Wife Without Borders!Cajuns in California and The Nomadic Wife put up a pretty good fight, but Wife Without Borders took a solid lead as the ballots starting coming in. Thanks for all of you who took a moment to cast your vote and give me feedback. I'm possibly the most indecisive person on the planet so your input really helped to make this choice a bit easier.
I'll be blogging there effective immediately, and would love for you to hop on over and continue to follow along with us on this crazy adventure of ours. I'll be letting y'all know about all the relocation details like the flight over, house hunting, car buying, jet-lag conquering, and our general repatriating experience over the next few weeks. Plus, you've got a 4 month guest post coming from Mr. Forest and you know you don't want to miss that!
Your support and viewership of The Aberdeen Wife has been flattering and humbling. I feel like hanging my hat up here is sort of the final goodbye to our Scottish chapter. It's very sad but at the same time we are over the moon to have a chance to explore Northern California for a bit.
From one beautiful place to the next. We are blessed!
Thank you for being an attentive audience to my ramblings and sticking with me through the good times and bad.
In honor of our two year stint in Aberdeen, here are just a few of our favorite photos from our time in Scotland.
What an amazing, incredible, life changing adventure it was! On to the next one!
Obviously I am still blogging under the title The Aberdeen Wife, which is no longer appropriate. I've been using what little brain power I have left to brainstorm possible titles for this new chapter of our lives and have also kept tabs of your creative suggestions. Here is a running list of names I am considering. Please take a moment to cast your vote!
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I’ve moved around a lot in my life. Since being born I’ve
lived in 3 countries, 3 states, and 9 different cities. Compared to some, that’s
not much, but compared to most, it’s a whole heck of a lot. Most of the time, I
feed off of the change of scenery, the fresh start, the sense of adventure and
the excitement of meeting new faces and exploring new places. But for some
reason, this particular move had me feeling negative and anxious; worried,
stressed, and a tad resentful.
It had me questioning this lifestyle and whether
or not it was worth it. Wouldn’t it be easier just to move back to South Louisiana?
To attend LSU sporting events on the weekends? To take Forest to Mardi Gras
parades? To have our parents and siblings and BFFs nearby? To raise our son in
one place? To give him a sense of home? To raise him up in our own culture
surrounded by people who share our heritage, history and values? The answer is yes. Yes, it would
absolutely be easier, in every single sense.
Throughout the moving process, I
couldn’t let go of the disappointment that we were taking yet another assignment
outside of Louisiana. I couldn’t shake the reality that our next assignment after this
is unlikely to be in LA either. In fact, I had to face the fact that we might not
raise Forest in Louisiana at all. And it shook me up. It broke my heart. I
resisted and rebelled and closed myself off from getting even the teensiest bit
excited about moving to San Ramon.
Bless his heart, Jonathan has been so
supportive. He took care of most of the logistics when I claimed I had too much
going on with Forest to help out. He went house hunting by himself and had patience
with me when I criticized the house he chose for us. He researched the cars we should get and
haggled with dealers while I focused on getting Forest on track and getting him
over this stinkin jet lag. I griped and complained and grumbled under my breath
about living out of suitcase and leaving my friends behind and living so far
from my parents.
Finally Jonathan reached his breaking point and called me out.
He told me to snap out of it, accept the situation and move on. I cried and
griped and grumbled some more, but in my heart I knew he was 100% right. I wasn’t
being myself. I wasn’t being the woman he married, who promised to support him
and trust him and follow him to the ends of the earth. I was going through the
motions, sure, but I wasn’t really participating anymore.
As a trailing spouse,
it can feel that way sometimes- like you are an after thought; just along for
the ride. Your wants and needs are second class citizens to his much more
important career trajectory. But I signed up for this. For all of it. For
raising my kids as nomads. For never having other LSU fans to watch the games
with. For moving every 2 years. For investing myself in temporary homes and
transient friends. For the pros AND the cons. For the excitement AND the grief.
For the rewards AND the sacrifices.
I went for a run this morning, and heard
this song and it gave me so much peace.
Especially this line:
"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,
let me walk upon the waters,
wherever You would call me.
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander,
that my faith would be made stronger,
in the presence of my savior."
It reminded me to trust that the Lord
is opening doors for our family. That He is bringing us exactly where we need
to be. That He is refining me. That He has a purpose for me. That for such a small and quiet person, I have the opportunity to live
quite a big life. And that’s a blessing AND a curse.
But through it all, He is
there with me. He’s putting people and places into my life that will help to
refine me and bring me closer to Him. And hopefully, as I come in contact with
people in these different cities, I can have some sort of positive impact that
will spread the infectious joy of Jesus and provide encouragement for others.
I remember, despite my excitement, how terrified I was to move to Aberdeen, and yet, He ensured that I was welcomed with open arms on the other side of the pond. I need to trust that he will take care of us in the same way here in California. I just have to be open to it.
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