Moving/Living in Transition Musings

As I was out walking today, my thoughts flitted from

•  enjoying the warm "Indian Summer" weather that we've been having, and being grateful for it...
•  to the beautiful birds I was seeing on my walk, yet was unable to capture on my camera which I took along to get  pictures, [especially of the magpies for Dorris Runk who wanted a magpie picture so badly, and I see many magpies every single day];...yet the birds evaded my capturing them on my camera...
• to thoughts of Samantha's arrival on Thursday and preparation of moving the RV down to "the low country" to be closer to Boise and things to do during her stay with us here in Idaho...
• to "Wow, I only have tomorrow up here in Cambridge yet, before I fly home to PA..".
• to all the things I haven't accomplished from my list today...
• to all the things that I need to accomplish before leaving Idaho on October 20th...
• to "I wonder what time it is, I wanted to go to Bible Study for the last session before leaving Idaho so that I can say good-bye to all the ladies before I leave, and get a picture..
• to "Kelby, NO!, stay out of the grass...there are sharp burrs in there!  COME!"; and  "Man is she filthy dirty.  I have GOT to give her a bath today!"...
• to "Oh, I need to organize the Idaho addresses and phone numbers of the phone company and utility company, and contractor's numbers/info, AND I need to call the Lititz Post Office to be sure that we're on the same page as to stopping the forwarding of our mail, and to let them know when I'll be in to pick it up...
• to "That reminds me, I really need to set up a PO Box in Huntingdon, PA so that from the time we move out of the house on November 13th until we return to Idaho, (which we're not sure when yet) we'll have a postal address for our mail to reach us...

and on and on and on... my thoughts meandered regarding details enveloping our selling our house in Lititz and choosing to build our Log Home and transition our lives to living out west in Idaho.

OTHER REALIZATIONS rambling through my brain with regard to this huge transition:

THINGS A PERSON TAKES FOR GRANTED WHEN THEY ARE SETTLED:

• Having a settled address and phone number and email connections.
• It takes faith to proceed with what we firmly believe to be God's will and plan for our lives when we don't have a detailed understanding and clear "Road Map" regarding exactly what God means for us to be doing as far as jobs/ministry/income stream etc. once we finally get all the way moved out here.
• Security/ Emotional Comfort ability -Such a huge transition does not come without it's own set of insecurities and emotional drain, as we deal with the same questions over and over again...."PENNSYLVANIA!  What brings you all the way out here to Idaho?" (or if in PA -"IDAHO! Why Idaho?"  and..."What are you planning to do out here (there)?"...and while understanding these very normal, real, concerned questions having wrestled with them ourselves for the past four years when this move was first discussed, we've come to accept that it does not make sense to the average person...nor can we give a satisfactory answer. Because it isn't "normal" to move away from a place you've lived your entire life, particularly if your entire family and friends network still live there.  Dream chasing and God's affirmation of the move is often not followed through with when 2500 miles separates a person from their already established lives. And I honestly understand why. This can unsettle a person's security and emotions if one dwells on the opinions of the main stream and disregards one's own inner "knowing" and clarity of God-given direction and peace with the wrestled through final decision.
• Living Close to Family & Friends - we often take for granted.  Regardless of whether you only see those family members at holidays and maybe a time or two throughout the year, and regardless of busy work/social schedules keeping us busy... when we are established, when we live close to family and friends, unfortunately, we too often take these precious relationships for granted. 

DETAILS ONE MUST COORDINATE WHEN ONE NO LONGER HAS AN ESTABLISHED ADDRESS:

• Where to direct the mail.
• Changing Banks/Insurance Companies/Medical Providers Etc.
• Current Phone Number (s)/ Cell Service Provider(s) 
•  Internet Connections
• Current Email
• Where are we staying?  for how long?
• Sensitivity to Other People's Established Schedules and Lives + Being More Flexible & Adapting your Own Situation so as not to impose upon them.
• Mailing Address Change Cards (and in our case, more than once within a year's time)
• Striving to not forget anyone or offend anyone

Well, that's a L-O-N-G list of musings.  I'll cut it off there, and

I shall leave you with a picture of my Bible Study group that I took this afternoon, despite arriving just in time for prayer time. (About seven ladies are missing today.)  They all graciously consented to my picture taking and wrote down their contact info for me.  This is a wonderful group of women!