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| Our first week in England |
Last February, a long prayed-for opportunity arose for a completely new line of work in a completely different place. We felt like we should go for it, but only on the condition (I insisted) that we stay in England another year. So that was the plan outwardly, but inside I felt our time would come to an end sooner. A letter from our landlord kicking us out in July made it very clear that our time would come to an end, much, much sooner than anticipated. It was like getting the wind knocked out of me.
This means another move in July.
We have moved a lot. Let me share with you a brief timeline of our geographical locations since being married.
2004: Provo apartment #1
2005: Provo apartment #2
May 2007: Ridgecrest, California
August 2007: Pleasant Grove, Utah
2008: Taylorsville, Utah
May 2009: Sausalito, California
August 2009: Pleasant Grove, Utah
August 2010: Houston apartment
August 2011: Houston house
June 2012: England house #1
July 2012: England house #2
This time span includes two Bachelor's degrees, a Master's degree, one internship, and two different salaried careers.
That is a lot of miles to go, a lot of upheaval, a lot of money to spend on education, on relocating. And yet here we are changing our minds again, choosing a completely new path. Not staying put. One might argue that it makes for a lot of wasted time, a lot of wasted money, a lot of wasted education.
On that account, I have two points to make:
1. I thank the Lord every day that I am married to a person who has the courage to make his life what he wants it to be--to make our life what we want it to be. He doesn't settle, despite the pressure of time or expectations or perceived educational investment. I don't think most people are that brave. He is remarkable.
2. If I had to go back ten years, knowing full well what was to come in this serpentine journey, having mapped out in my mind the miles of moves and added up the dollar figures; having known what people I would love and then have to leave, and that my status would be more often than not that of perpetual outsider--if, having all this before me, I knew that it would lead here--to England, to this year and this place and these experiences, there is not one mile I would not re-travel or one dollar I would not re-pay to get me here. If everything we've done in the last ten years was for the sole purpose of getting me here for this one year of life, then I do not regret one single thing. This past year has been a gift.
And with these thoughts, I face our next move. July 17. To Idaho, then who knows where.
On to the next journey.
5 comments:
I am extremely grateful your path of life lead you to England!
For Roo: On finding happiness in your career,
"The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." Steve Jobs
from the book,How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen
Talk about a lot of moving! I know that leaving England will be hard and is probably already difficult to adjust to the fact that you are leaving so soon, but I will admit that we are quite excited to have you guys closer so we can see you more often!
This is an interesting post to read from my perspective. I have always known that grand adventures awaited you, Annie. I see this timeline as evidence that my expectations were accurate. I am quite pleased that you found someone to lead you on those adventures. I am also quite pleased that he is one of my favorite people in this world. Your (plural possessive) adventurous spirit has taken us on some grand adventures, and for that we thank you. "Comfortable" generally does not indicate growth, progress, improvement. It takes strength, courage, and faith to be uncomfortable and by the looks of it you have had a lot of discomfort in the last decade. So...Gentlemen, to bed! For we leave at first light! Tomorrow we battle and we may lose our lives. But remember death is but a moment, cowardice is a lifetime affliction.
So sad that your England adventure is over. So glad you had this wonderful year. I have always been so impressed that you and Roo are willing to make the courageous decisions to take you where you truly want to be.
I love point two, which speaks to my heart and the move I'm facing as well. And I love the word serpentine. I need to use that word as soon as possible. I wish you guys every good thing.
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