We are Moving!

The boys used to ask me if we would ever move to a new house and I was too quick to answer, no. I told them we would probably always live in this house. I know realize how futile our plans can be and that we really do not know what tomorrow holds.

I never thought we would leave Maplewood and I absolutely did not imagine moving to the other side of the country. We will be two hours from Canada!!!

To read a time line of how the possibility of moving started read here

To read how I've been processing the possibility, read here

Last Wednesday, Brian and I sat down to make a final decision about accepting the offer. It didn't have to be that long of a discussion, as we have hardly talked about anything else for the last few months.

He told his work the next day, his last day will be November 11th. We will leave that night to go to Seattle for a little less than a week to find a rental house.

We told the kids on Friday morning. We took them to donughts, a huge treat for them. Brian started by reminding them of how we have been telling them how awesome Seattle is and they guessed that we were taking them on a trip. We explained we would be living there and they immediately cheered and were very excited. The younger two have maintained that feeling. Grayson is mostly excited about the huge truck that is going to come and take all our stuff...even our bikes.

Tyler's emotions are more complex. His excitement faded when Brian explained he would be going to a new school. The first thing he said was that he didn't want to leave his house. Brian could not hold it together at that point and I had to take the lead. We explained that it is okay to be sad and scared. That is is also okay to be sad and excited at the same time. We talked about the things we were sad to leave but also the things we were excited about. We showed the kids pictures of Seattle and a map and talked more about all the things we can do there. Tyler summarized it up: "I feel mostly excited, a little scared and a little sad."

We then drove to the Pumpkin Patch and had the best time. The weather was gorgeous and Brian and I smiled more than we have in a long time. There was such a huge weight lifted off after telling them. We knew they would be fine. Brian might still be struggling with a little guilt...he bought us the biggest pumpkin I've ever had. It really was fun.

On the way home from the Pumpkin Patch we started singing "God is so good." Grayson added versus he's learned at preschool one of which was "God gives us friends." Tyler exlaimed, "That's the one we really need to sing because we are going to need God to give us new friends in Seattle." So we all sang it together. I then asked them what other things we needed to ask God to give us for Seattle. Tyler responded, "God gives us hope" and "God makes us strong."

I am beyond thankful for those conversations and confirmation that God will use this in my children's lives to show them how they can turn to God when they are scared, how he goes before us and that they can trust Him. These are the very things I am having to cling to as well.

Time is moving fast. We have less than six week until we move and 2 of those weeks we will be out of town. That means I have four weeks left in my house and four weeks left to say good-bye. It all seems very unreal at times.