Bittersweet Goodbyes

When we got word that Toby's company wanted to move us to Knoxville, my only reservation was meeting people. Haley was five weeks old and we had planned for me to stay home with her, so my career was inconsequential. My fear was being a new stay at home mom in a new city...how would I meet people? I feared I would be isolated with no outlet to make friends. Like I shared before, one of the things God has taught me is that He doesn't do anything half way. In less than two years, He blessed Toby and me with so many more friends than we could have ever expected. Almost all of our lasting friendships were birthed out of our involvement with our church. Toby got involved with the youth group and led a guys small group, I was asked to be on the leadership team of a mom's ministry, we both led a young families small group and of course, there were my precious Boothmakers.

We knew that leaving Tennessee would be hard. In fact, left on our own we would have never moved back to Mobile. We enjoyed our time there, but Knoxville was totally different. The seasons, weather and landscape are incomparable. The culture is so inviting. Generally speaking, the people are warm, kind and friendly. We were proactive in seeking out relationships and God blessed us with tons of friends...people who we will always be connected to...either in this life or the next.

When we moved to Knoxville, saying goodbye to our friends in Mobile was fairly surreal. I cried a little, but for the most part I was so excited about the move that I kind of glided past that part. It wasn't until I sat in our apartment in Tennessee for the first time and looked around did I realize we had actually moved to a different state. Having only lived in Alabama (granted, all over Alabama but always within the state borders), residing in another state with no family anywhere around was a shock to my system. So when it came time to say goodbye to our new Tennessee friends I expected the transition to be the same. Granted, I'm sure I will still have moments of shock and adjustment once we move into the little house, the goodbyes were much harder than I thought they would be. When I take stock of the last two years, I am amazed at the bonds Jesus formed. Not only was I terribly sad to leave the people who had been so instrumental in transforming my life, I was shocked and humbled to see them sad to see us leave. I knew we were great friends, but to see our departure truly effect others was surprising to me. Jesus has been so sweet to give us these relationships and I know they will continue on because what binds us together is not a job, or a neighborhood, or a common interest...it's Jesus, the creator of the universe. With Him as our center, these bonds will last an eternity.

As we drove across the state line yesterday, I searched for the "Welcome to Alabama the Beautiful" sign. Having always been an Alabama resident, this sign posted at every state border was always comforting to see when we traveled. I have lived all over Alabama...Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, and Auburn...this state has always been home. While we truly loved every minute of living in Tennessee, an indescribable peace came over me as I saw my sign...Welcome Home! It was the latest in a long list of confirmations from Jesus, that we are indeed on the right path. We're not making this up, or blowing some crazy dream out of proportion...Jesus has called us home.

And yes, I was driving when I took this picture. Don't worry...Toby has already fussed at me about it! (But for the record, I think it turned out pretty good for going 70 mph.)