A Very New Year

A belated Happy New Year! I suppose I should actually be saying Happy RELEASE DAY!!!

And Happy Valentine’s Day early. Life has been a whirlwind in my world since early December, which I will explain below. That said, I truly hope this year is better for all of us. It may seem strange, but my word for this year is “new” because it is already proving to be filled with new things.

What new things, you may ask?

First, in early December God led us to a new house and they accepted our offer! That led us to the next phase of putting our house on the market–a daunting task! We worked over Christmas and have been busily packing, staging, taking things to storage or selling, cleaning, and fixing every little thing that needed a touchup to the point of exhaustion. But a few weeks ago the house went on the market and within three days we had multiple offers and picked a buyer.

Of course, it’s never a done deal until closing, which is now about a week away. But if all goes well, and it has been so far, by God’s grace we should be in our new home by my birthday.

While we look forward to this new adventure, we also look back at all of the memories we’ve built in this house for the past 34 years. I was thinking the other day that I have written all of my books in this house. We raised our sons here, and for our youngest, this was the only house he knew until he left to get married.

Our sons went to school here. So many memories of their friends spending time here, making movies, swimming in the backyard, playing in the sandbox (many years ago!), and so much more. All three of our cats lived in this place, and I hope Tiger makes the change well. He’s been doing better with his health, though he wonders why we are always doing something new or moving this or that.

In the middle of all of this we had a trip planned before we found the house, to babysit our almost 23-month-old granddaughter in another state. We just returned from that trip, and brought home some wonderful memories and lots of pictures. Nothing compares to the love of a child and having little arms reach up, wanting to be held. The trip was a true treasure and a gift from God.

Of course, once we returned, jet lag and twelve days to pack and move set in! I look around and it still feels like such a daunting task, but we are farther along than we probably realize, according to the movers. We thank God for friends who have offered to help us with smaller things before the movers come next week. I keep trying to imagine what life will be like in the new house, which is quite a bit smaller than this one, and where in the world am I going to find space for my pictures? And books? And piano? But I suppose that is part of the adventure. And maybe I’ll have to part with some things – eventually – above what we’ve already parted with.

The last time we moved, it was to relocate three blocks north of our first home. That is not the case this time. While we had pondered moving out west to live closer to at least one of our kids, nothing ever felt right. Maybe that will be a future move, but this home is about 45 minutes from where we live now. We will be surrounded by lakes and beauty, something I’m looking forward to. No more stairs to climb unless I want to visit the basement to exercise. We plan to finish it in time. At first, it will just be an adjustment to a city we don’t know, but at least we are in a state we know fairly well.

I don’t know what other new things God has for us this year, but I suspect there will be some good and some sad. Life is like that, and so we continue on living and loving and growing in our walk with God. We’ll just be doing it in a different location.

I’m sure I will forget something along the way, and I’ll have a longer drive to stores and the post office, but in the end, I know God is moving us on, fulfilling a desire we’ve had for a long time. We just needed the push to do it, and when the right house came along, we said yes.

I hope this year brings new things into your life that gives you joy as well. My prayer? New home, new ministries, new improved relationships, new friendships, new writing projects, and especially a new improved walk with the Lord. Jesus said that He was making all things new, and one day He will. For now, I’m grateful that He is giving us newness of life with Him here and a new place on earth to enjoy Him. In the end, it’s not about the place we live, it’s about Who we live life for.

~Selah