Today/this morning is one of those mornings where I couldn't sleep. I have been up since 1:15am. I read a good book and at 3:30 decided to go back to sleep. Then I spent some time in prayer and instead of my mind relaxing like it usually does- it did not. This post is a reflection and may seem a bit long.
I got to thinking about the month and the year and I realized that we have now lived in Stafford 7 years at the end of this month! This is one of the longest periods of time that I have stayed in one place (not for David though). In some ways that is reassuring, but in others it makes me sad as I think about several aspects of our lives.
As a family, we have done/accomplished a lot. We got married, changed careers, moved to Virginia, lived in 4 different houses/apartments, etc. (the last 3 years have been in one place). I personally have changed jobs 3 times, 4 if you include becoming a stay at home mom. We have had 1 child and we now have another one on the way. David has traveled to almost as many places as I have in just the last 7 years (which is quite a few places). When I think about all of this, it makes me realize why we may not have accomplished as many things personally than we had both hoped.
1. Spirituality- This has been our biggest struggle since moving to Virginia. When we were in Texas or Africa or Russia- we felt closer to God. I don't know if it is the atmosphere of this fast pace area, if it is us, or what it is. I know that David and I were both involved more in a Christian atmosphere than we are now and maybe that is the reason. David had guy friends that did Bible Studies. He had guys that checked up on him. His work had Bible Studies. We had an awesome singles group at our Church. I worked at a Christian School and most of my friends were associated with that school. We were constantly surrounded by people who loved us. I know that we have that here, but it is harder to detect. David's work place is very secular and my work was until I stayed home. Our church is very different from what either of us have been used to as well. We have had to reevaluate a lot really think about what God wants versus what man wants. We have had to question things that we never had to really think about before. I do know that Satan is working hard on us, but I know God will take care of us- he has so far.
2. Friends- I am not sure what to put here because I don't know who reads this. Let's just say this hasn't been the easiest. We do treasure the friendships we have made. I want to thank David's long time friends for keeping up with him. Joey, Clint, and Aaron- you are such a blessing to David and I am constantly thankful for your friendships with him. Even though you are all miles apart- you make the effort to come and see him and check up on him. Thank you!
I can't say that we don't like it here. I will say that when we first came, we noticed a sort of complacency that we did not like. My fear is that we have become one of those complacent people instead of staying true to ourselves. Our lives HAVE changed a lot and maybe that is why I feel that we haven't accomplished a lot (outside of family stuff). We were single before we moved here. Now we are married, have 2 kids, and own a house, gained several pounds (I can say that since I have put on some baby weight-ha). We haven't quite adjusted to all of that yet. This place has grown on us and we know this is where God wants us now, but sometimes it is hard to see the reason why.
I do think this is where we are supposed to be, but it hasn't been easy. We have often felt very lonely here and still do from time to time, but it does make us treasure our past and hope for our future.
This has been a learning 7 years for us and we were not sure how long we would stay here. We now know that it will be a while, unless God tells us to go somewhere else. My prayer now would be for us to get out of our rut and get moving. It's time for the Simpson family to make some changes.
This has been an interesting week so far. We have been very blessed to not have a sick child, but this week has been a first. I was feeling bad that Hunter has not been able to release a lot of enegy he has because of the weather and my pregnancy. I decided to sign him up for a "Tot and Parent" gymnastics class. I think it would have been wonderful if I had not been 7 months pregnant. I was dripping sweat by the time we were done and the next day he got sick. He has been sick since then. This is the first week we were actually going to be "somewhat" busy and we ended up staying at home. I took him to the doctor on Thursday, but she didn't see anything. Yesterday was the first time I saw my son do nothing...so I knew he was sick. This child has been moving since he was in my tummy at 14 weeks. He doesn't stop moving. He also eats all the time. Yesterday I spent almost the entire time holding him or letting him sleep. Poor kid. He probably caught something at the gym. :). It makes me cherish that most of the time we have a very healthy kid.
No comments:
Post a Comment