Leaving Home

Josiah ALWAYS smiles... except for pictures

...unless you tell him to make a sad face.

One week ago, we packed up the bags and boxes that were left after the moving trucks had pulled away, loaded up our two cars with eight people and drove away from Huntington, West Virginia, the place we had called home for 8 years.  And they were eight really good years.  Huntington was the place we began our ministry “for real,” the place we bought our first house, the place we had our 4 children, and the place where we formed deep and formative friendships while doing all those other things.  Although I’d had times of feeling pretty heart-broken over what we were leaving behind, it was interesting to me that I didn’t really feel sad that afternoon.  Maybe I was just too exhausted.  Mostly, though, I think I felt… ready.  Ready for the next adventure God has in store, because I’m sure he’s been preparing us for something.  And I know I felt grateful.  Really grateful for the gift of being, of living, among people who have been both encrouaging and challenging.  I’m grateful for the ways we grew in Huntington (and not just in number J). 

• ·         We learned the value of investing in our local community, in committing to the welfare of the city we’re in.
• ·         We experienced the gift of open and generous hospitality – the kind where people welcome you into their lives and are willing to step into yours.
• ·         We became pastors and hope to never take that gift for granted.
• ·         We began the hard and humbling work of striving to live what we preach.

I have the feeling that every place we live from here on out will be compared to Huntington, and either nostalgically or in reality, come up wanting.  These have been good and golden years.