Moving On

I'm leaving. On a midnight train to...Decatur.

Okay...so it isn't exactly a midnight train, but we are leaving pretty quick. March 30 is my last day at the branch I work at now. April 2 is my first day at the branch in Decatur.
Why am leaving? Why am I going to Decatur? ("Where's that?" some of you may ask.)
I'm not getting a promotion, and I will probably not see an increase in pay. I will remain a teller for Citibank. So why am I leaving? Why am I uprooting my family and leaving a wonderful church to go to Decatur, TX of all places?

Family. My mother lives in Oklahoma City. My sister lives in Pampa. (Another "where's that?" I'm sure. It's in the Texas Panhandle...currently an over eight hour drive.) Sarah's mom lives in Fort Worth, three of her sisters live in the Mansfield area. When we move to Decatur, we will live a little less than three hours from my mom, four hours from my sister, and around 45 minutes to an hour and a half away from Sarah's side.

We see Sarah's family somewhat often...not near as often as we like, but definitely more often than we see my side. We're lucky if we see my family twice a year. That's just not acceptable. I hate that it's like this big production every time we leave, or they leave. I hate that we have completely rearrange our schedules, ask days off of work, just to go see my family. My kids need their grandparents. And more importantly, they need us.

Sarah's big question was: How are we able to minister to our family from here? Phone calls once or twice a week just isn't enough. About a year and a half ago, my stepdad had surgery to have his hip replaced. No big deal normally. But there was a point where he'd lost a lot of blood, and it was touch and go for a bit. I couldn't go because we lived so far away. My mom's getting older, so is Dave. Sarah's sister Becky is about to have another baby. Sarah's mom has had surgery recently...We need to be closer.

Am I sad? I mean...I lived in this area for almost 10 years now. Moved down here January of 98. We have an awesome church family, great friends. I'm established. I can't go to the store now without running into someone I know. And College Station isn't huge...but Decatur is itty-bitty.

I don't know how I feel right now. Part of me is relieved in some sense. I do like change. We have been way busy as of late, and it may be nice not to have a zillion things to do every week.
But I am probably sad. I love this town. I love the trees. I love the smell when you drive into the area after being up in the Panhandle. It just smells green here. I love the people that have come into our lives. I love the people who have been family to us here, the people my children love almost as much as they love us. I love our pastor. I love the men and women I've gotten to serve with. I love the concept of Hope Groups and what a blessing they have been to us over the years.

My eyes water up saying this. I hope it's all worth it. Sarah has always felt like we weren't meant to live her indefinitely...well, obviously, but you know what I mean. Like, Living Hope was just a training ground...I don't know. As long as we can find people as full of love as the people we go to church with now, who love Christ, and live by His Word, we'll be alright. Everything else is pretty much secondary.