moving on

well, here is a picture of me and the boys from nearly a week ago now.  this was on monday, when two huge trucks rolled up to our house.  the men inside were ready to carry all of our possessions and (somehow) stuff them all into those two trucks.  it was an amazing feat, and a somewhat emotional one, as well. 

after the last box was loaded and the trucks drove off with our stuff for the night, we finished cleaning the house that has been our home for the last four years and said goodbye to the empty, echoing rooms.  it was truly with a sense of sadness that we turned out the lights, locked the doors, and drove west. 

but the emotion didn't end there!  we arrived in our new home in sunbury on monday evening, and greeted similarly empty rooms, like the one below.  these rooms elicited another emotion in us, though: excitement.  tuesday morning all our belongings arrived, and we spent an equal number of hours unloading all the boxes we had just loaded the day before (a somewhat surreal experience, really).  i don't know how we would have done it without the help of my mom and dad and sister and sister-in-law.  the last few days have consisted mostly of box cutters and paint brushes.  we haven't really "settled in" yet, whatever that means, but we are excited about where we are, and about the future God has for us here in sunbury, pa. 

these new empty rooms are a reminder to us that God wants to fill us with a new future, one of hope and not of despair.  there are great things in store!  tomorrow is my first sunday in the new church, and i am ready to begin a new chapter of the journey, filling our lives with new people, new relationships, and new stories to tell along the way.  it's been an amazing journey so far; i have no reason to believe it won't continue to be.  we're moving on.