Last week, school started full swing in our household. We have two first graders and a round of Pre-K 4! Where has the time gone, seriously?! It was meet the teacher for Anna and Esther at the beginning of the week. I can say even as a parent, it was hard walking into a new school where everything is unfamiliar. Everything is different. Our girls loved Crosswinds and loved going to school every day in Kindergarten. Here we are in new territory, the unknown. We met their new teachers, looked at classrooms, and the desk they would sit, and all I could think is it's not the same. I wish we were back at Crosswinds. I don't like how they do things here. God, why does it have to be like this? As we were working through the worries and anxieties, I'm trying to keep a brave face, trying to speak positives, when the teacher tells us that parents are not allowed to walk students to class the first day of school, including Kindergartners. My heart immediately drops and my thoughts roll to what kind of heartless school doesn't allow you to walk your Kindergartner to class the first day? I took a breath and we spent extra time walking the halls so the girls would feel comfortable going on their own. Although, I may lose it next year when I can't walk in my newest Kindergartner and I have to drop him at the door! Eek!
Then, it was Tyler's turn for 'Meet the Teacher' at his new preschool. I'm nervous about this one. We had such a time with Tyler last year. He's our shy one. He doesn't talk much to anyone outside our family. He spent most of preschool last year clinging to me while I had to push him into class. He never wanted to go. I had contemplated pulling him out to try again the following year, but mid year he started to warm up. All this Summer he told me he didn't want to go back to preschool unless he had the same teachers. Here we go!
As we're walking in, I remind myself that God led us here through a sweet neighbor. I had intentions of another preschool, but I know it was God who redirected our path. This preschool happened to have a spot left in his class late Summer and that rarely happens. We were on wait lists at others. I don't believe it was coincidence. I'm thinking all these things to myself as we walk into the doors of his new preschool, bracing myself for the changes. (Obviously, I don't do change well, if you haven't picked up on this common thread.) And just like that, I quickly began thinking back to the sweetest preschool we left behind in Collierville and the great teachers we would have had this year. I already started measuring everything against it.
And comparing only leaves you disappointed.
By comparing, I closed myself off to everything the Lord was doing in those moments, what He may have been showing me. I was constantly looking back and contrasting. I also didn't make myself available to talk to the other parents I encountered because I was too busy pouting to myself on the inside and questioning all these new things the Lord had presented to us; as if He didn't know what He was doing. I wanted all the old schools, routines, and comforts of our old life back and forgot to look forward to what's ahead.
And...The Lord eased me back into my place once again.
I was so busy contemplating [Collierville] home, I missed that maybe Tyler wouldn't have done the same if we had stayed in the same place in the same preschool. It may have been the perfect preschool for Anna and Esther and a great stepping stone for him last year, but God has a more fitting one for him this year.
I don't know why I doubt His goodness. He only repeats it over and over.
When I look at the big picture of our move from Collierville to Fairhope, I know God had every piece worked out before I had even said, 'Yes.'
For the past couple years, we have been in limbo as to whether we were staying or moving for Kyle's job. It seemed like every other week a new location was put on the table. After a couple years of going back and forth, place after place, we were close to making the decision to stay and put our roots in and, of course, just as we were conceding to stay, a serious proposition was put on the table to Mobile, Alabama. I wasn't opposed. It was a good location to consider. It's near the beach!
We drove down and spent a couple days scoping out the surrounding areas. On the second day of roaming around, just as I started digging in my heals that I wanted to stay in Memphis, I received a message from one of our dearest friends, Helen. She wanted to tell me that one of her closest friends had moved to Fairhope, Alabama just two years ago and her friend would recommend the name of the realtor she used, who is now one of her best friends. I felt relieved that God had a specific realtor in mind, not just any random one that we could look up, one that would be trustworthy to our family.
On the last day of our trip, the strip turned pink!! We were expecting BABY #5!!! This was not in our cards!! We were done having kids after Livie! We can NOT move now!
But we came home and started making our decision and it was leaning towards the GOing!
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| Instagram October 16, 2017: Today we sit with decisions before us. (For those of you who don't know, we are scouting out a possible job move.) But even in the weight of things and endless car time, I felt like the Lord was romancing our kids like in the book "Captivating," but with the coolest, biggest seashells we've ever seen at the beach. They had their endless pick. The beach was covered. We've come to the beach for years and never had a hog pile like we did today. |
I called the realtor and she was the sweetest gift. I felt at home with her just over the phone. Then, God weaves again when she told me that she has a daughter that lives in Memphis! What are the chances? What's funny is while we were visiting the Mobile areas a couple weeks prior, I told Kyle I wished we could find a realtor who knew where we were coming from, so they knew more what we wanted. (What I really wanted was another Collierville to wherever it was we were going). Why does it surprise me so much when God gives us the things we want in our hearts, even the silliest, small things that probably don't matter in the grand scheme of things? ....All I have to say is He shows me He loves me, down to those small minute things I care about. He was preparing my heart. He knows me and what matters in my small world. He continually shows me He is here with me.
A few weeks later, we dropped the kids off with my parents in Tuscaloosa and came back to meet with Leigh, our realtor, to start shopping for houses. We probably looked at close to 20 homes in the course of a day. Finding a house is like finding a wedding dress. You know when you know!
We found one we liked a lot, but had a major flaw that we just couldn't overlook. After that, she asked, 'Are you finally ready to go look at new construction?' I said, 'Sure,' but that's not what I really wanted until I walked into the model home. This was the it! It was beautiful and NEW! We took some time checking out the lots and floor plans and decided on our floor plan with 5 bedrooms, enough for our growing family of 7! The slab had just been poured.
