I'm sure that any of you that have ever done a move of any kind, let alone a long-distance one that we're doing right now, know that it's a very long and drawn-out process. In the end, we all just want to get where we're going with as little stress as possible.
There's always one person in a couple that is cool and calculated and the other is wound tighter than a drum. For the first few weeks of preparation, I was the cool one just trying to keep Laura calm about the big picture of the whole situation; we're moving far away from friends she's had forever and it's all been a real shock to her. Lately, now that she's mentally ready for that, the roles have reversed. We're about 48 hours away from driving away from Seattle for the last time in a while. The movers come tomorrow and while there is a lot to do here to get ready for that, we have three separate going-away functions today on top of the packing that's left. We should be able to get the bulk of it done this morning, but now I'm the one that's stressed and she's trying to get me to relax.
The crux of it is that we're trying to figure out how to make room in the car for Dot (the cat), the stuff she needs to be comfortable for the drive, and the stuff we need to take with us to get through the time it will take our stuff to arrive in Albuquerque. She's always been really good at finding a way to make it all work. I do trust her, so I should just simmer down and let her do her thing.
I just pray that I have the strength to stay calm and to be patient with her. She's only trying to do what she thinks is best and the right way to go about all of this is to limit her stress by blocking out mine. We sense those things very well in each other and the last thing we need is to make this situation even crazier than it is.
Once I know that the car's been packed and everything's ready to go on the truck tomorrow, I'll be fine. This is a very exciting time and we're both ready. God has big plans for us. We can both feel it. Just agree with us in your prayers that this whole week or so of transition goes well and that we arrive safely with our sanity intact.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Last Sunday with Fairwood Church
I'm sitting here at the kitchen table preparing myself for a pretty emotional day. We're now less than a week from our drive down to Albuquerque and all of the new adventures that await us there, but all I can think about right now is that this is our last Sunday morning at Fairwood Church as regulars. I went in there for the first time in late January of 2009 having no idea that it would become such a special place.
A few weeks before I met Laura, I was at a crossroads in my life. I was growing tired of going through the motions of life when it came to everything- my job, friendships, and mostly my own relationship with God. I only went to Him when I felt like there was nowhere else that I could go; that was also the case in general. I often did my own thing and only confided in people when I felt that it was absolutely necessary. Aside from the time I spent with co-workers Monday through Friday, my life was lonely and had very little meaning. Years of being alone here in Washington without family had taken its toll and I had more or less given up on being happy here. I didn't know what to do anymore.
I was raised to believe in God and went to a small Baptist church for a few years as a kid. I began to really get into it thanks to my neighbors, the Hares, down the street from us. The kids in the family-Tina, Tami, and Dallas, were good friends of mine and their mother Linda was the one who first worked with me when I realized that I wanted to sing. Their grandfather was the "preacher" at a church that he built and rebuilt and my sisters and I would either go with he and his wife or the Hares to church every Sunday. Linda had talked me into singing at church while she played piano for me, so I usually did and it was fun. I was saved when I was nine and for all the world, it seemed like I was destined to be a lifelong follower of God. I don't remember what happened, but we eventually stopped going and for the next twenty-five years or so, I fell into a pattern of just being lost. God was always there, but he wasn't a part of who I was.
Now that I've given a little bit of background, we'll fast-forward back to the decision that led me to God, Laura, and Fairwood Church. I knew that I had to make changes in my life that included bringing God back into my life. I had toiled with this several times in years past and I always had the same thought. I wanted to, but I didn't want to do it alone. This time I was committed to it and I signed up on christianmingle.com, which is a dating website designed to bring Christians together. I was upfront about where I was at spiritually and that I wanted to meet someone that would understand that I needed patience and time to rebuild my relationship with God. Like a lot of people, my perception of most Christians was that they were pushy in general and very judgmental. Either you were 100% into it or you were cast off. I ran into that first-hand a few years back when I was considering a relationship with someone I went to school with as a kid and the last thing I wanted was to waste my time with that again.
Laura was the first and only person I met on that website. It seemed like God knew I was ready. She really understood my intentions and immediately accepted me. One of the first things we talked about on our first date was her time at Fairwood Church. She was very enthusiastic about how she felt welcomed there right off the bat and that they provided a very relaxed atmosphere that was a great fit for her. I was skittish at first about going and passed the first time she invited me. I thought about it for a few days and decided to go for the first time the following Sunday.
I knew my life had changed the very first time I went there and that God had special plans for my relationship with Laura. The more I went, the more I loved it. The pastors and regulars there all knew Laura very well and took me in as one of them very quickly. Within the first few months, I had begun to serve with her there, had rededicated my life to Christ, and gotten baptized. Fairwood had become home and such a huge part of my life. Laura and I got married there last April and everything I could have ever wanted from that decision I made has come to fruition. I found God, my best friend Laura, and more friends in that church than I probably think I have.
I know this is gonna be a very emotional day for Laura. She's been through good and bad there at Fairwood and so many have been with her before and since I came into her life. I thank you all for helping her become the person she is. I know that no matter what happens down the road, God has her heart and because of that she will always have mine.
