A little bit of stress

Well, we have to be honest and say that we're starting to feel the stress of all that is going on in our lives right now. We have tried to be as proactive as possible to get as much done before this "crunch time" as we could, but there are just some things that have to be tackled now. A lot, actually. We definitely feel like we're operating mostly out of the urgent and not so much out of the things we'd rather prioritize.

We also didn't anticipate the emotional stress we'd be feeling, as we prepare to leave Houston. We love Houston! We love our church, our neighborhood, the city. It is so hard to say good-bye! My best friend visited last week from Washington D.C. I have no idea when I'll see her again. Saying good-bye caught me off guard. We're having to actively "grieve" all we're leaving behind. . .not the material things but the relationships. We still see our departure as far away. It's not that far away anymore.

We will leave Houston in about six weeks for X-Track, our International Training program. If our house sells (another source of stress, we hate to admit!), we'll have our entire lives in Houston packed up in that time. We wish we had all of our time to commit to either the details involved in moving to a foreign country or to the emotionally exhausting task of saying good-bye. We're finding it really hard to balance both.

Every day is a chance to walk in faith. Really. We find our dependence upon the Lord to be a necessity to making it through the day. On one hand, we are so incredibly thankful for that. Praise God that He sustains us and keeps us from completely losing it! On the other hand, growth never comes comfortably. There have been so many times we have felt stretched to our capacity. And yet the stretching continues! He IS sustaining us. He IS growing us. He IS providing what we need. He IS meeting intimately with us. He IS allowing us to be completely uncomfortable in the process.

As a dear friend and ministry partner exhorted us recently, we want to send Praise before us. We want faith in God's provision to be what defines this time. And so, exhausted and feeling at the end of ourselves, we say "to God be the Glory!"

Here we go!

Today is the day we listed our house. Obviously, we have to sell our house before we can move. Still, it is so bittersweet. We are so thankful for God's provision of this home. It was our first house, it was such a blessing to our family. We have so many great memories here! It is the only home Gavin has ever known. Weird that Benjamin won't remember it at all. Anyway, today we begin the huge step of faith in trusting God to provide the right buyer in the right time.

Essentially, we need to have a contract within 30 days. Crazy. We had planned to list it earlier, but because of Benjamin's early arrival, today is the day instead. All the more to trust the Lord with. He has provided even before we have asked up to this point, so we trust He will do the same with our house.

We are definitely grieving having to open up our hands and let God take this gift, but we know, also, that it is part of the cost in following where God is leading. So, we willingly do it. We also have anxious anticipation to see how He is going to work in selling it. Seeing how God has chosen to work has definitely been a fun aspect of this journey!