My Incredible Husband

BB - 8 (yesterday)
BB - 2 (so far today) + 3 (2 dead) = 5

There are no words to truly express how grateful I am for my husband. During this whole dreadful ordeal he has been my constant supporter and has listened to me cry, get angry, question, complain, etc. and has done amazing things to the house to try to protect his family. I know he is as tired as I am, yet he continues to move forward and figure out new things he can try to rid our house of these bed bugs. Without him I would never have gone as far as I have in this problem. He has even given me permission to escape the house if it ever becomes too much. He would stay behind and fight the battle himself. Isn't he sweet? I hate the thought of abandoning him. I am glad I have a partner with whom I can fight this battle. I have said it since I met this wonderful man that he has been an incredible example of Christ to me - sacrificing so much and loving me regardless of myself.

I had been praying, fervently, that God would allow us not to see any bed bugs after January 9th. It seems that God is choosing not go that route. Yesterday, we found 8 bed bugs. The most distressing part of those 8, however, is that three were found in the basement (1 dead). I fear the cat, or the kids, are dragging them down there. Today, I am cleaning out the basement and preparing for Andy to spray it down with insecticide. I am also moving the cat up stairs (her food and litter box are in the basement). I really DO NOT want bed bugs in the basement. I fear that if they enter there we may never get rid of them. The kids are also required to wear sneakers from the time they wake up until they go to bed. I think their footy pj's and socks attract the bed bugs and since they have to go to the basement to get their clean clothes (they are stored in XXL Ziploc bags) they may be dragging the bed bugs down.

Today we have found 2. The most distressing part of this is that one was found in the upstairs hall closet. In that closet the brick to the common wall is exposed and we fear that maybe they are starting to migrate over to our house via the joists on the second floor. It looks as if the ceilings in our bedroom, the upstairs hallway, and Sarah's room may have to be ripped out so that Andy can seal the holes to prevent them from coming over. Please pray for Andy. He needs help. He can't possibly do all this construction on his own. Clubs start in just two weeks and there is still so much work to be done. I have been praying and wondering if there is any way that he may be able to take this semester off of ministry and just totally focus on the house and this problem. Or maybe just take enough time off until the problem is gone. I am getting very nervous about him being gone so much in the next couple of weeks. It is tough for me to handle my emotions about this situation when he is gone - especially at night. Please pray that we would find the right answers and figure out how to rid this house of bed bugs once and for all.

My sweet friend, Carisa, called up last night and invited Sarah, Daniel, and I to go with her and her son, Kyler, to Franklin Mills Mall. She knows how I feel about staying at home without Andy. Andy and Matt attended the Boys and Men night at our church last night. They left at 6:15 pm and didn't return until 10:30 pm. That would have been an incredibly long time to be home alone with my dreadful companions (bed bugs, not kids!). It felt good to go out and spend some time with her as we really haven't seen each other for more than two months due to both of our situations (her husband was diagnosed with testicular cancer Nov. 3, the same time we found out we had bed bugs. He is on the mend and cancer free!). I am so thankful for friends who love us and pray for us! I am thankful for all of you, some whom I have never met, who pray for us regularly. Praise God from whom all blessings flow - I know I have many and I am really trying to focus on them. One of them is that by the time we are done with these bed bugs, my house will have been completely renovated!!!! How cool is that!