Big changes ahead

Well, I suppose an update is obligatory given the huge changes coming up in our lives..again

I sometimes think for someone on the outside looking in it must look a little bit like we are completely insane. You might be right!

After two very eventful years in Florida, it seems God is leading the way in a new direction. When we first moved here, we really felt good about it and like this was going to be home for a few long years. But it seems God had other ideas for us. I'm cool with that....I'd much rather follow Him :-)

There has been much good here...God did bless us with had happy and fulfilling times, lots of beach time, lots of wonderful sunshine, glorious sunsets, treasured friendships, and much more..but we have also had tragedy, loss, grief, pain, and hard, hard, hard work. In some ways I can say this year has been the hardest one I've had yet.

Although leaving Florida is in some ways bittersweet, it seems fitting, because it comes at a time when we need a rest. A rest from all the real hard work, from the heartache and pain we have endured, from all the growing God has demanded of us, and we are yearning and hoping for a place to call home, a place where we might be able to settle, for a longer while this time.

And so it is that we feel strongly that this next place is Raleigh, NC. For many practical reasons, at first glance. Such as, that is where our family company is headquartered (Global Wines Distribution), that is where we have family, it does not have 6 months of insane winter, nor does it have 6 months of almost unbearable summer (yes that's right, we DID get tired of the heat!) and other perfectly sensible reasons, and some other ones...less sensible, less "practical".

Such as the gut feeling I got when we went to visit Lakelan's prospective new school (Oak City Academy, a wonderful Christian Montessori school that is just starting this year), when we met with these wonderful and godly family who welcomed us in as if they had known us forever.
Or the feeling we got when we visited their home church....or the feeling I got when I saw on their bulletin that they need volunteers for their ESL ministry in downtown Raleigh (they had been PRAYING for native Spanish speakers they tell me!).

So much just makes sense about this, like being able to sit, chat, and sip wine, at the end of the day, with our family (brother in law, sister in law, mother and father in law) while our kids all play happily in the next room....like being able to all go into the actual office our company is run out of instead of sitting hundreds of miles away. Like having co-workers who are also neighbors, who I hope will become good friends.

Some of it doesn't have to make sense, it just feels right. It feels like the next chapter God is writing for us, and it feels like tiny crumbs along the way. It is so very gracious of Him, considering Raleigh would definitely not have been my first choice. And so I am willing, and I am going with an open heart. Open to what He may have in store for us next, for what He may lead us to.

Fall seems like the perfect time for such a transition, don't you think? Leaves are changing, the air is crisper (well not here in Florida quite yet!), and we are all kind of settling in for the coming Winter. Holidays, family time, warmth, cozy feelings, all good stuff. And I am really looking forward to it.

God has blessed us tremendously and He continues to do so. And as long as I have breadcrumbs, I will follow.

I will miss these glorious sunsets though!