I also thank all of you at Fairwood for being there for me. There are so many of you who have influenced me in more ways than you'll ever know. It's a bittersweet day, for sure, but we'll be back to visit from time to time and we'll look forward to seeing you again. There's always this "pet blog" and Facebook if you ever want to know what we're up to down there in the desert...or you could just call us. We love you guys...
Wow...only six more days!
A few weeks before I met Laura, I was at a crossroads in my life. I was growing tired of going through the motions of life when it came to everything- my job, friendships, and mostly my own relationship with God. I only went to Him when I felt like there was nowhere else that I could go; that was also the case in general. I often did my own thing and only confided in people when I felt that it was absolutely necessary. Aside from the time I spent with co-workers Monday through Friday, my life was lonely and had very little meaning. Years of being alone here in Washington without family had taken its toll and I had more or less given up on being happy here. I didn't know what to do anymore.
I was raised to believe in God and went to a small Baptist church for a few years as a kid. I began to really get into it thanks to my neighbors, the Hares, down the street from us. The kids in the family-Tina, Tami, and Dallas, were good friends of mine and their mother Linda was the one who first worked with me when I realized that I wanted to sing. Their grandfather was the "preacher" at a church that he built and rebuilt and my sisters and I would either go with he and his wife or the Hares to church every Sunday. Linda had talked me into singing at church while she played piano for me, so I usually did and it was fun. I was saved when I was nine and for all the world, it seemed like I was destined to be a lifelong follower of God. I don't remember what happened, but we eventually stopped going and for the next twenty-five years or so, I fell into a pattern of just being lost. God was always there, but he wasn't a part of who I was.
Now that I've given a little bit of background, we'll fast-forward back to the decision that led me to God, Laura, and Fairwood Church. I knew that I had to make changes in my life that included bringing God back into my life. I had toiled with this several times in years past and I always had the same thought. I wanted to, but I didn't want to do it alone. This time I was committed to it and I signed up on christianmingle.com, which is a dating website designed to bring Christians together. I was upfront about where I was at spiritually and that I wanted to meet someone that would understand that I needed patience and time to rebuild my relationship with God. Like a lot of people, my perception of most Christians was that they were pushy in general and very judgmental. Either you were 100% into it or you were cast off. I ran into that first-hand a few years back when I was considering a relationship with someone I went to school with as a kid and the last thing I wanted was to waste my time with that again.
Laura was the first and only person I met on that website. It seemed like God knew I was ready. She really understood my intentions and immediately accepted me. One of the first things we talked about on our first date was her time at Fairwood Church. She was very enthusiastic about how she felt welcomed there right off the bat and that they provided a very relaxed atmosphere that was a great fit for her. I was skittish at first about going and passed the first time she invited me. I thought about it for a few days and decided to go for the first time the following Sunday.
I knew my life had changed the very first time I went there and that God had special plans for my relationship with Laura. The more I went, the more I loved it. The pastors and regulars there all knew Laura very well and took me in as one of them very quickly. Within the first few months, I had begun to serve with her there, had rededicated my life to Christ, and gotten baptized. Fairwood had become home and such a huge part of my life. Laura and I got married there last April and everything I could have ever wanted from that decision I made has come to fruition. I found God, my best friend Laura, and more friends in that church than I probably think I have.
I know this is gonna be a very emotional day for Laura. She's been through good and bad there at Fairwood and so many have been with her before and since I came into her life. I thank you all for helping her become the person she is. I know that no matter what happens down the road, God has her heart and because of that she will always have mine.
I also thank all of you at Fairwood for being there for me. There are so many of you who have influenced me in more ways than you'll ever know. It's a bittersweet day, for sure, but we'll be back to visit from time to time and we'll look forward to seeing you again. There's always this "pet blog" and Facebook if you ever want to know what we're up to down there in the desert...or you could just call us. We love you guys...
Wow...only six more days!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
10/19/11- ABQ and other stuff...
Okay...so it's 1:22am and I can't sleep. Those who know me best aren't at all surprised with this. I do a lot of my best thinking when I'm hopped up on Benadryl, Lunesta, or any variety of sleep aids for one simple reason. They only work half of the time. No one knows this better than my wife, Laura. That girl is more amazing than any of you know. Anyway, this post is most likely going to be all over the place.
We only have ten days until we give up the keys to the condo I've been in since January of 2006 and begin our 1400 mile drive to our new home in Albuquerque. We expect to arrive sometime on Halloween. We've already decided that our first task once we get there is to head to Target and get candy for the neighborhood kids so that they don't think we're a couple of dweebs after trick-or-treating at our house. Kids don't forget that stuff and we need to make the right impression. We've been so blessed with having a new home and good jobs right away that we need to give that good fortune back in any way we can.
I'll have that week off with the exception of a seminar that I plan to attend with one of my new co-workers. I'll begin my new job officially on November 7 and I have to say that I'm pretty excited. I'll still be working with payroll, but this time it's for a small CPA firm that runs an outsource service within itself that's similar to what ADP does. Going into this move, Laura and I both expected that it would take a few weeks for me to find the right fit for me, but God had other plans. He does work in mysterious ways.
