First- Happy Mother's Day last Sunday to my mother, Eric's mom Ranae, to my sister who will be a mother in August, and to my friend who will be a mother in September. I am also going to wish myself a Happy Mother's Day. This past Sunday was hard for me- I was 3 months pregnant when I miscarried our baby. And Sunday I thought a lot about holding a baby and having the presence of a baby in the flesh with me, being able to talk to it and change it's diaper, holding it close in my arms, and carrying it around. Tuesday at work I spent most of the day thinking about holding my baby and thinking about how instead, God is holding it, which is so much better, but still hard. I have a worship CD at work with me and when I'm by myself I often have my own little worship time. I replayed a song over and over and was almost in tears as I sang several time, the words I focused on were: "You're mercy flows like a river wide, and healing comes in Your name. Helpless children are safe in Your arms. There is none like You." But more than anything "healing comes in your name and helpless children are safe in your arms." Thank you Jesus that healing only comes in your name and I know that my child is safe in your arms. THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU!
Tomorrow Eric leaves for Arizona and we begin our giant leap of faith into this crazy adventure God is sending us on. We couldn't be more excited! Anxious, yes, a little.. it's a HUGE change in our lives! I've been thinking about the changes I will have to get used to living in Arizona compared to living in Indiana. First of all, the 3 hour time difference. As Eric moves out there for the next two weeks and starts work, he'll have to try to go to bed later and start to adjust his body and mind to the time change. Of course, the weather will be a huge change. I mean, today in South Bend, it was 55 degrees and we have a flood watch. Tomorrow it will be 78 and stormy. In Arizona, the temperatures are already reaching into the 90s and will be in the 100s by the time we move. And I doubt there will ever be flood watches. Although we've been to Phoenix in July and have experienced 113 degrees... it's different when you live there.
Another change is that we will be moving from our 2 bedroom cozy home to a 2 bedroom apartment. We, well, I am looking forward to decorating to new place and we both are especially excited about having a pool in our complex. God totally knew we were going to be on this adventure at this time in our lives. 3 years ago when we were engaged, we looked at moving to Phoenix, even went out to look at apartments and I looked into going to Arizona State to get my masters. Back then the cost of living, as well as out-of-state tuition, was too high for us. But now that God has been preparing us, and the place we are going, He has also prepared the same apartment complex that we wanted to be in 3 years ago for us now. Arrowhead Landing (www.arrowheadlanding.com) is the place we wanted to live 3 years ago, and it's the place we'll be moving into at the end of the month. God's funny like that huh? We are praying that our house sells and that I find a job soon so that we can afford to live in the apartment as soon as we move while our house is still on the market.
The most difficult change will be leaving our amazing family and friends. Almost all of our family (both sides) live in Indiana or Michigan. It will be hard to leave our parents and siblings, and the new nephew that will arrive in the August. Along with our close friends who will welcome a beautiful girl in September, our great church family, and our crazy dog Rockne (who will be moving in with Eric's parents)... yes these will be the hard things to leave: Notre Dame football games, Bethel, our first home, the US 20 bypass, green trees, planting flowers, Hacienda, mowing, etc.
But we know that we have a lot to gain. We completely feel that God has big plans for us. This is GOD's adventure for US- something GOD has blessed and something we have prayed over for years. This will help us to strengthen Eric and I as a family, our own family, our own adventure. It will be good for us to be on our own, to rely on God and each other to grow, learn, and develop in our marriage. We are still praying for guidance and patience as I continue to to apply for jobs. We're also praying that we find a church that shares the same beliefs and values we do based on God's word. This will help us to develop relationships and find others to share our journey with and become accountable with. There are a lot of changes about to occur... we are so blessed, so excited, and so ready. This giant leap of faith is about to begin.
