Life After Our Move

The past few posts have been filled with pictures about what we have been up to physically. It has been exciting, a lot of hard work, and a bit stressful at times, but overall the transition has gone smoothly, which we couldn’t be more thankful for. We haven’t felt too overwhelmed with meeting new people, just yesterday we said that our house is starting to feel like our home, and hopefully the wrong turns and the urge to do a normal turn instead of a Michigan turn subsides soon too.

Leaving Minnesota on Thursday was incredibly difficult. While painting, I find my mind drifting to our life back there, wondering what our friends are doing, thinking about how our life is so different here, but realizing that “this” is what God has designed for our life and that it couldn’t be more perfect. It is an incredible mix of emotions like I’ve mentioned before, but as we look back over our 11 years of marriage, I can’t help but see God’s hand work so perfectly in our lives. Thirteen years ago, we sat with our now pastor, dreaming about doing ministry together. And now here we sit. Out of all of the people in the world, all of the churches in the world, God calls us to North Street. Just sit and think about that – how can one not believe there is a God? Psalm 37:4 proves to be true.

One thing I am learning though, is that relationships span the miles, no matter how far apart you are. The hardest thing about moving was saying goodbye to our Minnesota family. They are irreplaceable. Though in God’s comforting way, He has already provided us with loving families and friends. We are 6 days into our new journey and we already feel this overwhelming sense of peace. We know that God has directed our every step and He will continue to, as we navigate a “new” life.

We are also thankful for the gift of time. Dan doesn’t start work for a few weeks yet. When we knew that would be the case, we weren’t sure what those few weeks would look like, but now we know why God set aside that time too – to make our house our home. We have DREAMED of having an old farmhouse with lots of character, and though this house is more of a cape cod and in the “city limits,” it is everything we have dreamed of. The other day Dan and I talked about how this house is a fulfillment of everything we’ve ever wanted and now to be LIVING here. Ah, I just can’t help but look up and again, give praise to God. Though it does need a little work, such as painting (almost everything just to clean it up), a new deck railing, landscaping, and fixing many odds and ends, but that is all expected in a 100 year old home. Plus, they are all projects we can, for the most part, fix ourselves, which aren’t huge budget breakers. Again, another reason to thank God.

And then there is Mazy. So this mama was quite worried about her about a month ago. About 3-4 weeks ago, Mazy was really struggling with me leaving to go anywhere, even if Dan was around. She would go into a complete panic, as if I was leaving her forever. Now granted, she is 2, so some of this is completely normal. But looking back, that week was truly different. She could tell something was up and the boxes were a physical representation of our move and that her life was going to change. But after that week, things have only improved. She has been a complete ROCKSTAR.

Now granted, I think it helps that our new home is literally twice as big as our previous, which means she has that much more room to roam, but she is thriving. She is becoming a little social bug and wants to see her cousins and little friend every moment of the day, but she is learning her way around our place. Getting the sandbox up and going has been a life-saver, having a deck in back (that needs railings) has been huge, and her having her own little toy room has made working on house projects MUCH easier. She can spread out and run around. Oh the joy this little child has! The previous owners have told us a few times how it was a home they raised their children in and that they hoped it could be the same for us. Well, it already has been and we are already envisioning it being a home we will live in for the next 30-40 years! I see why they raised their kids here! Of course Mazy can’t WAIT for the pool to be up and running – try telling a 2 year old they can’t swim in a pool that has water in it! It’s a daily conversation – a few times a day.

And truthfully speaking, we love this town. We will never find another Prinsburg, though I’m not sure we’d ever find another Zeeland either. Being able to walk to the hardware store, ice cream shop, restaurants, church, splash pad, bank, everything, has been such a change of pace for us, but in a good way. One of the things we so enjoyed about Prinsburg was that it felt like a campground, all year. One of the first things our new neighbor told us was that our little neighborhood felt like one giant campground, just with historical homes. I didn’t quite get it at first, but after going on a few walks, hearing kids play in their backyards, smelling the freshest of meats on the grills, I now get what she is saying. It feels like a giant campground. Two years ago, we drove through Zeeland on the way to my parents, just for fun, and I remember Dan saying “I could live here someday…”

Our life is coming together here. The first few days were quite overwhelming at times, seeing boxes everywhere, feeling a little over our heads with what all had to be done, but each time I felt that way, I kept telling myself, we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so just take your time. Well, that has proven to help and though the to-do list is long, it is coming together. Some of the house projects do not have to happen right away. They can wait. That’s the beauty of making a house your home.

We pray that our home will be a place where Christ is felt, Christ is loved, and Christ is the center. And we could not be more thankful for the home He has so graciously given us!