Friday, January 21, 2011

Much is Happening

We have so much going on in our life.  Our big announcement is we are moving to Maryland in 7 or 8 days.  Yup!  We are very excited but it’s bittersweet at the same time.  We will miss our family, friends, church, house, way of life, gorgeous scenery but are very excited to step out in faith in God’s next plan for us. 

Did we sell our house?  Yes, we close on the 28th.  Please pray for this to happen.  We bought our house for an investment, but I have grown attached.  So I am sad to be leaving it.  It’s not the first time I have felt this way.  And we have moved so much I know I will be just fine.

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Do we like moving since we do it so much?  No and Yes.  No, we don’t like the physical part of moving.  Yes, we are always (say that lightly) up for an adventure with God.

What’s happening with Meandering Maine?  Meandering Maine is all done through the computer now, so I will continue AND I am really excited to focus on Meandering Maryland as well.

What’s happening with the radio show?  Well, I have to say I am really excited that the pastor of my church will be taking it over and changing the name.  I am praying that God will open doors for me to do it in Maryland under the same name.

Does Dave have a job?  Technically yes.  When it starts is another question.  Whenever we move forward with God in a major step of faith, I always find that the situation where you are becomes more attractive just to up the level of the test.  Dave loves, loves, loves his current job.  He really believes it is God’s will for us to move.  It’s not an easy thing to resign from your position that you just got promoted to WHEN your future employment is unclear.  We really believe that (in my friend Jessica’s words) God brings us to a cliff before He saves us.  Now that is really extreme and we are not at a cliff, but we are believing God is going to come through and it’s just a test.  Dave did get hired at a very good company.  We just learned this yesterday.  We also learned that they hired prematurely because their numbers aren’t there to support the position just yet, so it is unclear when he will start.  It’s just another way for God to show us that He is in control and we are not.  As tough of a lesson as that is to learn.

Is our house packed?  Some.  I have really made some progress over the last couple of days and would say it’s 25% packed.  Maybe more.

Will we be back?  To visit for sure.  Maine is my home in my heart.  It’s where I am from and where my family is for the most part.  Will we live here again?   Who knows.  We will see what God has for us.

Where in Maryland will we be living and are we buying a house?  We will live in Towson for now.  We were going to buy a house but it is a short sale and appears as though it will go into foreclosure.  So we are renting in a really great neighborhood for now.

How have we found our housing?  We have had some really amazing people helping us.  Rye drove us around when Henry and I were in Maryland the last time looking for a house to buy.  Stacey and Johnny have looked for rentals in the paper and driven by and looked at many of them for us.  Dave’s stepmother has scanned classifieds into the computer.  Lisa Schaller drove me around her neighborhood when we were down there and helped us find the rental we are going to rent.  Thank you!

I have to say one of the more difficult things about moving is not being here for my nephew Christopher’s birthday.  He is turning 1 on the 29th.  I want him to know that I love him with all of my heart and I have been thinking about his first birthday all month.  I love his big sister too!

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How long has this been planned?  That’s a good question.  We really felt God was leading us back to Maryland 2.5 years ago.  We were looking at houses to buy with my brother Vinny the last time we were with him just before his death.  He was very, very excited for us to be closer together.  He sent me several texts about it and knew it would be good for him.  We always seemed to end up close to each other.  After his untimely death from a human perspective (nothing is untimely with God) and learning of my pregnancy, we had to focus on just getting through what were dealing with.  It. Was. A. Lot.  Six months later we decided to sell everything and move to Maryland.  Everything sold – our business and last house – within 10 days of each other in June of 2009.  Whether it was God’s plan or not, I had a difficult time imagining leaving my mother after the very recent death of my brother and the very recent birth of my child.  I thought it was too much for everyone including myself.  We ended up finding an investment and it was our plan to own it for a year and see what God would do.  Through all of this I felt God was leading me to start Meandering Maine with the help of a very talented person Amber Heffner.  This past summer we decided it was time to see if it was time to move.  We listed our house with an agent for a couple of months.  We got some activity but no sale.  We relisted our house at the end of November almost exactly a year to the day of when we moved in (we moved in after some renovations) and the people who will eventually buy our house saw it within days of listing it.  Since then we have taken two trips to Maryland to work out some housing details.  It’s funny that what our ultimate goal for those trips never came to fruition.  But God used them anyway. 

So here were are… in the middle of a house that looks like a bomb dropped on it.  Sad to leave our family but so very happy to see what God does.  Pray for us.

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