I'm behind on my posting, and I don't like to post out of order. However, tomorrow is March 1st and I can't just not post. After this post, I'll go back to trying to catch up this little blog.
It is hard to believe that five whole years have passed since that day we packed our house in the largest u-haul we could find, left our life as we knew it, and moved to the ends of the USA! We were scared, full of excitement and anticipation! Leaving was hard. I had already left everything behind once, and the sequels of that uprooting were still fresh in my heart. Ben had never left before. I was already missing a family and a set of friends. I married Ben and slowly began adopting his (and being in turn adopted by then). Now we were to leave these too. Yet God had led and we had obeyed and I think it was as terrifying as it was exciting.
We settled in a temporary home with the Mackeys and we slowly began unpacking both our boxes and our hearts. The intensity of those first months won't be quickly forgotten. We knew we were here to stay, but you can't force growth, and you can't force roots to take without the benefit of time. Slowly the process began and the tears of what was (and still is) missed softened the ground for the roots to go deep. And they have. This place now runs deep in our hearts. We are settled. I'm not exactly sure of the precise moment, but the missing turned into fondly remembering. The newness settled into a steady security and stability.
Sometimes I want to think that these first five years we grew in roots and that we will now begin to see what is to break through the surface. But the nature of ministry life is such that I think we have barely begun to scratch the surface, and maybe we need to just go a little deeper in our roots just a little (or a lot!) longer. However, I do find it interesting that the first of the month will mark 5 years of our arrival, while the end of the month will usher in Ben's 40th birthday. A pretty monumental month for us, I think!
We have grown! We have grown in numbers. We came as a family of 6 and we are now a family of 8. We have grown in love, and in fellowship as we have done life with the broken and beautiful corporate Body of Christ. One moment at a time we have built days full of memories and life. We are home. Our children are growing, some of them are nearing having spent half their lives here. Half of them have pretty much known this place as their only home.
We don't know what's to come. Who does? What we do know is that we're here for the long haul. Just like we were on day one, but perhaps now it shows a little more. We're here for whatever God will have us contribute to His church and His kingdom. We're here to be spent for Him, one day at a time, one moment at a time... And in many ways, we're just as scared, as excited and as full as anticipation as we were on this day, five years ago! So here's to the next five years and to the Glory and goodness of the God that brought us this far!