North Carolina; My Take on It

So, since it was announced that we accepted Andrews job position in North Carolina people have been asking me how I feel about the forthcoming transition. Well...

It's an ongoing process for me.

The End.

Just kidding!

I mean, of course it's an ongoing process, but for me it is a path that I believe was set in motion more than a decade ago. For those of you who don't know that background, here is a synopsis.

When I attended First Presbyterian with my family growing up I had an amazing Youth Pastor named Eric Geil. Eric was originally from North Carolina and exuded a southern charm that I thought was really fascinating. When I graduated from the high school youth group I participated in a program called Networkers where college age young adults came and interned at the church during the summer months and ran the youth programs/camps at the church. Though it was my home church, the experiance that summer changed me and opened my eyes to parts of myself that I was yet unaware of. It was a really difficult summer in a lot of ways, but I found great comfort, guidance and comraderie with another of the interns that summer named Nathan Wright. Nathan had come to our church via a family member that worshipped there. Nathan was a transplant that summer from Montreat college in the mountains of North Carolina.

Nathan and I remained close friends and he was one of my greatest confidants. The year after we Networked together I went and visited him at Montreat and got to know some of his friends. Being in Montreat felt like I was in a different world. The friends that I met there became precious to me. Another year past and an opportunity arose for me to again spend some time in North Carolina. Eric Geil had left First Pres and had returned to a sister church in his home state (First Pres. Goldsboro). He had started a Networker program at that church the previous year and wanted it to continue. Having already had my interest sparked in NC, I was dying to go. Unfortunately there seemed to be a lot of hurdles in the way. Read that SEEMED to be. One by one the Lord began knocking them down and paved a way for me that was so clear it didn't even seem possible (including creating a position for me at the church that hadn't existed before!).

In 2001 I headed to the little town of Goldsboro to begin a 3 month internship. I was originally slated to work with the elementary school age bracket, but ended up spending a lot of time with the Jr high and Sr high groups instead. Until this point I had never worked with kids older than about 4th grade. I had no idea how much I would love it. (That summer is the reason why virtually all work I have done with kids since has been with Jr. High amd older) There is no way that one blog could encompass all that I learned that summer or how much I grew as a person. My host family showed me a whole new set of family dynamics. The southern culture was fascinating. The kids I worked with stretched my heart to bursting. All in all I don't think that it is too dramatic to say that when I was there I felt like I was my true self. I felt whole; I was being used for a purpose and in touch with my spiritual center like I had never been before. Alas, the summer had to end and I returned to California. But I returned with a passion for NC and for the kids there that hasn't ever really been duplicated.

Fast forward 10 years (wow. 10...). When Andrew started applying for jobs and so many postions were being posted for NC, we both raised our eyebrows and thought...hmmm. Interesting. Oh well...keep applying. Then the jobs in CA started getting knocked out one by one. Hmmm. Then a school in NC wanted to interview him, a school that was looking for someone with his exact specifications no less. Hmmm....

Before he even went to the interview we both felt in our hearts that this was the one. It was almost inexplicable how "sure" we were with so little to base our sureness on. So little, save for my long history and mild obsession with the state. So...here we are now.

Ok, so how am I feeling about it. Well, mixed. On the one hand I am kind of terrified to move to a new place (never been to Boone), that is smaller than we had planned (no Target or Starbucks closer than and hour away) , in the mountains (I'm not so much "mountainy"), where we will know no one, and is farther from CA than we are now. I grew up with my grandparents intricately entwined in my life and had just always assumed that that is how the life of my child would be. I am facing the fact that that will not be Jonahs reality and it is my least favorite part about the transition. On the other hand, because of my past with NC, I feel like I am going to be returning to my spiritual center. I feel like I am going somewhere where I have the ability to be as close to the "real" me as possible. I feel like I have been fragments of myself here in Iowa and the idea of being whole again is like a deep sigh of relief.

I am excited for Andrew and his new job, since I think that it was basically created for him, but am excited for my self as well as I imagine opportunities to work with youth again in some capacity. I have already scouted out a church there that I am excited to try (something that has been sorely lacking for the last several years) and am praying that I will be able to serve somehow there. During the day, the move seems like it is full of possibilities. During the night however, anxiety tends to be the prevalent emotion coursing through our home. As we move closer to the move, I am hoping that the anxiety with lessen and that the Lord will make his plans more clear and we can get more excited about them with Him.