What a Ride!

Oh, how I've missed blogging and having access to this outlet for my thoughts! It's been such an interesting week and my mind is whirling with enough fodder for at least five or six posts.

We traveled to Colorado to secure housing for our big move. It's so beautiful there--I simply don't understand how anyone who has seen the majesty of the mountains could doubt the Creator.

We arrived on Wednesday after making a slight detour to meet with some of Kiana's birthfamily. In less than two hours, we had found a house to rent. (Since we don't know the area or the severity of the winter weather, we thought it would be best to rent in town for awhile).

The house is large enough to be comfortable for our family, located in a subdivision on the outside of town beside two empty lots and just ten minutes from Alan's place of employment--all for less than we were expecting to have to pay for a rental property.   It seemed just perfect, yet another opportunity falling beautifully into place.

We were within minutes of signing a lease on the house when Alan got a phone call.  It was from a company located in Iowa with whom he had interviewed a few weeks earlier.  He hadn't expected to hear back from them as they interviewed several people and a couple of them were "in-house" candidates.  Imagine his surprise when this wasn't a call for a second interview (a call they had implied he might receive), but rather it was a job offer!

Such a crazy situation, and a surprisingly difficult decision!  On the one hand, all of our family lives in Iowa--within one hour of this job, in fact.  Our children's birthfamilies are mostly located in the Midwest and we think it's important for them to be able to maintain their relationships which would be easier if we lived closer.  We are also already familiar and comfortable with churches in this area--a factor we were finding discouraging in Colorado.

On the other hand, our brief trips to Colorado had already excited us with its opportunities to share the Lord's love with people who need Him.  This affluent area seems to worship money, materialism, and recreation rather than God.  As a consequence, drugs are common, the suicide rate is reportedly twice the national average, and Planned Parenthood has a flourishing presence. 

I also had the opportunity to attend a planning meeting with the local homeschool group and was excited at the many educational opportunities.  The ladies were really neat people, full of energy and great ideas and  they really seemed to like me as they welcomed me enthusiastically.  There were several kids the ages of my older kids and I already had several leads for highly respected violin and piano instructors.

I don't know much about homeschooling in Iowa, or about support groups in the area, but I do know the laws in Iowa are considerably more regulatory and I have been quite spoiled with Missouri's attitude toward parental rights.  I'm not looking forward to learning and submitting to these changes.  I'm also, quite honestly, a little afraid of living *too close* to family.  While we are very close (relationally) to our families and have enjoyed living within three hours of all parents and siblings. . .well, we rather enjoyed the independence of also being about two hours from family at the same time.  I can't deny there have been times I rather envied  friends who have siblings or parents just down the road when they are sick or need to go to the doctor or dentist or just plain need a little support in the form of a couple hours' break--because I've never had that in nearly sixteen years of parenting.  At the same time, I have observed grandparents take on parenting roles, cousins become more competitive than friendly, and siblings just a little too involved in one another's daily lives than what seems healthy to me so I decided I would be content with the great relationships I have with my family and suffer through OB/GYN visits with my children in tow.

But now we had a choice between 14 hours from family or less than one hour.  We had a choice between not knowing where we would find church family and already having friends within a prospective congregation.  There seemed to be an obvious "responsible" decision.

The timing of the call was amazing.  We were literally within minutes of signing a lease.  Is it presumptuous to think of the story of Abraham when God tested him to see if he would withhold his son or give everything to God?  We wondered if God had asked us to trust Him, to step out on faith, to surrender everything--our farm, our family, our friends, our church family--all that was familiar.  And then when He saw that we were willing, that we trusted Him to provide, well, then he "called" and stopped the hand from signing on the dotted line and gave it all back.

It seems to us that both choices are "good"--God has given us the liberty to decide and we will be within His will wherever we go.  A part of my heart still leans toward Colorado as I think of the early church being scattered to spread the good news rather than clustered where it is comfortable or easy.  Then again, I have to admit that some of the appeal might be in the sense of adventure and something "different" as I have lived in the Midwest all my life.  As my sister observed after some time travel nursing "it's fun for awhile, maybe a year, but then you'd be ready to come back home."  Maybe she's right.  And we certainly need to consider what's best for our children.

So, long story short, we booked it back to Iowa and spent some time looking for a place to live.  There are many options in today's "buyer's market".  Alan is looking forward to this job which sounds just perfect for him, and is flattered as they've clearly expressed how much they want him for this position.  As much as I'm overwhelmed by the quickly-approaching start date, I am also ready to close the chapter on this transitional portion of my life and get settled.

Oh, but never let me forget that these times of uncertainty are the greatest times of growth--and ultimately my desire is to grow in loving and trusting my Lord!  So as tumultuous as the ride has been with its roller-coaster hills and turns, I thank Him for the ride knowing He has been in control every step of the way!