We'll be living in a really nice three bedroom, two bathroom mobile home for the first couple of years. It is much bigger than the condo we're in now, which will allow us to have visitors and be a lot more organized than we've been able to be here. When we got married and Laura came to live here, one of our goals was to purge as much of the stuff we started out with as possible and start over with new stuff that was truly a product of our lives together. Now we will be able to start that process. There's a stigma that goes with mobile homes, but I spent the majority of my childhood in them and we always did our best as a family to redefine that standard of living. I'm confident that Laura and I will do the same thing and it will be good for us, too. The neighborhood seems really quiet and it's well managed, so I think we'll like it.
We also got a chance to meet Pastor Chuck Kofahl of Tramway Community Church (http://www.tramwaycommunity.org/) last Friday. He introduced us to some of the staff and gave us a half-hour tour of the church before taking us out to lunch. He's been very helpful to us in our preparation for this huge change and we're happy that we'll be a part of TCC as we continue our walk with God.
Those of you who are in the core of our circle have already heard all of this, but it's still fun to talk about and I'll have this "pet blog" to chronicle everything we experience so that years from now we'll have it to look back on.
We only have ten days until we give up the keys to the condo I've been in since January of 2006 and begin our 1400 mile drive to our new home in Albuquerque. We expect to arrive sometime on Halloween. We've already decided that our first task once we get there is to head to Target and get candy for the neighborhood kids so that they don't think we're a couple of dweebs after trick-or-treating at our house. Kids don't forget that stuff and we need to make the right impression. We've been so blessed with having a new home and good jobs right away that we need to give that good fortune back in any way we can.
I'll have that week off with the exception of a seminar that I plan to attend with one of my new co-workers. I'll begin my new job officially on November 7 and I have to say that I'm pretty excited. I'll still be working with payroll, but this time it's for a small CPA firm that runs an outsource service within itself that's similar to what ADP does. Going into this move, Laura and I both expected that it would take a few weeks for me to find the right fit for me, but God had other plans. He does work in mysterious ways.
We'll be living in a really nice three bedroom, two bathroom mobile home for the first couple of years. It is much bigger than the condo we're in now, which will allow us to have visitors and be a lot more organized than we've been able to be here. When we got married and Laura came to live here, one of our goals was to purge as much of the stuff we started out with as possible and start over with new stuff that was truly a product of our lives together. Now we will be able to start that process. There's a stigma that goes with mobile homes, but I spent the majority of my childhood in them and we always did our best as a family to redefine that standard of living. I'm confident that Laura and I will do the same thing and it will be good for us, too. The neighborhood seems really quiet and it's well managed, so I think we'll like it.
We also got a chance to meet Pastor Chuck Kofahl of Tramway Community Church (http://www.tramwaycommunity.org/) last Friday. He introduced us to some of the staff and gave us a half-hour tour of the church before taking us out to lunch. He's been very helpful to us in our preparation for this huge change and we're happy that we'll be a part of TCC as we continue our walk with God.
Those of you who are in the core of our circle have already heard all of this, but it's still fun to talk about and I'll have this "pet blog" to chronicle everything we experience so that years from now we'll have it to look back on.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
This should be fun...
I haven't blogged in several years and even then, there were two or three posts before my blog fell down and went boom. I'm just sitting here in the hotel lobby waiting for the housekeepers to clean our suite and it dawned on me that I don't do stuff like this enough. Since Laura and I are here in Albuquerque this week preparing for our future here, it made sense to me to start this blog so that our friends and family know what's going on with us down here.
We landed on Sunday night and ever since, we've been awestruck by how beautiful this area is. It couldn't be more different than Seattle, especially now that the rainy season has begun in earnest there. I think the scenery comes as more of a surprise to Laura, but she seems to be inspired by what she's seen and who she has met here. She loves her new job and the people she's working with here, but she has also taken an instant liking to my family down here. I knew she would, but it's been even better than I expected. They love her to death and it further validates the best decision I have ever made in choosing to spend my life with her.
Laura's been pretty busy this week between work, our search for a home here, and having the opportunity to spend time with the family here. I've spent most of my time just enjoying being here. There was that little interview and job offer that I got yesterday, which is actually a huge blessing and further proof that God does provide to those that are faithful to Him. We have prayed and prayed about all of this and it seems to all be falling into place.
All that is left is finding a home. At this point, we have an option that isn't exactly optimal, but it will work for a couple of years while we get settled in. It's not a done deal yet and there are a couple of other places that we're looking at. Hopefully, that will all be done today or tomorrow and we can just relax until we fly back to Seattle on Saturday...
All that is left is finding a home. At this point, we have an option that isn't exactly optimal, but it will work for a couple of years while we get settled in. It's not a done deal yet and there are a couple of other places that we're looking at. Hopefully, that will all be done today or tomorrow and we can just relax until we fly back to Seattle on Saturday...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)