Change Is In The Air

There have been so many exciting changes taking place in my little little family of three lately. For those of you who are close friends, and certainly family members, we are so thankful for your support and encouragement -many of you have been riding passenger on this ride with us and we feel so lucky to have you in our little world.

Trusting God is not always easy. Sometimes God asks things of us we don't feel we can commit to Him. Sometimes God requires us to exercise our faith in actions, not just by our spoken words. God requires full dependence on Him- to grow, to trust, to develop spiritual gifts. As I have grown in our marriage- 10 years next month!- and have grown as a mother and Christian, I find I am less fearful in general when it comes to new experiences and opportunities. When you face trials, you tend to grow from them in such a way that you develop inner strength. I know this is true for me. When faced with hard decisions, anxiety ridden situations, or worries, I always feel stronger when I lean on the Word and His promises. I have stopped waiting on God to fail me- I know that He won't. When you can come to that place in your life- to truly profess that your life is meant to praise Him, it is amazing how quickly your priorities shift. Life is sweet, for me, when it is simple. Simple life is taking Jesus Christ at His word- to become child like in faith and to believe that He really, really is in control.

We have been faced with many tough decisions as of late- knowing that the creator has a unique plan turns hard decisions into exciting opportunities. We have happily embraced all God has bestowed upon us and look forward to the blessings we know He will provide.

For those of you who follow my blog, you will remember David recently traveling to many different places for business. What I wasn't able to share with anyone, other than friends and family, was that David had job interviews in those cities.

I really need to back up almost a year to really share God's goodness- and I want to remember this story for myself .

After building a large custom home on over an acre of land four years ago, we felt ready to expand our family. We had been married 7 years and we both had degrees in stable careers. We had already bought and sold two different homes before building. It was a natural next step for us. After having Harbor William, the commute for David -two hours a day roundtrip- just became less desirable. We decided to put the house for sale by owner and test the waters. When the house sold in only 8 weeks to the first family to view it, we were so thankful. As most of you know, the economy is quite disconcerning right now. We could literally feel the hand of God ushering us into a new season, but weren't quite sure where we were headed.

Our plan was to house hunt and find a home in close proximity of David's workplace. We enjoyed a summer off and began looking around Christmas. We saw many great homes, but nothing felt just right. We even made an offer, but were unable to seal the deal and after negotiations, decided to back out of that offer. Again, there wasn't a feeling of peace. It was a very uncertain and stressful time. Having a young child, I felt the need to rush into a home. I knew, though, that God would have me to sit, be still, and listen.

After a time, David too, began to feel that God may have other plans in our future. When two phone calls translated to two out of state interviews, we kept an open mind. Things began to move very quickly, smoothly, seamlessly.. even easily! Doors were opened and opportunities presented themselves. We found ourselves in a unique position. And we took it.

I have been cautious to blog openly, but today was David's first day of work. I know it is real and I feel very confident- and excited to share a new season we are beginning. God is faithful- He is a master planner!

We will be living in a very big city-

We will be living 5 hours from here:

And only 3 hours from here:

If we felt really adventurous, New York, New York is a day drive away as well.

David has accepted a position as a Quality Engineer- only one of two- for a million dollar manufacturing corporation in Detroit, Michigan.

Though it is far from home, as I have told my students at school, Detroit is an amazing city. Known as the Motor City, it is the heart of the manufacturing world. It is a great promotion for David with a better salary, benefits, and the opportunity to be trained in Six Sigma, which is the Engineer's equivalent to management courses. I will not have to work and am looking forward to exploring our new city with Harbor William (alright, exploring the library and the grocery store!) Ha!

With the Benchmark testing fast approaching in April, we have made a difficult decision to be a long distance family for 10 weeks. As a teacher, I feel the need to stay true to my teaching commitment to finish through the Benchmark testing and be there to celebrate with my students after it is over. David left last week to house hunt and get settled into his apartment. He is working with a realtor and is making all of the "home" decisions solo. I trust him fully and will be happy no matter where we live. Homes are different up north- lofts, flats, condos, cape cod type homes... everything is very different than in the south. I'm sure it will be a bit of a cultural shock for a bit once Harbor and I join David at the end of April. At that time, the company is paying to relocate our belongings with a moving company, which makes the actual move much easier on us. We are so thankful for these small blessings!

While it has been hard to be apart for this week, David has been able to get settled and start work without the extra worry of Harbor and I adjusting. I'm glad he can work long, hard hours and crash at night without feeling the need to entertain us. We have learned to use Skype (Sooo fun!) and Harbor officially thinks his daddy is now living in the "Puter", as he puts it.

We are right on Lake Erie, in the heart of Detroit, 5 hours from Niagara Falls, 3 hours from Chicago, and only 10 minutes from Windsor, Canada. In fact, many people that work at David's company live on the island community of Grosse Ile. Islands are numerous as the Great Lakes and river systems divide much of the mainland. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to Canada is just a 10 minute drive from David's desk, so we hope to take full advantage of the area and explore and make long lasting family memories. This may be home for only 5 years.. but maybe 10. We are willing to be used of God and are confident that life ahead holds many exciting opportunities.

We will miss our families and friends terribly. Our parents, especially. We hope to come home to visit as often as possible and look forward to showing our Southern friends what life up north is like- once we figure it out ourselves! Ha, ha!

Please pray for us, specifically that David will handle the responsibilities of such a large corporation smoothly and with as little stress as possible and that Harbor and I will make the needed adjustments and remain encouraging and supportive of David's work. We look forward to finding a home church and exploring the many bike paths in the area (Yippee!!)

We love you, friends and family! Thanks for all the phone calls, emails, and well wishes! We have already had a few "going away dinners" and are just soaking up our last weeks here.

Telling Daddy goodbye

And leaving with just enough to set up a one bedroom studio apartment.

I hope you will continue to tune into my blog. It will become so much more to me as I find ways to stay in touch and document new adventures. I think the best of blogging is yet to come!

We love you all!