In New Hampshire

So as many of you know, we had a big move coming up and I wanted to inform you that we have arrived safely.  Some of you may remember our move four years ago today, to Maine.  What a transition that was.  I found myself on my knees sobbing or hiding on the basement stairs asking God over and over again, "What am I doing here?"  The first few months were such a time of growth, spiritually, as a mom, as a wife, as a Maine-er.  I have never begged God or my husband so much to take me back to where I had been than I did in those first three months.  Call me an Israelite if you must, it was within those months that I found myself doing a lot of wandering.

I felt like I had my roots ripped out from underneath me even though I had voluntarily rode the twenty some hours north to our new home.  I remember arriving and meeting the landlord for the first time and stepping foot into an apartment that I had ordered on the Internet.  I can recall thinking, "It's not quite what it looked like online."  The tile was still being laid and the kitchen was shrouded in the original 1960's decor, including, but not limited to my very own in-wall oven, complete with dead bird carcass in the one and only cabinet drawer.  Those first few months were rough, probably some of the toughest I have ever experienced.  But you know what, God was there, seated beside me, stroking my hair and calling me His beloved.  I love when He calls me that.  In fact, I thirst for those moments because I am usually in one of those random valleys, lonely and reaching for Him.  He always meets me there and holds me as I weep.

New Hampshire has not been the same experience.  We arrived to an apartment that I did not have to paint on my own, (yes, that was just another one of the awesome surprises that awaited us in Maine) Randy has a job as a high school math teacher, (some of you may recall that he washed dishes for the first year in Maine while he was waiting to qualify for his graduate program), and Grayson talks now...a lot. (I no longer get the pleasure of making up and saying what I think he might be thinking, but rather he tells me, over and over again until I respond)

We have been here for nearly two weeks.  I get to stay at home with Gray and discover what New Hampshire has in store for us.  We have been busy reading, writing, hiking, playing, and wandering.  Just today we hiked on the Appalachian Trail and took homemade chocolate chip cookies to one of the shelters for the thru-hikers, hoping to touch the lives and fill the bellies of the folks that are heading North to Maine to complete their hike. 

It is a different feeling here than it was in Maine.  I don't know if it is age, or that we have already been through this type of thing, or if we have just finally come home.  We will keep you posted on any new developments in NH as well as within our adoption.  It has been four months since our wait began and many more are projected to follow.  What we do know is that God is at work and we can cling to the knowledge that He knows the plans that He has for us.