GOD'S GRACE IN OUR MOVE

Jim and I have lived in Florida now for nine months, and in this community for five of them and we LOVE it!  All the things I feared I would find hard have not been, and for that I have the Lord to thank.  He has been so incredibly faithful to us.

One of the things I feared before we moved from the northeast was adjusting to the weather here in sunny, but also hot and humid, Florida.  I won’t pretend that I love the heat and humidity of the summer.  It is pretty intense, but the winter was beautiful.  Some days were chilly enough to wear my fleece, but it was nearly always sunny, and guess what, it never snowed, not even once!

I never missed the kind of seasonal change we had back in New Jersey because Florida really does have its own seasons.  Early winter here felt like fall back in the north, and later winter felt like spring.  We didn’t have the changing color of leaves, and I did love that about fall in New Jersey, but we did have flowers, trees and grass coming to life again in late winter.

The community we live in is so beautiful, with its many lakes, and palm trees, and shrubs that stay green all year.  We loved going on walks in the evenings and sitting outside on our front porch where there is always a beautiful breeze.  I have been so excited with my little plot of land in our community garden where I’ve grown tomatoes, zucchini and red peppers in the winter!  What a fun and unexpected blessing of being here.

Probably one of the biggest things I feared before we moved was finding friends.  Jim and I both grew up in New Jersey and knew lots of people, some we went to school with, some in our neighborhood, many more from our church.  Jim still has two brothers living in New Jersey as well.  Leaving all of them was so much harder than some other things we left behind.  

As I’ve mentioned before in blogs, I’m an introvert, so while I like and want friends, it takes a long time for me to make the kinds of friends I’m looking for, true, kindred spirit kinds of friends.  Making friends here has been the most significant way in which the Lord has answered my longings and my prayers.

For one thing our community is very friendly and welcoming.  Since nearly everyone comes from some place other than Florida, everyone says hello, they ask where you’re from, and neighbors even invite you in for neighborhood gatherings.  I’ve met so many women here that way.  From participation in the garden club and the community service club, I’ve come to know their names and they know mine.  Common interests knit us together and give us something to talk about (So, how does YOUR garden grow?).

There is a women’s Bible study which meets in the clubhouse once a week.  In addition to enjoying the study, I’ve met many believing women as well.  I’ve invited a few for coffee and I’ve begun a study of my own that meets in my home.  Through both studies I’m meeting other women who want more than just a casual friendship.  I’m meeting kindred spirits, women with whom I can talk about the Lord and pray.  It’s awesome!

 Another of the challenges of our move has been finding a church to call home.  We loved our church in New Jersey.  It was our spiritual home and its members were family.  We really hated leaving.  We thought finding a church where we could feel just as much at home here would be so easy, after all, we're now in the Bible belt!  And there are LOTS of churches here.  

Before we left New Jersey we did our research.  We went on line and listened to sermons, we checked maps to see how far from our home each church would be, we read through doctrinal statements and we narrowed down the search.  In the five months we've been here, we visited three churches, each about the same twenty minute drive from our house and we stayed with them for at least a month.  We eliminated two for various reasons - too small, preaching okay but not great, not enough of a generational or racial mix for us.  

We have finally settled on one we think we can call home.  The preaching is great and we love the worship service, so we're ready to take the next step.  We've signed up to help with snack during their Vacation Bible School and I've volunteered to help out in the children's program on Sunday mornings.  We're so thankful to the Lord for His wisdom and direction in the process, and so happy we have found a church to call home - in a reasonably short time.

So after five months here, I have seen the Lord’s very mighty, and also patient, hand, taking this, “I don’t want to move to Florida”, woman and changing her heart.  I’ve seen His amazing grace lavished on me in helping me to make this really big adjustment so easily.  And I know the blessing of His goodness in providing for my friendship needs and in finding us a church. 

I’m so grateful to Him and praise His name!