Operation Christmas Child – Shoebox Collection Week is Here!

A New Place to Call Home and Lessons Learned in Moving

Originally published Wednesday, 17 October 2012.

Right now, I should be unpacking.

Yep, with only days left at the end of the month, we ended up finding a new apartment and moving two days later. It was a whirlwind, but sometimes I feel like that's the story of our lives. First dating for nine months and getting married ten weeks later, then moving across the country only a handful of weeks after that.

For someone whose greatest pet peeve is being rushed, these fast-paced experiences stretch me, and I'm beginning to learn that that process—however frustrating and stressful it is at the time—is actually a gift. I trust that God is in these experiences, guiding them, timing them, allowing them to transpire in this set amount of time. And that because I'm forced to, I have to lean on him through these things, insignificant as they may be, packing boxes, making phone calls, setting up utilities, turning a cardboard-box labyrinth into a home-sweet-home. Whatever the circumstances might be, it's the leaning on Him that is what matters. That's what it's all about.

This perspective gives purpose to the seemingly small hardships that crop up, that there is potential even in those for growth and insight and awareness and gratitude beyond what we may have ever imagined.

I'm learning to open my eyes to that and thank Him for bringing these things to me and stretching and showering grace upon me through them.

Towers of cardboard boxes loom, even as I've unpacked and unpacked for the past three days. And yet, I'm already finding such joy at our new little abode, even as we discover leaky faucets and forgotten work orders. I'm trying to keep the perspective that matters at hand.

Here we are in a new neighborhood, where Victorian mansions are displayed about like dollhouses in a toystore and serene parks with swing sets for kids dot the landscape. We have a porch and a little shed for storage (you do not know how incredible this is to me!). We have an extra hour to add to our day, thanks to a shorter commute.

Truly, life is good. It is something that I must remind myself of moment by moment in the midst of whatever circumstances arise—today, tomorrow, ten years from now. Truly, God is good, in the midst of every single bit of it.

So now, while I unpack, it's likely that this blog will show a slowdown of posts at least for the coming week or two. But without worry, everything will be back up and running before too long. If I would have had more time to plan, I'm sure that I could have had a bunch of extra posts ready to go. But life doesn't always work out like that, I'm learning! Thanks for your patience in the meantime; it's back to unpacking for me!

Carmen writes the blog, Life Blessons, which provides an intimate look into her life as a twentysomething woman as she details her experiences learning how to live out her faith, enjoy the simple things in life and be the woman God created to her to be. Along the way, she shares the blessings and lessons that are a part of this journey, the things she likes to call her "blessons."

Feel free to learn more at her blog, Life Blessons.


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