Two years.

Two whole years have passed since the last time I blogged.  Why?
Things are still mostly the same on the outside.  I think I was waiting for some momentous direction that I could happily blog about pursuing.  But that's not the truth of what God is doing in us.
  We are again at my parents (we moved last winter and then moved back after the house we were living in sold ... which was our goal, to help some friends sell their house ... long story made short).  Greg was a tour guide for two summers and spent the winters feverishly looking for non-seasonal work.  The kids got 2 years older.  My sister got married and celebrated her first anniversary.
  In some ways I feel like we've been on hold for a two years ... Now, I know that we've grown and changed and come to know God and ourselves better, but some days that doesn't feel very fulfilling.  I'm a doer.  Greg's a doer.  We like to know where we belong and then be there 100%.  But God has closed the doors to our ideas of that so far.  It's not as though we haven't tried to figure it out.  It's not as if other people haven't suggested things.  We tried to move ... to the sunny south first, to be near Greg's family next, somewhere out of my parent's house.  But then God ridiculously closes the door.  Oh, Greg's degree is 100% online?  So we don't have to move there?  We've tried to rent nearby (and look almost every day) ... wait, what is that other little house in the backyard?  Oh, there's a single middle aged man who lives in the backyard?  Does the house have all 4 walls in the basement?  Oh, did I know that I should ask that?  It's almost funny.  Almost.  We've tried, then, to engage here.  I am heading up Kids' Church at our local church and enjoying it.  Greg is helping and filling in the pulpit when Dad's out of town.  The kids are taking swimming lessons at the pool and going to Wednesday Kids' Club at a church nearby.
  Greg just started a full-time new job with great possibility.  He's working for a major insurance company that allows him to set his own hours and work from home ... never on weekends, rarely in the evenings.  That kind of job is crazy ...  way more than we were hoping for.  Exactly what we were praying for.  He's also almost finished with his Master's.  Just one more class and a thesis.  Hah.  I suppose that's been a big part of these past two years.  Maybe I forgot to mention that.
  We also participated in a full week of "get to know God and yourself and get free from all that junk" time together last fall.  I'd say that is the biggest thing that's happened in 2 years.  I had no idea some of the junk that I held inside that God wanted me to be free from.  Little by little, layer by layer, I am becoming who He wants me to be inside and out and learning to believe His truth about me and see the world through those eyes.
  So after 2 years, what are we doing?  Just being.  I guess that's what I'm learning most.  I don't belong to God because of what I can do for Him or because He wants to "use" me (though He really does like touching the world through us).  I don't belong to Him because I am so good at being self-sufficient that He keeps me on without much trouble.  I belong to Him because He loves me.  I belong to Him because He loved me way before I even knew Him.
  Someday we'll move.  Someday we'll figure things out.  Someday might be tomorrow.  I hope so.  Then again, I've been hoping so for 2 years.  I guess that's what hope is:  standing on the porch and looking for what's coming.  Sometimes it just takes longer to get here.
 

Spring

  So here we are.  It's been 5 months since we moved.  Things aren't necessarily the way that we thought they would be, but we're okay with that.  I think if things had been the way we thought, we wouldn't have been ready.  God has a lot for us right here, more than we realized.
  Greg's come through his surgery very well and is advancing in his therapy.  He's got a new job as a tour bus driver for a local wonder.  He's still training and studying, but can't wait to start.  It's a new opportunity for him.  The world is coming to Greg and paying to spend at least 4 hours with him while he drives them around.  What could be better for my man right now?
  At church we're learning about being ourselves and who God made us to be and honoring others gifts, personalities and strengths as well as their weaknesses and shortcomings.  It's changing my perspective on myself and a lot of things in life.  It's freeing for me.  I was made to be me.  I'm quirky and that's okay.  I don't have to be like anyone else.  I can just be who He made me to be.  I was made to experience His love, let it change me, and share it.

 Here are some things that I'm enjoying about our season:

We go to church as a family in one vehicle and sit together during worship.
We eat at my sister's house once per week.
We are close enough to spend holidays with family.
We get to see my parents every day.
We are reconnecting with my brother and sister, who grew up since the last time we lived together.
We are getting to know Jez, my sister's fiance.
We are officially a diaper-free home.
I'm exercising at least 3 times per week with my mom in the living room.
We get olives on pizza.
We have a full bath off our bedroom.
We are getting to know some new, precious friends.
Both of my boys are growing in prayer.
I finally finished the book of Acts.
I'm getting regular hugs from my niece.
I'm getting to know all of my nieces and nephews face to face, not over the phone.
We get to shop at a certain grocery store which begins with a W and ends with an egmans.
We found a huge asian grocery with an indian bazaar across the street.

An Open House and an Open House

  Happy Belated Thanksgiving.  We celebrate both here.  I grew up in Canada and the idea of Thanksgiving in October stuck.  There's something about having a big turkey dinner and being thankful that just feels better when all the colors and smells of fall are in full swing.  Now, I'm not saying by that I'm going to dump the other one, I can go for turkey and thankfulness in the snow too ...
  We spent this most recent Thanksgiving with our good friends.  For the past bunch of years we've spent it with them - and now that they live far away we got to spend a few days together on account of the long drive.  It was wonderful.  You know when you have those friends who know and understand you ... and are still okay with you?  That's them.  We got to see their new house, new town, and new church.  The kids got to catch up, and we got to pick up right where we'd left off.
  While we were gone, we had our first open house.  We cleaned like mad all weekend, and then packed like mad to go away, then cleaned like mad again.  Only one couple came to the open house.  By that I was a little disappointed, but as the realtor says, "it only takes one".  I know that God is leading us, and I know that He will take care of all the details.  I know that he gave us this house and He knew when we'd need to sell it.  Some days I just need to keep reminding my feelings.  So, now to keep it clean for the next showing ...