Reasons for Moving

Tonight, at the end of this weekend, I am feeling "full".  So blessed.

Friday's lunch/afternoon date with Jenny and her kids was so good for my soul.  And hers too, it would appear.  Then Saturday night we had dinner with friends; friends that go way back.  Friends originally from Salem in fact.  They invited another couple that I had not met previously and we sat around the dinner table for three hours talking about work, our stories, how God was working and interacting in our lives.  What real fellowship we shared around that table.  It was edifying and focused on things of the Lord.  Refreshing.

At one point, Jeff asked Layth why he thought God had moved us to Seattle.  Point blank.  Layth, without hesitation said "oh, I know why He moved us.  There are two reasons He moved us here."

I was intrigued with what he would say - bottom line.  We've talked about a lot of things over the months,  but never so concise as "these two things."

"Number one," Layth declared, "for Olivia.  Betsy's niece.  Definetely.  There was some prophecy even surrounding that event and I have no doubt that we were moved here to be here for her."  (we went on to tell the story)

"And number two" he said and then gestured toward me, "for Betsy to go through a maturing process."

Wow.

There you have it... the reasons we are in Seattle.  Olivia and for Betsy to mature.  And you know what?  I think he's right.  I have matured  in the past 9 months, more than I can say.  I am the same Betsy - still the same personality with the same quirks - but at the same time I am a different person than I was a year ago.  I guess my "On Being Remade" post touched on the pain of the process and a general end-result.

I am so glad that God brought me here so that I could mature.  Lessons that I needed to learn but was too comfortable to "go there" in Salem have been dealt and learned.  I think at one point I talked about how glad I was that we moved because Salem had me "stuck in a rut" and "the only way I could learn certain things was to leave there." I'm not sure that is true.  It was my own fault that I wasn't moving forward in Salem... not Salem's fault that I wasn't moving forward.  Perhaps even, God tried to get my attention in various ways but I ignored Him, or he gave me tests that I failed to pass.  Whatever it was, it was not Salem's fault; it was my own.  So God, in His ultimate wisdom and in His love,care and concern for me removed me from that complacent place.  And gave me some shock treatment.  In the end, it was the way He could get my attention.  And, it worked!   Like a cold lake on a hot afternoon; a little shocking but oh so refreshing.  He is good and I am healthy; all glory to Him.

Specific ways I have matured?  Stephanie asked me this question later that night after Jeff and Chrissy left.  Layth and I stayed another two hours and the guys talked in one room while Steph and I talked in another and during the course of the conversation she asked me specifically how I was different from when I first moved.  I stumbled around - it is so hard to explain something so ambiguous.  At the same time, I think it is important to pinpoint the specifics so that I know long-term what has taken place.  I think I'm still working through the process and a little bit of time will give me solid perspective.  That being said, I have definitely matured, changed... and Layth has obviously noticed it because he was pretty adamant that my maturing process was one of the two main reasons for our move.

This morning at church we actually had three different families that we saw that said "hi" and stopped to talk to us.  Thank you, Lord!  I took Keiton to his Sunday school and there was Katie - Keiton recognized her too and went right in.  SO NICE to have another small person that I recognize besides my own.  Shawn and Jenny sat one row behind us in church and then we did Costco lunch together following.  Costco was crazy busy and it was chaotic and loud and all that, but it was something together and we found out they love outdoorsy type stuff, they play racquetball... they are spontaneous "when we're in your area we'll drop by your place and you guys feel free to do the same."   Wonderful!  I'm a little jealous of Jenny, her and three of her good friends from where they moved are spending a week together - no kids - in Disney World here in a couple of weeks.  Oh, that would be glorious - to spend several days with my Salem girls somewhere.  If any of you read this, how about it?  Where and when?!  Sign me up!

I have such mixed feelings at this point about Layth looking for a job and potentially moving elsewhere.  Crazy, isn't it?  I think I'm OK with whatever takes place.  Bothell, Auburn, Portland or Salem kind of thing.  Although, every week that passes and I make more connections here, plus family being so near, the more difficult it would be to move away, believe it or not.  Moving back to Salem would definitely ease the pain (as opposed to starting over someplace else).   Just glad that God is in control and I can trust Him.   Praying that whatever takes place I have the maturity to handle it well!

Finding maturity -finally - on this journey...

--Betsy