I remember my first move…Grand Prix loaded down with Rubbermaid containers, empty notebooks and a month’s supply of smores Pop Tarts. I was off to college and ecstatic for my new adventure. This was the first time I would be leaving my little farming community for more than a few weeks. It was a strange feeling to have my entire life loaded down in that car. The sentimental soul I am pondered past, present and future all the way to Chicago.
This past week I moved for the 9th (ish) time since that first monumental move—from Chicago, to Iowa, to Oklahoma, back to Iowa, to the Netherlands, to South Dakota, to Colorado, back to Iowa again, a 9 month stay in South Dakota and here I landed in Colorado. This transient life seems to be typical for college and post-college people like me, like us, like Steve and I and our family of two—searching for a place to call home.
This brings us to Fort Collins, CO. Only two hours north of Colorado Springs, but somehow feels like an entirely new world. This move looked a lot different than my first. It took a U-Haul and 3 car entourage to move our little life up I-25. Again on this journey I pondered past, present and future—how did we get here? What would be next? So many hopes, dreams and a future as seemingly unknown as it was six years ago on that move to Chicago.
We moved here to follow Steven’s career in natural resource management where he was offered a job with the city’s Natural Area’s department. I have never been more proud of my husband as I watched him prepare for this new opportunity. I saw something inside of him come alive as he anxiously anticipated a job that was more aligned with his passions and calling. That was enough for me to jump on board, to abandon our semi-established life and make this move.
From the day Steven accepted this new job, we were packed up and moved in less than two weeks. Talk about a whirlwind! The processer I am, I knew this day would come where I would be sitting in my new home “office” (aka a small desk in my bedroom) reflecting on everything that just happened. How on earth did we get here? Why am I still in my sweatpants at 9am on a Wednesday morning?!
We moved to Colorado to follow my dream of working for Focus on the Family and subsequently fell in love with this beautiful state and the people that inhabit it. I lived my dream and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing experience and professional development my time at Focus offered. It is a fabulous organization with a huge heart to bring hope and healing to families around the world. I will be forever grateful for my time there, but a change needed to be made– we needed to make a move to facilitate Steven’s career and it is also forcing me to find something new, something that is possibly more aligned with my talents and abilities.
Am I unemployed? Not yet. I am working remotely for Focus for a few more weeks and after that, well, time will tell. Freelance writing? Another marketing job? Waitressing? My heart is in writing and in people…whatever that means or looks like we are figuring it out and seeking guidance from the only One who knows.
Thanks to all who have reached out and prayed for us during this transition. We are so excited about what God has for us here in Fort Collins and know He has great things planned!
feeling excited.
