Friday, August 19, 2016

News.

So, big news. 

We're moving to Michigan in about a year. 

Michigan because Calvin Theological Seminary is in Grand Rapids, and Seth just transferred his studies to Calvin.  Moving because studying at Calvin will be the most efficient way for him to finish his studies and get ordained as a chaplain.   In about a year because moving there at the end of this year would have been crazy, and a year should give us the time to transfer the pertinent parts of our lives, like teaching certificates and bank accounts. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this.  This is the fourth time I've rewritten this blog post as I try to diagnose my feelings. 

I've got no issue with Michigan in itself.  The one time I was there, it was a little bit cloudy, a little bit sunny.  No mountains in the distance, but a nice hilly landscape in places.  Snow will be nice.  I remember how to drive on snow, and right now, the only use our toboggan gets is as a swimming pool for Boogaloo's toys. 

The thought of leaving friends and family for two years is not appealing, and moving will put Boogaloo in her fifth school in five years, due mostly to circumstances beyond our control.  I was beginning to get a reputation as an awesome substitute teacher, and I'm going to have to build that up all over again,  but hey, God has provided this far.  Maybe this pending move is the reason I didn't get any interviews this summer.  God wants to keep us flexible. 

No, the real question is one of anticipation, realization, and release.  We anticipated building a certain kind of life here, a permanent home where we built a little refuge in an herbal wonderland and taught ourselves the joys of developing what God has given us.  We have just begun making friends outside of church and seeing progress in our yard.  We haven't even started on half our plans for the house.  Just as we are starting to realize what we anticipated, we are being called to box it up and put it away, maybe even sell it for the kingdom.  We have no certainty that God will bring us back to Oregon, even though our plans and fondest hopes picture us here indefinitely. 

So we are embarking on a year of tidying up.  New gutters and windows on the house.  Painting the house.  (After all, the yard is almost where we want it.)  Sorting and throwing out/ giving away stuff we don't need or don't want to store for a couple of years.  Finding ways to make an ergonomic computer desk without spending $3000.  Generally, at this time next year, or probably a little earlier, we'd like to be in a place where we can go where we need to go. 

And that's probably why I'm excited, ambivalent, and nervous, all at the same time. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Jenifer,
Just reading your blog now as we are just back from an extended vacation to AK. Moving is never easy and, like you say, you've done a lot of it already in your married lives. I feel for you. As I look back on such events, I've marveled at how God has used each one to equip us for what he plans for us in the future. Winters can be long in MI just b/c they're so gray and, you, being from the West will miss the sun and the mtns. but there will be other things that fill in those vacancies for the time you're there. I hope you'll be able to settle into one place, too, when Seth's studies at CTS are finished but you already know that God will move you to where he needs you to be and that might be for 5 or 10 yrs or for 25 yrs. In our yrs of ministry God always made it very clear to BOTH of us when it was time to move. This won't be easy for you but I think it's a good way to go. Blessings on your year of preparation and your two yrs at CTS. Aunt Ev