The first and foremost thing is gratitude! We are beyond thrilled to be going somewhere so beautiful, close to the ocean, where people are kind... We are buying an amazing house in a family-friendly neighborhood. And there is no lack of evidence that God orchestrated it all. We can't believe that we never considered living in Southern Alabama before because we are so in love with it!!!! But, God knows our hearts and needs and plans things better than we could even pretend to dream of!
The second is that I am losing my mind! Moving across the country with 2 high-energy toddlers is proving to be a bit more exhausting that I expected... I knew it would be trying, but, wow.... I am working on trying to be more compassionate and respectful of 3 year old Sam's feelings. We have been selling stuff and purging as we pack. This weekend, several people came over to purchase things such as our dresser and nightstand, and Sam's dresser and nightstand.... We kind of went over what was going on and then didn't really talk about it anymore because he seemed ok. Well, yesterday someone from a moving company came to get us a quote and we were standing in Sam's room talking. Sam ran around the corner and screamed, "Don't take my bed!" He was so sure that this strange man with the glasses was here to take more of his stuff! Needless to say, I felt (and still feel) horrible.... We've been working on more conversations with him about moving to "Alagrama" as he calls it. The good news is, 16 month old Noah is unbelievably content, as long as he isn't being contained or put down to sleep. ;)
The last is sadness... We are definitely not even close to sad about leaving the desert, by any means. But, there are many people we wish would just come with us. We have made many friends, and people have become like family because we don't have any close. This is going to be very emotional as we forge new friendships, never forgetting the ones we never thought we'd make. We moved to AZ 4 and a half years ago with the anticipation of not putting down roots and getting out as soon as possibe, with no children until we did. hahaha. Yeah, God laughed, we know.... Through our process of adopting 2 children and being married for 5 years, we gained so many heart connection friends... Please come visit us... Help us maintain these friendships. It is so hard to maintain friendships with children, even in close proximity geographically. We need you to continue conversations, and check in on us every now and then as we get settled. We love you all and we really will miss you, even if it seems our excitement for the new outweighs the emotional...
I try to make my posts be geared toward growing and knowing God better, and finding yourself in Him... Today, I just want to say that I appreciate my audience and I love you. Thank you for giving me this outlet to get it all on the table. :)
