FAQ: The New Season Edition

I have giggled in my heart (and out loud) at all the comments you've left and emails you've sent over the last week! I have loved every single one of them.  Thank you for encouraging us so much! In the emails and comments, I've also gotten a lot of questions, so let me just get to them!

1. WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

Oh yeah. I forgot that detail, didn't I? We'll be moving to Grabill, Indiana, which is exactly 100 miles from our home. It's a darling little town that is just outside Fort Wayne - northeast of Fort Wayne, actually. (And because I've had some people ask me about this too...we didn't ever live in Fort Wayne, but I did commute there for work the four years I was in radio. The station was in a different part of town, so I still have lots of city-learning to do, but we have a general familiarity with the area and really enjoy Fort Wayne.) 

The organization we'll be working for (as many of you figured out) is called Gateway Woods, and more specifically, we'll be working in WillowBridge. Here is a video that was made to introduce WillowBridge as it was about to open. This will explain a bit more about the work we'll do, and why it's so needed!

2. What about Braeya?

Well, she's figured out that something is up, but she thinks we're going on vacation (because the suitcases came out of the closet.) She will get to go with us, which is a detail we're profoundly thankful for; she's 14, and you can't rehome a 14 year old cat. Nor did we want to lose her! She will HATE US with all her being when she realizes a car ride is in her future, but we're researching some options for medication for her to calm or sedate her for the trip. I still haven't recovered from moving her to Kokomo, so for all our sakes, I need this move to go better in the Braeya department. 

3. When do you leave?

We will begin our working adventure with two weeks of training, and that will begin mid-July. So we sure don't have long - and we have quite a list to accomplish in the meantime! We have started packing and that will become my full time job once I'm done at the church. Today is actually my last day at the church. We plan to have another garage sale, because we're adding more things as we pack. We have many goodbyes to say between now and then, too! 

4. But you just did all that work on your house! Aren't you sad to leave it?

I think the saddest part has been watching Ryan mud, sand, and repaint all the nail holes he JUST put in the walls during quarantine. We do love our house. We love it so much and it has been such a blessing of a home for us these past four years. (I plan to do a series of goodbye posts to it like I did for our Marion house, so you'll get to run down memory lane with us!) And yes, we will miss our beautiful sun porch and our garage. (We won't have a garage where we are going, so that will be an adjustment!) But oh goodness, getting the chance to work together in ministry and do something that will make a Kingdom difference far outweighs a house and any amount of work we've put into it.

Our new season comes with a beautiful apartment that is all new on the inside and quite homey. We most certainly won't lack in comfort, and we'll make it our home. We aren't worried about that at all. And we're crazy excited for the new owners of Shafferland 2.0. I cried (shocker!) in staff meeting this week listening to Pastor Shane talk about how grateful he is for this home and the love and care that has gone into it. Everything we did will be loved and appreciated, and that's enough for us. 

5. What about your parents? Are they sad?

They are. This will be the farthest I've ever lived from them! I think they're still processing the news like all of you, but they are being supportive and have absolutely seen God's Hand at work in all of this. We will only be about an hour and a half (or maybe a little less) from them, so if we need to get to them quickly, we can. (This was another kindness from God - calling us to a place close enough to get home for emergencies.) My parents have amazing neighbors who are like extra children to them. (One claims he is actually more favored than their actual children, and who knows! He might be right! He's pretty funny. I think my parents would be smart to claim him over the rest of us.) 

For as close as we live to my parents, we actually don't see them every week. We talk on the phone almost every day, and we text all the time, so maybe it will be kind of like nothing has changed! We'll have days off when we can come visit and do projects as needed. 

6. What is the age group you'll be working with and how many will there be?

** This is me with Savannah, my bonus niece, who is not part of the program, of course, but she is near the age range that we'll be working with, so I'm borrowing her picture! ** 

We'll be working with 18-25 year olds, and there can be up to 9 of them in the building. We are definitely not alone in this job. There are others who work (both staff and volunteers) with the program too, so we are part of a team, and we are excited for that. Definitely looking forward to learning from them!

7. Will you keep blogging?

Awww! I'm so glad to see that question! Absolutely! We know there will be a lot of things we won't be able to share in order to protect privacy, but hey! We're still us, and we'll still have lessons we're learning and adventures outside of work, so yes! We're sure we'll still have plenty of blog material, even if we can't share everything!

Thanks so much for being great sports this week as you read along with all the news! More stories to come, of course!!