Coming Home

*

Our time in California is coming to a close.  In just a couple of weeks we will be returning to the land of please and thank you and of freely given smiles. The land where there is a Chick-fil-a on every corner and (more importantly) a grandparent just around each corner.  We will tuck ourselves back into the same house. I will shop at the same grocery store and the kids will visit the same library.

But, we are not the same.  Four brief months have changed us all wildly.  This summer has been the most amazing, crazy and difficult thing I have ever experienced.

We moved cross country, with three weeks notice. {This would not have been possible without amazing parents helping out.}

And now we are getting ready to do it again. Move cross country, twice, in four months. {Oh, wow the boxes}

We moved into a (much) smaller house with only a fraction of our belongings. {Turns out we don't need the space or the stuff}

We moved in with another family (whom we love) and have shared all our space, meals and air.  {Which even when you love folks can get hard.}

We (okay mostly Jason and Ben) have built a company and secured partners to help them see their vision through. The guys have worked harder than I ever thought possible, which means the wives have worked harder than ever as well. {Building a company isn't for sissies}

We lost our child and will forever have a part of hearts here because of that. {Still miles to go}

My grandma broke her hip while I was so far away. {So thankful for the opportunity to make the emergency trip and that she is doing great.}

The Lord has refined and taught me so much in this compact time.  He has revealed his mercy and compassion.  He has shown me how he desires all of me; every little corner.  He has show me sin in my life and graciously removed so much ugliness from me. I have felt His pursuit in a new and fresh way. For this I will always be grateful.

We knew we were coming to California on mission.  We just didn't know that we were the mission.  We have been forever changed by this summer.  We are coming back with things that we know are different, things we know we want to change, and things I'm sure will change over time.

Even though we are returning to so much of the same. I somehow know it will feel very different. The same will be different and I am excited for it.

*Picture taken out of our front door in Alabama. The sunsets out of our front door are unparalleled.