Change

It's freezing here today.  Literally!  I think the high is around 25°.  I suggested that Cole wear his warm jeans today (they are lined with flannel) but he said he was saving them for tomorrow - cause it's only going to be 9°!  I assured him that he could wear them both days, because it was super cold today, too!  It was only 11° when got up today.  BRRRR. 

I am stranded in the house because we are having the house painted.  Well, not completely painted, but today they are repainting basement walls.  Next week they will be painting the master bath, and last week they painted part of the kitchen and the bonus room.  All of this preparation just to move out within the next 6 months.  I actually think we are going to re-tile the kitchen, too.  What a mess it will make.  

We are starting to slowly move in the southwesterly direction.  Tim finally submitted all of his Texas licensing requirements.  The new office manager will soon begin hospital credentialing and insurance approval.  Transferring this time seems a bit more complicated than 5 years ago, but only because Texas has such cumbersome licensing requirements!

Once we list the house, I will again become the crazy, anally cleaning mom.  I am trying to prepare myself for reasonableness, but it's hard to not clean, straighten, vaccuum, dust, etc., when you know people will be looking through every cabinet and closet!  I've given up the idea of cleaning out - we just moved a 18 months ago - so there just isn't much to get rid of around here!

Our plan is to move sometime at the end of June (after baseball and camp is over) and then we will journey across the state of Tennessee, down through Arkansas, to our new home in the DFW area.  It is always exciting to dream of a new house, new friends, new church, new schools.  But we are all experiencing the truth of how painful it will be to leave our beloved friends in Tennessee.  What has been the ordinary for 5 years, will no longer be our life.  The friends we planned to "grow up with" will grow and change, and we will be limited to Christmas cards, emails,  and phone calls.  Leaving the people is going to be the saddest for all of us.  I am sure we will be able to replace most of what makes us happy in Oak Ridge, but we won't find the same people.  Yes, there will be new friends, but as we found as we left Mississippi, we will never find anyone to replace those who have touched our hearts during our years in this town.  

The sadness has been prevalent in the past few months.  I would throw our plans out the window, if I didn't truly see God's plan for us in this change.  No matter how I look at it, I fully believe that His hand has been prompting us to move.  What began on July 22 as a seemingly abrupt thought, has shown itself to be a complete change of direction for our future.   We will no longer hear Rocky Top at every sporting event, the four seasons will not be as obvious, we will be surrounded by tumbleweed rather than rhododendrons, and we will revert back to beef bbq.  Our children will most likely attend Texas camps and colleges.  All of that is good, though.  Texas has so much to offer and the people are full of hospitality.

I am dreading our good-byes, and overwhelmed at the thought of packing up (again) and starting over (again), but I am waiting in great expectation for the adventure He has planned in the great state of Texas!