AND THE ADVENTURE BEGINS - FOR REAL!!!

It finally happened.  After weeks of living in a three bedroom house with just one bed, two TV trays, and two folding chairs, we gave up that luxurious lifestyle in New Jersey, closed on our house, and relocated to Florida.  The last few weeks, time hung heavily, and we couldn’t wait to move.  It seemed as if it would never come, and now it has.

Goodbyes were hard.  In the weeks before we left I had many breakfast, lunch and coffee dates with treasured friends, most of whom I will probably not see again this side of heaven.  We had meals with each of Jim’s brothers and their wives and those goodbyes were bittersweet as well.  Then, before we left for Florida we spent the night with my brother and his wife – another sad goodbye.  

One of the hardest was saying goodbye to our church family.  We were honored to have them pray for us at the end of the service, then at the annual picnic that followed we shared hugs, tears, photos, and words of love and encouragement together with so many we have loved, and who have loved us.  It was a wonderful and exhausting day. 

We don’t yet have a church home in Florida.  I know that will leave a huge hole in our lives until we find it.  I’ve been asking the Lord to lead us to one where we can love and serve the way we loved and served at Montvale Evangelical Free Church in New Jersey.  It was hard to leave!

I woke up the morning after the picnic feeling down and sad.  For some reason, until one of my daughters mentioned it, it never occurred to me that I was sad for a reason!  I’d just said goodbye to dozens and dozens of people who have formed the framework of my life in New Jersey for so long.  I don’t think the full realization of the loss has hit me and probably won’t for a while, and even then, when I think I’m over it, the sadness will probably continue to come now and then, taking me by surprise.

We took the auto train to Florida.  This morning at breakfast we sat with a lovely couple from New York State who live in Florida for half the year.  As we chatted together I found myself focusing on the other side of moving – the GRAND ADVENTURE side!  The husband had worked as an engineer who traveled all over the world for his job, which sounded pretty exciting.  Since retiring to Florida, he started taking painting lessons and found that he was good at it!  One of his oil paintings recently took second place in a juried show.  That conversation got my creative juices flowing in contemplation of things I could learn for the first time – like a second language, or playing an instrument!  

They were not volunteers, but Jim and I are.  We have already volunteered for an experimental farm, called ECHO, near where we live in Fort Myers, and we’ll continue to do that. When we move to Orlando early next year we hope to volunteer with Wycliffe Bible Translators, which is based there.  Can’t wait!

When we get off the train in a couple of hours, we’ll reunite with our daughter Becky, and son in law, Nathan, whom we haven’t seen since June.  And maybe we’ll even visit our granddaughter, who started her first year of college in Orlando, before we drive south to our condo.  That makes me VERY happy!

Today at least, the adventure that lies before us far outweighs the sadness that lies behind.  The one undercurrent that remains constant is my deep felt gratitude to the Lord for all of the blessings He bestowed on us in New Jersey.  

Through good times and bad times, He has been faithful to bless us with His sweet presence, mercy and grace, reminding us that He is with us, that He loves us, and that He promised to cause “all things to work together for good to those who love Him”, and He has.  

And I’m thankful for all that lies ahead.  I know that there will be good times and bad times.  And I know that we can count on the Lord to carry us through them here in Florida just as He carried us through them in New Jersey.  

Unlike Abraham, we are setting out knowing where we’re going – destination wise at least – but like him, we don’t know what the journey will hold.  I know enough about the Lord however, to know that it will be, "immeasurably beyond all that I can ask or even imagine"!  

Let the adventure truly begin!