesterday.

We have enough canned tuna to last the entire hurricane season, along with a couple of cans of chicken.  There's bread, crackers, Nutella, peanut butter, cookies, granola bars, canned vegetables, canned beans, cereal, and several cases of water.  I brought in the patio furniture, locked up the shed tight, picked up all the small items in the front yard, and brought the garbage tanks into the garage.  The flashlights have batteries, and I will be charging phones shortly.  I think we are as ready as we are gonna get.

The question of putting up storm shutters came up, and I decided against it.  Now, before any of you starts going ballistic on me (that means you, sis), I have been watching the news and Hurricane Central all week, and from what we're looking at, even if the storm becomes a hurricane (which it is forecasted to become tonight), my area will only get tropical storm force winds and lots of rain.  I've been through hurricanes Katrina and Irene which were category 1 hurricanes, and we didn't put up the shutters.  Yes, it was windy, but we were okay.  For a category 2 hurricane, like Wilma was, we most definitely put the shutters up, but I made the call to not do all that work and live in the cave conditions that shutters produce.  We will be praying and trusting God who is bigger than the storm to keep us protected.

I ask my friends in the blogsphere to keep Florida in prayer.  Please pray for the folks in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and everyone that can potentially be affected by this storm.  Prayer is a powerful thing.  "Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice." - Psalm 55:17.  Thank you, and may God's blessings be upon you.

Prayer Request Update

My brother has been admitted to the hospital as they run tests and try to figure out why he passed out. He fractured his left wrist at one point when he fell. Please pray for healing, and wisdom for the doctors as they examine and try to find out what caused these episodes. My main concern is that diabetes runs in our family. He's been on blood pressure medicine, although he's been making an effort to eat better and has lowered his cholesterol considerably. We're praying it's nothing major and that he'll be back home soon.

Thank you so much for your prayers. God bless you all.

Prayer Request

Michelle Duggar, mom of TLC's "18 Kids and Counting," gave birth yesterday prematurely to their 19th child, a little girl they named Josie. The baby wasn't due until March and had to be taken by c-section. You can read about it here. Please lift this precious baby and their family in prayer, as she only weighs 1 lb. 6 ounces and is in the neonatal ICU. May God bless them and give them strength through this difficult time.

Another Update on Naomy

My son and I went to the movies yesterday, courtesy of Daddy, to see the new Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs movie. I was eager to see this movie which has gotten very good reviews. As we were walking into the movie theater, I got a text message from my friend Naomy. She was back in the ER. It was deja vu for me, because the last time she texted me to say she was in the hospital, E and I were walking into the theater to watch UP. I quickly texted as many friends as I could so we could all lift her up in prayer. As soon as I could, I called her up. She had a terrible headache, and felt as though her eye was going to blow right out of her head. After much persuasion from her mother, she decided it was best to go back to the hospital where she'd gone with the pneumonia. They were running all kinds of tests, so we'd have to wait for the results to find out what was going on.

Unfortunately, I turned in early last night with a migraine so I didn't know what was going on. This morning she called me, still in the hospital, with a diagnosis: she has chronic sinusitis. It may not seem like anything serious (don't lots of people suffer from sinusitus?), but after having been in the hospital with pneumonia and a round of antibiotics, it would seem unlikely that she'd be getting worse. The problem with Naomy is that her auto-immune disorder keeps her natural defenses down, and after being sick she's even weaker. Please keep her in your prayers. She's normally a vibrant, energetic woman, and this is keeping her from being her fun-loving active self. Thanks.