We're moving where??!? (Part 2)

I wish that I could say that the dark december tear-filled walk magically made me super excited about moving. It didn't, though in that moment God reminded me that his plans are perfect and that if he wants us in California, it would be the best place for us. Starting in high school I had a strong interest in missions and I spent three of my college summers in Peru, working for a mission agency. I had always imagined I would spend my life working abroad in some mission hospital, so I'm not sure why I found it difficult to understand that God would call me to California.

After Naomi was born, we made plans to go out to California for a visit and candidating weekend. I was surprised by how beautiful it was. I had been to San Diego before, but never to LA. I had always imagined LA to be a sort of mass of concrete and traffic. While there definitely was some heavy traffic, the mountains out there are really beautiful. The beach, too, is lovely. I didn't realize how close various national parks are.

And I had never considered all the benefits of living in a big city. They have TWO major league baseball teams. Orchestras. An Opera. A zoo. Presumably a Target. (or two). One of the elders talked about the ice skating lessons one of his daughters takes, and how his son gets to take trombone lessons with this fantastic music teacher at a local music school.

Of course, all the church-related activities were wonderful. I was also nervous I might not fit in with the people. I am, after all, a small-town southern girl at heart. Although I try to look nice, I've never been called stylish. The ladies I met were all friendly and down-to-earth. I'm not sure why I was nervous; I guess I had this idea in my head that people living in LA were all glamorous. It was very clear to me almost right away that this was a great fit for Jeff. You may remember that Jeff got an additional seminary degree while here in Greenwood. It's a more academic degree than the standard M.Div. he already had. Most of the churches he had applied to just ignored that line of his resume. People at our new church seemed really excited about it and even read his entire thesis! They really appreciated his education and nerdiness, and seeing him respected for all his gifts was wonderful.

We kept praying about it after we got home and were very thankful when he was offered the job a few weeks later, and more thankful still when he passed his ordination exams.

I am sad to be leaving this place where I learned to be a doctor, we owned our first house, and then brought two beautiful babies home from the hospital. I am sad to be so far from my wonderful family.

But I love my husband and can't wait to start this next adventure together!