We, and I'll include Geoff's parents, learned a lot of patience and submission to God's will. And all of us learned a lot about cooperative living, sacrifice, tolerance and love. They were years of learning and growth and sometimes uncomfortable stretching.
It was a great challenge not having my own home during those years. It was difficult living in somewhat of a makeshift environment (although very comfortable). We all missed our "stuff" which sat in storage in Washington state. It was hard not knowing when that "temporary" stage would end. There was a lot of not knowing and waiting. Regrettably, I think I wasted a lot of opportunities as I waited for my "real life" to begin again. I mean, this is what my girls looked like the summer we came home from France:
In many ways my girls grew up while I was waiting for life to begin again. It was the place of their childhood. I just didn't see it because it didn't fit the picture in my mind of what I thought their childhood would be. At a minimum I thought their childhood would be in our own space! I don't want to give the impression that I missed three and a half years of their lives...I can just see clearly in retrospect, and I saw it even during that time, that I didn't always want to accept reality. And reality was that their childhood was happening during those temporary, makeshift years.
Right when I finally really engaged this past fall the "next move" came. It was obvious it was the right place for us as soon as it presented itself. The LDS church has a new initiative to create a full-proof system for getting its members (outside the US) out of poverty...for good. The initial team consists of two of Geoff's friends, both of whom sat on the board of Unitus. They work well together and appreciate each others unique gifts. It feels as though Geoff has been uniquely prepared for this great task and he is really excited about it.
Truth be told, Utah wasn't our top choice. We wanted and intended another European experience - Geneva was always our default future home. Geoff and I both love warm weather and coasts and SUN. It took us a little digesting, and I'll admit there were instances of outright mental tantrums about it for the first few weeks, but I knew the job was right, and if the job was right Utah was right. This meant letting go of the future as we had imagined it to be. It meant submitting our lives again to God's will. Submitting is hard.
We began looking for homes immediately. Believe me you, I had the elements of my dream house outlined and I was ready to search high and low for that place where I would finish raising my girls. Utah isn't known for its architecture. Home designs and neighborhoods are quite unimaginative. I was discouraged. In the past, when things were right, everything fell in to place and I couldn't figure out why things weren't more clear and easy. And then I felt I shouldn't look for a home; that God had a place for us. That was kind of a bummer because looking for a new home after not having one for five years seemed kind of exciting, but I trusted that God would provide. I did feel we should plan to move December 15th.
When we left on our trip at the beginning of November we still didn't have clear direction on where to live, and the moving trucks were arriving just two weeks after our return. Toward the end of the trip Geoff and I decided to pray in earnest. It was clear that finding that dream house wasn't going to happen in time for our move. I really wasn't looking forward to another temporary situation, and staying in California while we continued looking didn't feel right, either. We brainstormed all of our options and prayed individually. It came to me pretty clearly to find a month to month apartment. (Okay, not ideal, but a clear answer...I'll take it...) And then it was clear to find a month to month downtown. (Downtown? Not even on our radar, but okay.)
After receiving this answer I told Geoff I felt we should move into a month to month to which he responded, "Me too." And then I followed up that strangely I felt we should move downtown to which he replied incredulously, "Me too!!!" We both envisioned right across from the temple.
We figured it would be easy to find something since it felt so right. When we got back from our trip Geoff began calling the places we had thought of and not only were they not available but all waiting lists were full! It didn't make sense! Ten days before the movers came we fasted and prayed for direction, for a miracle, really. Geoff emailed the few people he knew that lived/worked downtown and asked if anyone knew of anything. No one did.
The day after our fast, and still with no clear solution, Geoff got an email from an acquaintance who works downtown. After a meeting that day he felt he should go out and look for an apartment for us (he had received Geoff's email a few days earlier). His initial attempts found the same discouraging news we had found, until one place mentioned The Gateway had a few apartments just open up. He walked over to The Gateway, inquired, found they had some open and reserved an apartment for us, with all of our hopeful characteristics (3 bedrooms, sound-proof, indoor pool, etc.). The Gateway is owned by the church and has been reserved for leaders of the church in the past. But a couple weeks earlier they had opened a few up to the public and we had our pick of those few. Prayers for a miracle answered. Geoff's commute to work (from desk to door) is four minutes. And he walks through a tunnel so he doesn't even have to wear a coat!
It was a crazy couple of weeks sorting, de-cluttering and packing but we got it done. We had movers scheduled from Washington and movers scheduled from California. There were plenty of typical moving headaches along the way, but we arrived in Salt Lake on December 15th.
Before we left we fit in visits with dear friends, and we had a very simple Christmas celebration with Geoff's parents.
We squeezed in a trip to San Francisco to enjoy the city during Christmas. While Geoff was at a board meeting the girls and I met up with our dear friends, the Archibalds, to see the Nutcracker at the San Francisco Ballet. It was unbelievable - absolutely magical.
We put our pets into foster care until we figure out how long our month to month apartment living will be.
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| See you soon, Kipper! |
And we were off. So long Auburn.
Hello Salt Lake City!
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