For the last three years, Michaelmas has been a season of huge changes in our family. Three years ago was our last big Michaelmas party that ended in a visit to the ER which triggered another journey that ended last Michaelmas when we returned home after a month-long stay in Boston with more hope in the future for our family than ever before.
This year, as we reflected day-by-day and gave thanks for each part of our journey last year in Boston, a new journey began to unfold.
On Labor Day this year (which was the day before Jared's surgery last year), Chris got a phone call from a recruiter about a job in Raleigh, NC.
On the subsequent Thursday (the day Jared woke up after surgery last year), Chris had a phone interview with the company. After Jared woke up, we expected him to be in ICU for a week, and we expected it would be a week before we heard anything, if ever, about the job. In both cases, we were wrong and things started moving forward at lighting speed.
They wanted Chris in Raleigh for an in-person interview on Monday, 9/9. So, he drove up Sunday night. The interview wasn't until 2pm, so he checked out one home in the area and met the best friend of a friend of his who was a realtor in the area. The home wasn't a good fit but it was nice to look around the city. Afterwards, he went back to study some more before his interview.
All his studying for tricky technical questions turned out to be unnecessary; the interview was very casual and Chris was excited. He hoped to hear back in a week or so and began the 9 hour drive home. Two hours into his drive, the recruiter called; he had an offer.
When he had driven up, neither of us really expected anything to come of it, and if it did we figured we could stretch things out until the end of baseball season in November. Once again we were wrong. They wanted him up there no later than October 1st.
Since then, our lives have been in hyper-drive. Finding health, home, and car insurance, finding a home and all that entails (financing, inspections, etc.). Thankful that Dawn (our realtor) and Ken (our lender) have been amazing. And if everything goes as planned we will be in our new home on Friday, 9/27.
A home in a town I've never been to. A home neither of us have seen in person. To a town where we know no one. But also to a town full of possibilities for our family. Chris getting out of the defense industry and into the banking industry is a huge opportunity and into a position where he can really contribute and learn new things again. He can still bike to work, though its 4 miles longer each way. Sports and Homeschooling seem to be really big for the boys. Lastly, our new home is HUGE and sits on nearly an acre of wooded land; in a rural part of town; yet still remains close to everything. We are hoping it is the sanctuary we have wished to have for years. We can even have chickens!
The possibilities are enormous, but so is the change. We have always lived in Orlando since the day after our marriage. We have lived in this house for the past nine years. Though we have out-grown it (literally), it is still home. The hardest thing to leave behind is the friends who have become family to us. I feel like doing a tribute to each of you here but I would rather do that personally.
However, separating from our best friends/family, the Parays, is the hardest part and tears at the heart of each of us so much, I don't think I could say it out loud. I am not good at expressing my feeling in words, yet though I may fail miserably I must try. Our lives have been so interconnected for the past 8 years its like leaving behind half our family. But we have prayed for years for God to never open a door that we should not pass through. Our simple prayer has always been "God don't let us screw-up our family by doing something that is not your will." We have to believe that this change, though terribly hard, will be good for ALL our family, the Otto's and the Paray's. That this change will not harm any of the children but build them up to serve Him better. That this is not the end of our families closeness but just a new and different phase.
This time next week (the day before Michaelmas) we should be in route to Raleigh to close on our new home. Let the journey begin. Soli Deo Gloria!
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