We didn't want new construction for the mere fact there's never any trees, but our lot had trees, lots of trees, another God gift! The sales associate sat down to talk over all the specs of the home from brick color, hardwood floor stains, cabinets, and paint. We could make changes on everything but the cabinet color. She listed that the paint color for the walls was Sherwin Williams "Agreeable Gray."
In that moment, I felt like the Lord was confirming our new home even down to the paint color.
As you see, I had just studied 'Greige' paint colors backwards and forwards for our reno home in Collierville and had finally found the perfect shade I was in love with. I had previously decided that I was going to paint our new home this profound shade of "Agreeable Gray."
Our home was now picked out.
What about church?
Can I tell you we found our church in the same weekend that we picked out our house, before we were moved down here?! Our church home in Collierville was Living Hope. I had never felt so at home at a church since my youth group days and I'm still struggling with leaving it behind. Finding a church can be a hard journey, but we didn't even have to "shop."
Helen's friends, Leslie and Mike, had moved down here from Collierville just 2 years prior. They were fellow Living Hope-rs as well and had found a similar church here in Fairhope, so we met with them and visited the church. We loved it and that's where we are dipping our feet in... I say that in the sense we haven't fully jumped in, living in the newborn phase here.
We're moving, check!
Realtor, check!
Collierville like City, check!
Home, check!
Church, check!
Connections/friendships already made in a place we don't know, check!
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| New Home Owners |
We came home and put our home on the market at the first of the year. I have to tell you there's a another story wrapped up in God's perfect timing there. It was probably the hardest obstacle of our move especially being in 2nd and 3rd trimester. I was so stressed out at one point with everything, I started having contractions at 28 weeks and had to go into the hospital one night and they had to give me fluids and a shot just to stop them. God was faithful in protecting our little guy through all the rest of the gestation term and in all the stresses of our move.
Moving Day came. We closed on our new home.
Leslie and Leigh both had a friend, Natalie, who was in their small group, that had just purchased the home across the street from ours. She and her family immediately took us in from Day 1. They made us dinner the night we closed on our house and had us over for a pancake breakfast the next morning before the moving truck arrived. She has been a blessing all in herself. We came here with no family or help with our kids and Natalie has stepped right in. She is always checking in on me through the week to see how I am and where she can help. She is always offering to watch and play with the kids. Kyle & I haven't been without date nights since we've been here either. I just don't know how to describe how in awe I am at how the Lord has pieced together all our needs .
The Lord connected the dots all the way to our friend in Memphis to our neighbors across the street.
Speaking of neighbors, we have the sweetest neighbors all around. It feels like God hand picked them. I know at least half my neighbors down the street already and two of the Mom's I really connect with and trust. There's a couple down the street that are from Memphis too! The community here is so so sweet. The older lady on the corner brought us homemade bread after we moved in and is always wanting to come hold our baby.
The first day we were moving in, the kids next door were outside playing when ours came out. All the kids saw each other and ran to meet where our yards cross. It's so fun to watch kids meet. It's like instant connecting, no formal introductions. They just started playing kickball and that's where friendship started. It would be so cool if adults were the same. Ha! There are other large families in our neighborhood, so we aren't the odd balls with our FIVE kids...but probably still are. ::Insert wink emoji here:: Our kids are outside playing with the the neighbor kids as much as possible. All of us parents use Walkie Talkies to communicate with our kids back and forth. It's great! If you allowed them tablet time and made had them choose between it and going outside, it would be going outside with their friends. I wouldn't want it any other way and what I always wanted for our kids.
I remember I was in the middle of unpacking that first move-in day and I was thinking to myself if I could just take a break for a few minutes to run to the store to get some fruit for the kids. We just need some fruit! Wouldn't you know, not even an hour later, Leslie and Mike dropped by to welcome us and see if they could help unpack the kitchen and set up beds, the two most important things of moving, sleep and eat. In her hands, was a bag of assorted fruit they stopped to get on the way over. They brought us bananas, oranges, and grapes. Everything I needed for the kids!
Sometimes, the simplest things you can do for a person is exactly what they need in that exact moment. It may have been something they were asking from the Lord, even the most elementary of requests like fruit. Remember the next time you feel prompted to do something for someone,it may be the Lord speaking to your heart. It could even be as simple as their name popping into your mind during the day while you are doing laundry or the dishes and it may be the Holy Spirit whispering to you to pray for that person.
The Lord has fit so many pieces together in our move from Collierville to Fairhope. I know I'm leaving so many specifics out for length's sake. I could go on to speak how it has impacted so many other things even down to the delivery of our Baby Boy.
Some things still feel uncertain at times and I know there will still be challenges ahead.
I'm missing my closest friends and wondering who will come along to add to this gap on our new journey. I went to a MOPS group this past week to listen to our neighbor speak and just thinking about opening myself up to new friends felt so bittersweet. It seems so final that we have left some of the truest friendships and wondering if new ones will be just as close to my heart. I've been in a bit of denial in this area, but I know God has not left this to chance either.
I haven't yet found my place here. It's been more challenging since I'm in the Newborn daze for a bit longer. I'm looking forward to connecting and eventually somehow leading other women and what that may look like.
I feel like I've grown so much already in this move. There's nothing like being pulled out of your comforts zones and control to push you to be better and cling to the things of the Lord. It has also taught me how much of the ordinary things are the most meaningful and not to take even the smallest things for granted. I'm talking down to Jerry's Sno Cones, Pyros, and Gibson's donuts. I'm kidding, not kidding!
It's just the beginning of our new adventure and the Lord has done so much already.
I'm holding on to Psalm 27 that my best friend, Audra, gave me last October when we were deciding on moving and pregnant with Baby #5:
"I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD."
Along the Mobile Bay in Fairhope
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