Inspiration and a leap of faith...

This is basically a "journal entry" for me, so don't feel you have to read this post if you don't want to.  A lot of changes are happening in our lives and I just need to write about the inspiration behind them.  About a year ago at Easter time, when Amanda and the boys were here visiting...everything seemed to be wonderful and good.  But on Amanda's arrival back home to Georgia, her "happily ever after" had taken a new twist.  Amanda's husband had decided to leave the church because he had done some "research" and no longer believed in it.  This came as quite a shock to all of us.  Especially since he was serving in the bishopric and had always been such a wonderful example of a loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.  Everyone has been very saddened by his decision. It is truly heartbreaking to see someone lose their faith. Amanda has a had a roller coaster year...lots of ups and downs, and after trying her best, she decided she needed to get off the emotional roller coaster, and out of Georgia.

Amanda applied to BYU and was accepted.  She will be returning there this fall to finish her degree in Math Education so she might be able to provide for herself and her little guys.  One day she was talking to me on the phone and she was feeling overwhelmed with the thoughts of being a single mom going back to school, taking care of her boys, getting a job, and finding daycare for them while she does all that.  After our phone call I just kept thinking about it and wishing I could help her.  I suddenly had a thought.  I call it a "vision" because I totally saw in my mind's eye, little Jacob following me around the house during the day while David and his mommy were in school.  The thought came to me that we needed to move to Utah and get a big house so Amanda and the boys could live with us.  It was a beautiful thought!  I LOVED the idea!  I could hardly contain my excitement at the thought of it!  But now to tell Dave...

Dave and I have talked many times about moving to Utah, to be closer to some of my family and to enjoy the beauties there, and be closer to our roots.  When I suggested my new idea to him, he surprised me by saying we probably should do that.  The wheels started turning and we began making mental lists of all the things we would need to do.  Our two biggest concerns were his job and our house.  We talked a LOT about a lot of things.  One day I knew he was for sure on board with the idea when his comment was, "Amanda is more important than my job."  

Now my other concern was Joel.  It's his senior year, he will be putting in mission papers soon, and I didn't want to "mess up" this important time of his life.  But we had mentioned our idea more than once around him so he knew what we were thinking.  One day, I was at my desk doing something and he came in and just casually said, "I think we should move to Utah."  My heart melted.  What an amazing and insightful young man he is!  Now that Joel was on board too, there was no turning back!  We won't move until summer and he will have already graduated and got his mission call.  He said he will be leaving for two years anyway, so let's just move!

It is with a leap of faith we are going to pack up and move this summer.  We haven't worked out living arrangements, jobs, or what to do with our house here...but we have prayed about this and we feel good about it.  We know it is the right thing to do, and it is the right time.  It IS a leap of faith..but we are trusting in the Lord.  We are excited to start this new adventure with Amanda and she is relieved to have some of the stress taken off her shoulders.  About a week or so after we made the decision to actually do this, Dave emailed me from work and said he had just met a man who was in town visiting Schneider Electric (formerly Pelco) and he was from the SALT LAKE facility!  We didn't even know Schneider HAD a Salt Lake facility!  I tend to think it was not coincidence he met this man and got his card...wouldn't it be wonderful if he could just transfer to Utah?  

We are going Easter weekend to Utah to look at some houses (and areas) and for Dave to tour the Schneider facility.  We are praying for some sure answers and directions as we prepare to make this huge change in our lives.  We will dearly miss our ward family here...we have made some of the best friends we have ever had...it will be hard to leave.  We have been here for 16 years!  But we are ready and willing to do it.  Hoping that all our friends will come visit when they can!  We will of course miss Ashley and Clark who do not want to move with us.  We invited them, but they are pretty independent and enjoying their life here.  Hopefully they will come visit us too!  Clif and Lindsay are in Rexburg a few hours away, so we might get to see them once in awhile too.

Yes, it will be an adventure, a lot of work, and a lot of change, but we are ready.  July 2013, Utah or bust!