1 Year Ago

Exactly 1 year ago on Mother's Day, I preached my last sermon at Rose Bud.
This is what it looked like outside of our house, as we were putting all of our earthly possessions into pods and moving vehicles. I think this summer is going to be much better for me than last summer. I'm not as new. I know who more people are. I have more time to get ready for things. I'm not in the middle of moving again. It's hard to believe it's already been a year!

Since then, we've already been back to Searcy four times; one teen college tour trip, one wedding, and two funerals. A lot has happened. We love the people where we are, but we don't love the people where we were any less. I still get teary eyed when I see pictures like this one. We really loved our home in Searcy.

I just got a big dose of reality delivered to my driveway.

All of a sudden, it's finally hitting me that I'm not going to live here any more. A truck driver just dropped off my PODS pod, and over the next few days I'm going to be loading all my possessions into it.

Our house has had lookers, but it hasn't sold yet. We're going to be renting a place in Nashville, and only after we sell this house and buy the next one are we going to get them to drop off the pod so we can unload it.

It's making me really sad. I absolutely love this house, and I have yet to find a house in Nashville that I like as much as I like my current home. It is going to be heartbreaking to think about my house sitting empty here in Searcy while I'm renting a second home from someone in Nashville. I have good memories of this house. I love my neighborhood.

I guess this is one of the sacrifices I'm having to make moving to Nashville. There's a lot I'll love about Nashville, but it's going to be bittersweet. I wish I could have my friends and home in Searcy and all that I'm looking forward to in Nashville all at the same time. I wish I could keep going to Rose Bud while we're starting things up at Old Hickory. Unfortunately, life forces us to accept the results of our choices, and I can't have both.

I think this move is going to be a blessing for us. It's just hitting me hard to know that right now, a major phase of my life is ending. Frankly, I feel the same as I did on the day I graduated from high school. I'm sure God has something in store, and I'm sure it will have some good and some bad. The hard part is just having no idea what's going to happen next. At this particular moment, that scares me to death.