So God provided a brand new house in Cary, which is a suburb of Raleigh. It’s on the edge of town, but not completely out in the middle of nowhere, and Energy Star certified, 1/2 acre lot, 4 bedrooms, 2900 sq ft, and in a master-planned community with a community pool, fitness center, parks, walking trails, etc. I admit I’m not as emotionally excited as I should be, probably because I’m just ready for it all to be over with. It’s toward the entrance of the neighborhood, which concerned me, traffic-wise, but there are sidewalks to keep the kids out of the street (a lot of neighborhoods here don’t), and there’s not much traffic right now anyway since a lot of homes aren’t built yet. Jonathan sees it as being the “beachhead” or “gateway” to the neighborhood and we are praying that God would use us here to be a light for Him.

So we’re moving out of the moldy rental (as it will forever be nicknamed) this weekend, cleaning and turning in keys by Tuesday, January 31st. But our new house will not be ready until February 10th (an improvement over Feb. 16th). So our stuff is going into storage and the couple that lead the home church we attend have graciously allowed us to stay with them in the meantime. I am hoping and praying that it will be a time of blessing for both us and them.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us during this time of transition. We really are loving it here in this new place and look forward to what God has in store.

Also, our dog Helix is sick. The vet thinks it’s lymphoma (she’s only 6 1/2!). We thought it was just our moldy house, but the oral prednisone that she’s on hasn’t helped as much as we’d hoped and we don’t want to do chemo. It’s hard to know how much longer she has or even how much pain she’s in. Praying for wisdom…

on a lighter note, here’s a funny Bekah quote…

It was late and she’d gotten out of bed to use the toilet. On our way back to her room, i said, “let’s go, cutie-patootie.” i don’t think i’ve used that nickname before and she said, “i’m not a cutie-patootie.”

me: “you’re not a cutie?”

Bekah: “i AM a cutie, but not a patootie.”

We’ve been wanting out of CA for a while, which may be surprising since both Jonathan and I were raised here. Let’s just say it’s not the same place it was growing up, among other reasons. At the top of our list was Colorado since that’s where my family is, but God closed that door. For awhile we just waited, hoping it would open again and thought that it did, only to be closed again. We really wanted to live close to at least one side of the family or the other. I know what it’s like to grow up far away from grandparents and i didn’t want that for my kids. But we have other priorities and desires, too (like living on one income, homeschooling, family time, etc). Waiting has a way of making you re-examine priorities. Ultimately it came down to questions like, “What if God wants us somewhere else?” and “Will we follow Him anywhere, even if it’s away from family?”

So we started researching what other places in the country would fit both our priorities and Jonathan’s field of expertise/study. Colorado would require 70% overnight travel for Jonathan since there’s not much biomedical research going on there, California is just too expensive (Jonathan’s company pays everyone the same salary rather than adjusting for cost of living). Chicago? Not interested. Boston? Nope. Seattle? Very interested, but not a single open door. Raleigh, North Carolina; aka The Research Triangle? Hmmm. There was a time I totally disregarded NC–it was just too far away from family. At least Seattle was on the west coast. But NC kept coming up in different conversations and different places. Jonathan actually applied for a job there in the spring, which fell through. Everyone who’d ever been there or knew people that lived there raved about it. Then a Raleigh position within Jonathan’s current company opened up. We did a lot of praying and fasting, along with other people, and God opened the door.

So here we are, off to a new place where we don’t know anyone and have never visited, but there is peace and excitement in the adventure. I contacted some of the Vineyard churches there and they have been very warm and inviting, even willing to help us unload our moving van once we get there. God has been stirring so much in our hearts since grad school and especially these last 6 months, that we feel ready to go somewhere new and put some of it into practice. We truly want to be where God wants us to be and know that He will provide all we need. The Bible specifically talks about not putting family before God and we want to follow Him ANYWHERE, even if it means away from family. We don’t know how long we will live there and for now I’m okay not knowing. It’s enough to know that it’s the next chapter of our lives.

I think about life 200 years ago and how such a move would’ve been so much farther than it is today. I’m so thankful for technology like cars, planes, and the internet. It would be that much harder to leave friends and family behind without them. (And I must say that after all the times I’ve had to say goodbye to others that have moved away, i think it’s easier to be the one moving rather than the one left behind.)

Jonathan and I did take a short weekend trip in August to find a place to live. God provided an amazing realtor that helped us find a place. We got to experience our first hurricane, though we were far enough inland, we only saw the outskirts of Irene. My mom flew out to watch the kids so it was a wonderful mini getaway for us! (Thanks, mom!) Jonathan’s company is not paying for relocation, but God is providing the means in other ways. (He is our Provider anyway, not Jonathan’s employer.)

I must admit I’m a little nervous about the road trip across the country for the kids’ sake. Bekah’s always been a great traveler, but our van seems to make her carsick and so it limits what kinds of toys/games she can use in the car. And Ben, being the squirrelly boy that he is, can’t handle more than 2 hours in his carseat. So we appreciate your prayers (and advice) as we take it one day at a time, visiting friends and family along the way.