A Year Later

Exactly one year from today we told our kids we would be moving to Idaho.  We had made the decision a few days prior but this day made it official.  And exactly 6 months ago we got on a plane and left all I had ever known as home and we had known as a family.  As I sit and write this my mind is flooded with many thoughts over the past year.  Many emotions surface and I fight back tears.

I think of February when Rob and I travelled here to buy a house and how God showed up in unimaginable ways.  After a long day of looking at houses and an even longer night of no sleep we decided to go to church.  We just went to one that our realtor had mentioned.  The church was having a guest speaker, Jeremy, and he was speaking about anxiety...interesting.  After church we introduced ourselves, shared with him why we were there that specific morning and asked for prayer.  One week before we moved here that church announced they were hiring a new pastor and it was going to be Jeremy.  Today, Jeremy and his wife, Stephanie are our dear friends.  We attend that church, that is about 5 minutes from our house and definitely feel God moving through it in our community.  God was with us.

I think of a morning in church when I was feeling very sad.  Ya know how churches do that churchy thing where they tell you to say hi to someone you don't know.  Well, I said hi to the guy sitting right next to me and began to tell him we had just moved here.  He said, "From where?".  I said, "Ohio".  "Where in Ohio?"  "Between Dayton and Cincinnati."  "Where between Dayton and Cincinnati?"  "Centerville."  "I lived in Kettering and went to Fairmont High School."  May not seem like much to you, but to me!!!  I grew up in Kettering and went to Fairmont High School!!!  I felt God saying, "I see you my daughter.  I know you feel alone, but I SEE YOU!  I am with you."

I think of the week the kids went to camp and I was a hot mess.  I was so worried because they would be jet skiing and tubing, and white water rafting with people they didn't even know.  And then as the week went on and I saw pictures of there smiles with other kids their age I knew we were all going to be okay.  God was with them.

I think of a Facebook post I read of a woman, Lisa, who said, "My family and I are moving from Georgia.  I have a 7th grade girl. (she has other kids too but that one stuck out to me) I would love to meet some people."  So what do I do as an extrovert?  I message her and say, "hey.  I am new here too and I have a 7th grade girl.  Let's get together."  So, we met at the zoo (dragging our children along) and the rest is history.  We had our first Thanksgiving in Idaho with Lisa and her sweet family.  God was with us.

I also think of days sitting in my closet crying texting my friends in Ohio of how sad I was.  And of getting a phone call that someone I love was in the hospital and not being able to get to them.  (Worst feeling ever.)  And of lying on Carys' bed as she sobbed because dance is not the same here and she just wants to be with Miss Holly and Miss Andrea and her dance friends.  And arguing with Broderick (because he's 15) because he doesn't know how to verbally express what he is feeling.  Even in those hard times God was with us.

There has not been one day, not one, that I have questioned our move here.  There has not been one day that I have wondered why we did this.  There has not been one day I regretted moving.  There have been many days that I wake up and literally have to give myself a pep talk to get out of bed.  It takes a lot of mental and emotional energy when EVERYTHING has changed.  But God whispers, "I am with you" every.single.day.

Tonight we will host our first (Idaho) annual Christmas party. One year after we officially made the decision to move, my house will be filled with new friends to celebrate Emmanuel, God with us.  Coincidence?  I think not.