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| Adelaide, 3.5 years old. July 2012. |
When Ben and I moved away from Franklin, TN, with our 2 month old baby girl, nearly 3.5 years ago, I don't recall being sad. Ben had an exciting job opportunity and there wasn't a reason to look back (in my mind, at least). Sure, I had made a few close friends, and we really liked our church and the people there, but I had only lived here for a year and a half. Not long enough, in my mind, to create a whole lot of environments that I would miss.
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Adelaide, cousin Emaline, and Charlie, brushing their teeth.
July 2012 in Virginia. |
I was soon proven wrong. We had several difficult deaths in my family back in Oklahoma that sent me flying from Newark-Tulsa a few too many time in a 6-week period, and every time I was back at our New Jersey apartment, I realized I was feeling lonely. We went several months without a church home (not for lack of trying), so 'friends' was not something I had a lot of. A few of my family members lived in our general area which was very comforting, and a good time to connect with part of my family that I grew up living so far away from. But they were also busy with travels or work or just life, and I longed for a place that I knew. The place I longed for, surprisingly, wasn't Oklahoma where I grew up for 19 years before Ben whisked me off my feet. It was Tennessee, and the people and places that surrounded our home, that I felt a true longing for. I made a trip back to Nashville only 3 months after leaving to see some of my friends, friends that had a much deeper place in my heart than I realized.
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| Charlie, 1.5 years old. July 2012. |
I would make one more trip to Nashville while we lived in the armpit of America to reconnect with friends, all the while praying that someday maybe God would bring us back there. "And someday soon, please, God!" I remember praying a time or two... Ben wasn't happy with the place he was working at, and my small amount of family that lived in the area were actually moving out of state at the same time! I did eventually grow a couple of relationships in New Jersey, and made one truly special friendship that developed quickly over the last couple of months we were there. God knew what I was needing, and He was providing it. Once again, in His timing, teaching me all the while to rely on Him. I also grew closer to Ben in our young marriage. We didn't have a TV the first few months in our apartment, which leaves ample opportunities to get to know someone better :)
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Adelaide and Charlie our last week in Virginia at the pool.
August 2012. |
God soon provided another job for Ben that would take us away from NJ. Not back to Nashville, as I had been hopeful for, but to the Washington, DC, area. We were considering that area because of my brother and his family who lived there. We loved visiting them and were looking forward to spending some time in the Nation's Capital. We spent the next 2.5 years in Northern Virginia, and God really worked on my heart. I was able to stop saying "bring me back to Nashville!" and start saying "lead our family, Lord, wherever that may be." We were blessed in Virginia with a wonderful church family and many special people who will remain close in our hearts. Before we moved a week ago, we had a bit of a going-away party, where more than 30 of our friends dropped by to give us their well wishes, share memories, and tell us how much they have been blessed by our time with them. That night did lend a few tears. I was no longer naive to think that I could spend quality time with people and not miss them when life takes us apart.
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Adelaide, Charlie, and Ben. Adelaide's first day at preschool in Tennessee.
September 2012. |
I will never regret our time spent away from Nashville. It has taken a full 3.5 years for me to grasp the blessings that God brought to our lives during that time, and I'm sure that there is much that I will never see. We have been back in our home in Franklin for just over a week and the feeling of being 'home' is so beautifully overwhelming. Every time I walk in the kids' rooms, I am in awe of God's handiwork. When I drive down the beautiful streets here (that have virtually no traffic!), I am overcome with how blessed I feel to live here. My mom and step-dad visited us for a few days to help us get settled in and my mom feels it, too. She doesn't doubt why I love living here. Oklahoma will always be where I grew up, but Nashville is my home. Sitting back in our old church on Sunday, it all still feels a bit surreal. It wasn't that long ago I was crying my eyes out in my shower asking God to please bring us back to a place that feels like home. He has done that, and so much more.
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Adelaide and Charlie running down the sidewalk of our neighborhood in Franklin.
September 2012. |
