BIG MOVE

When something big happens in my life, it always makes me look back over where I have been and think about our life.  I look at our life from every angle and try to figure out how we got to this place.

Those days when you know change is in front of you but, you need to sit in the past for awhile before the whirlwind starts and everything is different.  The whirlwind of change.

Bryan and I are good at change.  We actually embrace it, live for it.  It makes us feel alive.  It is only when we are not in constant change that we feel uncomfortable.  Anxious, antsy, uneasy.  We learned this about ourselves when we went to a marriage conference several years ago.  Very few people in the room shared our passion for change.  And, Bryan does more then me. 

I close my eyes and imagine something simpler.  A nice small house in Sheridan, Wyoming with 2 children.   Close to all our family.  Bryan would have a low stress job and be home at 6 every afternoon.  Ahhhhh, it sounds so nice.  So comfortable.  The whirlwind doesn't exist.

Then, I smile at myself for even thinking about this because Bryan and I had the opportunity to take that life.  We could have stayed close to family.  We could have stopped at 2 children.  We could have turned down Bryan's promotions.  We didn't.  With everything we are, we looked at our life and created what we knew would be best for all of us.  A whirlwind.  A whirlwind of change and chaos and in the midst of it all we knew we would find happiness.  Not the kind of happiness that we would have found in Sheridan but, our own kind of happiness.  And, he and I both know that we wouldn't have been able to live in that nice small house in Sheridan.

And, we have been so blessed.  Blessed beyond anything that I ever imagined.  I certainly didn't ever imagine our life today when I was in my 20's.   It is so much bigger then I ever imagined.  Our opportunities have been endless and our children have brought us so much happiness.  It has been incredible.

OK.  I have to tell you why I'm writing this.  What has started all of this thinking. My husband has been offered and accepted a new job.  He accepted the position last week and our whirlwind started.  We will be moving to Phoenix, Arizona.

And, like each move.  Each new baby.  Each new house.  We know this is right.  We know it's the next step in our lives.  We also know it's not going to be easy.  It will be hard to leave Colorado.  To leave our friends and move further away from our family.  It will be hard to start over with 4 small children.  It will be hard to be the President of a large company.   But, we haven't been concentrating on these details.  We are concentrating on what God has in store for us.  God's plan for us and all the blessings we have been given.  All the opportunities and what our new life will be like.

And, looking forward is so much more exciting then looking back.  Embracing each new opportunity we are offered is our focus and we are very excited.  Excited and blessed.  Did I say blessed yet?  I am overcome with thankfulness for everything that we have and all we have to look forward to.  No words can express my thankfulness.

Thankfulness for an amazing husband.  A young man with a biology degree who decided to take his first job in the construction business, as a laborer, with shovel in hand.   I remember going with him to buy his first pair of steel toed boots.  But, he didn't stay there long, he quickly moved his way up to backhoe driver and I was proud of him.  And, soon after that he started supervising crews on the road.  He traveled all over the country with clipboard in hand.  Staying in hotels and changing cities every few weeks. I was proud of him.   After several years he soon became an engineer and started working in an office (I think he enjoyed the air conditioning).   Again, I was so proud of his accomplishments.  And, as the years passed he continued to accept promotions and change positions.  Never second guessing himself or feeling content with one thing.  He embraced each new challenge and excelled.  And, today he starts as the new President of Pauley Construction.  Wow, it's all I can say.   I have never been more proud of him.

So, today there is no looking back...I looked back and I don't like what was there.  No regrets or we should haves.  Just contentment and thankfulness.  I know that Phoenix, Arizona is the perfect place for our family.  This is the perfect job for Bryan.  It's all a new adventure and I am ready.  Ready to start something new (again).