New Life 2018 Version

My last blog was a year and a half ago. In it I shared a few of the many changes coming in my life. There are defining moments when you can see the change coming. That’s where we were. Those changes were monumental and took me away from my writing. Now that I am on the other side of the “Chasm of the Unknown” I can pay attention to my writing and exploring the new life I am in.
This time last year we were in the thick of change.

 

We had:

1. One daughter graduating High school.
2. One daughter graduating Community College.
3. One daughter just found out she was going to have our first grandchild.
4. One daughter was in St. Louis finishing her third year and heading to Michigan for an internship for the summer.
5. One daughter was working in health care and taking classes to prepare for nursing school.
6. One daughter was working full time in Nashville and getting about living her adult life.
7. One daughter was living in Boston and managing her life in the big city.
8. One daughter was in college living emotionally far away from us.
9. One house had just gone on the market in Tennessee.
10. One house in Florida with a contract to purchase and close in July.
11. Aging parents and grandparents to settle before we moved out of state.
12. Our life in Tennessee needed to be wrapped in a neat bow (we sold everything) and moved to Florida with only personal belongings.
13. We left our church family and life long friends to start over on a private island in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

That was last May…2017. This May finds us on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. One daughter just finished her first year in college
2. One daughter transferred to a four-year college and completed her junior year away.
3. One daughter has given us a grandson and is back to work.
4. One daughter is graduating college in St Louis and moving to Michigan to begin life as a working woman.
5. One daughter has taken her entrance exam for nursing school and is waiting on her classes to start while working full time.
6. One daughter has relocated to Tampa with her job and is establishing herself there.
7. One daughter is working, serving, and travelling the world from Boston as her home base.
8. One daughter chooses to remain distant.
9. The Tennessee home and all our belongings sold. We worked our butts off and sorted through our 23 years in that house.
10. We closed on our Tennessee and Florida homes in July and were fully moved by August 1st.
11. Our parents and grandparents are still cranking along in life and we are very proud of the efforts they have made to support us.
12. We can finally say the Bow is tied. Miscellaneous stuff has been sorted and storage unit is empty.
13. We get to stay connected with our church family via Facebook Live every Sunday, but… we are actively part of the island chapel and building community. Many of our friends have come down to visit and others are welcomed in the future.

The thing about taking big risks

is the chance of big

rewards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former President Jimmy Carter once said, “Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” We spent a lifetime climbing the tree and reaching the branches. We could have built a tree house and lived happily ever after. We could see the fruit though. It was there. It was ripe. If we dared take a chance, we could hold it for a little while.
I am reaching for all the fruit. For in fruit there are seeds of New Life.

My fruit trees are full of nuts…COCONUTS!