The stars are aligning....

There has to be a word, just one single word, that means "the stars are aligning"...if you know of one please share because I'd really like to have a word to describe the last few days...

I'm sorry I've been MIA as far as the blogs go. This time of year is so busy anyways and then when you add in our last few days.... it's just insane...

If you've been following me very long, you know that we have been displaced from our ideal place in this world. Alaska was just it for us... and it left this hole that we just haven't been able to fill. Part of that hole was from simply missing the landscape, part from friends we left behind (one of which is moving here!! Woo hoo!!!) and a big part of that hole could only be filled with our church family.  We tried to find a church family in Texas, but there just never seemed to be anywhere that really made us feel like home...

I don't know if I can truly describe the feelings we had about our church, or the apprehensions we felt about trying a new one...so if any of this comes out offensive to you, please know that it was not my intention, just poor wording.  I don't know if we idealize our church in Alaska and see it with rose colored glasses just because we've been away, or if it really was that perfect....we started going there when we first got married (the first Sunday after our honeymoon actually!)  and we just fit... it felt like home.... and the people felt like family. When we left there was literally this pain in my heart, that even now as I am typing, has brought tears to my eyes. So when we got to Texas, we had such high hopes for any of the churches we tried and such disappointment that we didn't get that "warm fuzzy" from any of them. They all felt like your stereo typical church...fake smiles on "good Sunday church folk" and sermons about going to Hell and giving them money.... so NOT the homey feeling we were looking for... so for four years we were miserable. Miserable in our location, and missing that church family that we longed to have....

Flash forward and move your mental picture farther north to Washington....

There is a little church in the woods, not far from our house, that I have been eyeing since the first day we moved in. I was going to town for a pizza while we waited on the moving truck. Off to the side of the road, back in the middle of the woods, was this community church and it's almost as if a beacon was pulling my attention to it... I couldn't describe it, it just felt like this force was pulling me there. I went home and told DH about it, and looked up their website online. The website said about bringing the word of Christ to the country... and their mission trips talked about going to Alaska of all places! lol

It's been a few months now of passing this church almost every time we've gone to town, but still we had our reservations about going. The website didn't give much detail about the church's beliefs and to be honest I just didn't want to be disappointed again. I would rather have the hope of it being "the one" than to go and be back to square one again....I know that must sound crazy. We kept telling ourselves that it's only an hour or so, and if we don't like it we aren't out much time and we don't have to go back....so I awoke on Sunday to DH... he had already shaved and showered and told him that he just felt like "someone" was talking to him and that today (or rather Sunday) was the day...

There was kind of a calm feeling about it all...we got up and around, picked out dresses for the girls and took the first step to meeting what could be the best journey ever ahead of us...

Again, the words just don't seem to express how blessed I feel right now...from the moment we walked into that church, I felt so welcome. We got to meet so many people and one of them just happened to ask J where she goes to school....the flood gates were opened....and there was this outpouring of homeschooling moms and kids that seemed to circle around us. One of them mentioned that probably 50-60% of their congregation are homeschoolers! I had this huge lump in my throat as they all told me of things in the area for us to do and one even told me about the co-op that she is part of  and I just felt like this bright and shiny light was shining down on us and God was smiling and saying "I told you so, just be patient"...

 This scripture is one that always seems to find us when we need it most... we love it so much so that I have it written on a wipe off board so that I see it everyday... it is this scripture that has gotten us thru so many rough times... issues with my step-son, our move to Texas... our move to Missouri...the change from Missouri to Washington and so many others in between....I know there is always more clarity looking back on what we've done but this scripture has just been such a reminder to me to keep looking forward...

Isaiah 43:19 (New Living Translation)




19 For I am about to do something new.

See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.


I know I don't usually share this aspect of our lives on my blog a whole lot, and don't worry, I don't plan on quoting scriptures being a regular thing...  I just had to share this experience with you and hope that it helps remind even one person that there is a greater plan for all of us....and my gratitude is so completely overflowing!

For the first time in four years, we are looking forward to the opportunities ahead of us, not looking backwards in sadness....I feel so much lighter and look forward to Sunday again!