Year Two: The Return

Two years ago today our family returned to Smyrna after being in Louisville for seven years. It has been a whirlwind of a time since then. As He always does, God used this leap of faith in our lives to grow us and mold is more into Christ's likeness.

Those who follow us know that the first year was full of surprises and transitions. Things didn't happen the way we expected at all, but then, do they really ever. In the course of that year we moved in with my parents, had a baby, Jim got a home health job, we bought a house and moved into Mableton while still wondering what to do about Jim's job, finding out we were expecting our 9th child and hammering away at our homeschool while getting settled in a new place.

While the second year has been less transitionally in a physical sense, it has still been a great adjustment. Jim's home health job was not coming through on hours so he had to keep looking. We had a lot of catching up to do in our book work area of school because of not being able to get our curriculum out of storage. I was tired from the beginnings of a new pregnancy. Jim, James and I were able to go serve in Utah for a week. We came back with Jim still only having minimal hours and praying for the right job and provision in some way.

Then God graciously provided Jim with a new full-time job! While a huge blessing it started a whole nother level of adjusting. Daddy was now gone forty hours a week. I had to learn how to cook healthy meals for our large family. (Jim is the cook in our home and is amazing at it!!!) Learning how to do anything while pregnant is a challenge, but cooking with an unsure stomach is intense at times! Between Lillian and I we got it figured out and enjoy exploring new dishes.

We settled into a decent routine for a few months. Then in March we welcomed Timothy to our family! More learning and emotional transition for all. We are starting to get into a good routine again, though at times it still feels like we're in transition. Holidays, appointments, growing and changing kids; the schedules and needs keep fluctuating. We're also still figuring out what it is we are doing here. We know we are where we're supposed to be but what we're doing is still somewhat elusive. Everyday it becomes a little more clear as we seek God and the plans that He has for us. As we seek Him in the day in and day out it becomes much easier to see the bigger picture. Little by little God shows us more of His plan. And so we continue to seek Him and the part He has for us to play in His story.