Another Year Comes To A Close

Another birthday, another year older. It really was a lovely time of celebration, so much so that I found myself feeling a tad weepy most of the day. I don’t know if people just grow more sentimental with age or if it was just looking back on another emotional year of change and transition that brought it on. It is worth noting that I did receive many kind, heartfelt messages from loved ones, which truly touched my heart, but perhaps those relationships have come to mean more to me with each passing year. As you get older you really begin to appreciate the things that matter most in life and I seem to be reaching a new level of understanding.

I’ve meant to write about this for some time, but it just didn’t feel like the time until now. It’s been 6 months since we moved back to Michigan. The decision to do so came as a shock to everyone we know, including ourselves. If you had asked us a year earlier if we had ever considered moving back, we would have answered with a resounding ‘NO!’. Not because we had any animosity toward Michigan, in fact there is much to love, but more because we were happy and content with out life in San Diego. We had finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of moving there and it was a time of great blessing! We even had several family members join us and just about the time things started to really settle in, God began to stir our hearts again.

I honestly thought I was beginning to lose it, these thoughts about leaving San Diego began popping up and I wasn’t sure of the reason. My husband had just gotten a new job, which seemed like a huge answer to prayer at the time. Sure, his training schedule was insane, but I knew it would be over in a year and then we would return to some sense of stability again. Still, I couldn’t shake this feeling that something was off, not just because of the work schedule, but other things in our lives began to shift. Things that had been a source of stability were now beginning to fade. The ground was shaking and that’s when I could sense a door was beginning to close. It wasn’t until I talked to my husband and he shared that he was being led in the exact same way that I knew with complete certainty that we would soon enter a new chapter in our lives.

It wasn’t long after that when my husband found the perfect company to work for and he was hired. It was the first and only position he applied for, so that was a major confirmation, along with many others. Since then we’ve experienced one major blessing after another. What’s most exciting is that we got to move to an area we had never lived or even visited much, so that gave us a chance to explore new places and also live near the Lake Michigan shore again. That certainly helped lessen the sacrifice, as I can manage living just about anywhere as long as I am near the water. I am amazed by how much peace and joy I have had since that time. When God is in something you know it in your spirit and He will always lead the way.

As I stated, this all took place 6 months ago, but it’s been an absolute whirlwind since that time. It seems every weekend we are traveling somewhere or someone is heading our way. It doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon either, with many big plans this summer to see family and travel. My birthday was just a pit stop along the way, that forced me to slow down a minute and contemplate all that has take place in this past year. It certainly had its up and downs, but right now I am flying high!