We are moving...

This post squeezes our hearts 

(or at least it squeezes mine to the point of tears) 

because this is our post about moving. 

After nearly 4 years of living in Liberty, MO, we have made a decision to move.

There is even a For Sale sign in our yard to prove it! 

In September, while our family was playing in Nauvoo, Illinios Michael received a phone call from a friend he used to work with who said there was position in Iowa opening. He said would like to recommend Michael for the position. 

 The question was, "are you interested?" 

"What's the harm in looking?" we thought. 

"It would be nice to make new contacts in his profession" we said.

The unique aspect of our family is that we are open to moving. We are originally from MS, but we have no plans of returning. This resolve opens us to a world of options.  After all, when you aren't firmly rooted somewhere you are free to see the options, right? Except we wouldn't mind being rooted somewhere, and Liberty was starting to be that place for our family. There is so many aspects of Liberty to love: the community, our ward, excellent schools, friends... the list literally goes on and on. We had bought a home and had a 5-10 year plan, but those plans have changed. 

We decided to be open-minded and went to see about this Iowa job/adventure the next weekend. 

I won't get into the details of Michael's job, but let me just say that this particular one in Iowa represents the "dream job" or the "next step" he was wanting to eventually have in the future. We visited the area, and while it is scary (a big change) and we felt conflicted about leaving our Liberty home and community, we began to also feel it was a good fit for us. 

We started praying about it and tried to think what we would say if the job was offered to him. It was both a hard and easy decision. Hard because of everything we would be leaving behind, but easy because we felt the Lord confirming to us that we should move. 

The job was offered, and we accepted. 

[Stop reading here unless you prefer further details into the story of our move.]

There were several things that seemed to seamlessly line up for this entire endeavor to happen, those little bits that helped lead to us to knowing it was a right the decision for us. 

Some of those moments:

When we were on our way to Iowa for the interview we had several reservations and questions that needed to be addressed before we could imagine us moving. Some of those (for me) were: Are the schools good? How big is the school and town? Where is the closest Target? What do the parks look like? Could this place be a good fit for our family? 

Michael went for his interview after we attended church on Sunday. That Sunday a lot of my reservations I was holding on slipped from my grasp. Not only did the interview go very well for Michael, but we also met with a nice family from church who invited us over. They answered all of my questions: 

-the schools are good.

-the community is small but really nice

-they have some great parks (which we visited)

-the Target and Costco are within reasonable driving distance... Did I mention the city of Washington, Iowa is rather small? 

It is population comparable to the towns Michael and I grew up in. Chatting with this new family we met reminded me of that fact. Reminded me that I grew up with a target nearly 30 minutes away. In fact, most every store except for the grocery store was 30-40 minutes away. We personally have just become used to living super close to all the major store and food chains because that is how we have lived for the past 7 years since moving away from MS. In the end, I was reminded that I have before lived in a small town. And, was it terrible? Not at all. 

After accepting the position, we began looking at places to rent or buy. We hoped to rent, but we didn't find any renting options. We met with a realtor and went down one path for a house we both felt really great about, and during that time we decided to put our house in Liberty up for sale and within a few days it was under contract.  Tender mercies? We thought so. We felt those experiences were only confirming to us of our right decision. 

As it turned out, we changed our minds about the house we were planning to buy and the contract for our house in Liberty did not work out. However, we prayed about it and pursued another house that in end will fit us better.  

Why go through all that? I feel like in the beginning we pursued a house we felt we could better afford because at that moment we weren't planning on selling our home in Liberty, rather we were planning to rent it. We were most focused on finding a less permanent option. But our minds changed as we listed our house on the market and then it went in contract rather fast. This entire deal lead us to thinking of how we would use the money from selling our house. In the midst of that, we changed our minds about which house we wanted to purchase in Iowa. And it wasn't until that happened that the contract on our house in Liberty fell through.  I know it might seem a little too reaching, but I really believe all of that had to happen before we would have considered purchasing the home that would best fit our family in a longer term scenario. I believe the Lord allows us to make our own decisions, and also helps steer us in certain directions sometimes. 

The kids and I were able to visit the elementary school weeks later. We were greeted by a super nice principal and staff which further helped ease our thoughts and fears. And just as the world loves to prove how small it is I ended up having a short conversation with our current elementary principal who told me he was from Iowa and had actually grew up in a town just outside of Washington. I think it was a tender mercy sent for me to hear yet again how nice of a place it is and confirming to us again in a small way that is it the right decision. 

In the end, we trust in Heavenly Father and we have faith that we are have made the right decision. It is a hard move because of how much we have grown to love living in Liberty, MO. Liberty is a very special place. If you have lived here, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about- if you haven't, just take my word for it. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

After all, isn't it better to have lived somewhere you loved, made lasting friendships, and are sad to leave? 

We think so.  

Our big move happens at the end of this month-- so wish us well on our new adventure! 

May our faith sustain us, and may it be as great of an experience as our last big move ended up being for our family.