The good, the bad, and the ugly

I suppose now it is time for a momentary pause to explain some of the harder stuff that goes on while moving across the country.  Although we weren't living super to close to family in Dayton, we certainly had friends that had become true family.  They would drop anything to help us, we hung out with them on a regular basis, ate meals together, played games together, worshiped together, our kids played together, and well we just did life together.  Add to that the fact that all of our family was within at least some sort of driving distance if we needed to take a trip or they wanted to come visit, and you can pretty much guess that everything about moving across the country (even to a beautiful place like Denver) is rough at times.  I think over the past week all four of us at one point or another have had our moments of loneliness.  Those times when you just need to go play poker with the guys, or when you want that BFF right there to laugh or cry with you, when you want to say, "hey mom why don't you drive down for the weekend," or when you just want that friend from preschool to come over for a play date after school.  Yep...that is HARD.  It's not that these feeling were unexpected.  We all just wish they were avoidable.  We all have those moments when we wish that following God's lead didn't mean times of loneliness or uncomfortable situations right?   We long for that time when going into preschool meant seeing familiar faces to strike up a conversation with.  We wish that walking into church (even on the 3rd week there) didn't feel so foreign.  What is funny is that we all can talk about it, we can pray about it, and then we must continue on.  We have to continually make sure we are outside of our comfort zones and willing to introduce ourselves to others and not be timid when someone says hi.  We have to be patient and remember that everything takes time.  We have to remember that our friends in Dayton will always and forever be our friends even once we make new ones.  We have to remember we are very thankful for the technology today that allows us to see and hear our family and friends whenever we'd like (seriously how did that Ingalls family do it?).  Most of all, we must remember that we serve a loving God that has us here for a reason, even in the most lonely of times.  We are so very thankful for each other and never want to take that for granite either.  WE are thankful that WE DO know several friends here that have helped us make this transition easier.  This weekend at church we sang "10,000 Reasons."  It was all I could do to not let the emotions come over me as I thought of my precious niece and nephew shouting out the words of this song at the top of their lungs.  Yet, these words are so very very true.  We will bless His Holy Name and whatever lies before us we pray that we are singing his Praise. 

"The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning
It's time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I'll worship Your holy name"