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I Clicked My Heels Together, and ...


Two of my Florida loves trying to hitch a ride to Kansas.
It finally happened.  After a long 14 months or so waiting for anything to happen, everything happened all at once.  Job, move, house sale - check, check, check.  After 16 years in Florida, I've clicked my heels and found myself back in Kansas.  It's both wonderful and somewhat other-worldly at the same time.

It took me a long time to even entertain the thought of coming back home, but all the stars aligned at the right time (if I should even say that).  Rather, God orchestrated quite a remarkable series of events to create the space in my mind to think about living in Kansas again.  You know... you read about it.  So once it was decided and explored and poured over by my dearest counsels, it was done.  Boom!  Here I am!  At least that's the way it feels.

I'm working and am enjoying learning a new industry after 20 years in ministry.  The people I work with are so kind and generous and hilarious and far more willing to include me in their life (rather than just our work) than I'm used to.  My hours are full-time and as I suspected, I'm thrilled to have a job that doesn't consume every corner of my life that is still able to pay the bills.

My house in Florida sold to a very dear friend of mine who is enjoying it immensely.  I love seeing pictures of her entertaining there and seeing all the ways she's improving it.  It was a good place to live and I pray she's blessed every day in that home.  The short sale was a faith-testing journey, but at the right time to the right person for the right reasons, everything came through.  I've even learned that the tax issue surrounding the short sale might not be as devastating as I once thought. Whew!

My family came and moved me in a matter of six days - a 30-hour trip from Wichita to Cocoa by way of Nashville for a few hours with a precious friend there, two days to pack what was left unboxed and load the truck, and three days to drive the truck and my car back to Kansas.  Not since Creation has so much been done in just six days.  And can I just say that my family is amazing.  Who does stuff like that?!  Them. They're awesome.  And oh the stories we can tell from that trip.  We have years of inside jokes, memories and smiles.

I've been surprised by life in Kansas in a few ways, in good ways.  I'll tell you about those in a later post.  For now, here I am - alive and well in the middle of the US where people wear my teams' colors, understand me when I call  carbonated beverages pop or Coke (even if it's a Pepsi), where every corner has a memory tied to it and there are only six degrees of separation between anyone and someone you know from church or school.  As unexpected as it is to be here, it's good to be home.