A New Era

The girls are napping. I just finished mixing up a new batch of granola bars (which we love and make often, thanks Jeanie), which are now in the oven. And now it is time to catch up on blogging.

I got a call from an Army friend over the weekend. Sara and her kiddos are coming through Atl in July and planning a stop here. Since her call I have been thinking back. We have now been back in the states for 2 years and 7 months, which is officially longer than we actually lived in Germany. The last 2.5 years have been filled/brimming over with transitions. Dave found a job, didn't find a job, found a job, didn't find a job (etc) for 6 painful months until he finally found THE job. We found out I was expecting Annelise. We started plugging back into Intown and getting involved in a Community Group and a fellowship. Annelise was born. She was crazy. We bought a house and moved. We started working on the house...but really for the last year things have been stable. No major transitions in the last year, what a relief!

We are beginning to sink our roots here in Atlanta deep (although we still talk about moving to New Zealand one day). There are wonderful things about that, and then for us (who thrive on change) there are hard things.

In the last six months we have both been feeling some need for change. We do not ever want to play life safe, but always want to be trying new things and taking risks. Although it is hard to know what that may/may not look like when we have two small children. So, we have just been praying that the Lord will lead and show us.

At this point I think we have decided more about what we are not going to be doing than what we are going to be doing. So, our community group, which we have been part of for the last 2 years has ended. It was bittersweet. Overall I had a great sense that Dave and I needed to do something different, but at same time it has been difficult to think of not being with those folks on a weekly basis. They walked with us through our major transitions of baby and house and job. I think it will be good for us to get a little break from leading/hosting, though I honestly have a hard time imagining my life and our home without people here regularly. We like a lot of people in our home all the time.

We have also been on the leadership team of a Sunday morning fellowship for the last 2 years. The fellowship is comprised of mostly singles and a few young marrieds. In the spring we also decided that it was time for us to take a break from the leadership team.

I think these are good moves for us, and will give us some much needed time to reevaluate our priorities/listen to what God would have us do. At the same time I keep wondering if there is a place for us out there in the big, wide world, and what that place might be. To be honest, I do not like to wait for anything! Sometimes I ask Hadleigh to be patient, and she often exclaims, "NO! God is patient!" Yes, I remind her, God is patient, but sometimes is HC patient too? And then she always thinks on this for a while, and usually answer that YES, sometimes she is patient. Sometimes she evens says something about me being patient. To that I always respond, "actually, Mama is not patient, but God is making me more patient." There is nothing about me that screams patient. In any case here I am forced to be patient, the very thing I hate to be. I want to know what is ahead and make plans and prepare...but for now I am trying to enjoy the waiting. The anticipation of what might be...it is a struggle for me, but a fun journey too.

OK, I think I smell the granola bars burning.