We’ve lived in Texas almost two years now. Well, we lived here once before in 2014 but moved back to Chicago after a year due to a difference of opinion with the woman who rented our house. We thought she needed to pay us rent. She thought she didn’t.
I was so angry. But as is the case with most things- hindsight proves 20/20. That first move to Texas was doomed from the start. And the signs were there from the beginning.
The weekend we were supposed to move a freakshow snow storm was sweeping across the country. Yes, I know that snow in Chicago is not freakish, but freezing rain turning into snow and headed toward Chicago from, like, California is.
My son and I, who were flying out, almost missed our plane after our ride to the airport skid off the road and into a ditch. When we got there all the flights were delayed or grounded. And…we had to fly Spirit. That alone should have made me call the whole thing off! It was a sign.
While I flew in with my son, my husband and his mom drove in so she could help us get settled. That meant heading directly into the blizzard. Not only did they almost not make it out of Chicago, they almost didn’t make it into Dallas. Another sign.
After a few weeks of being settled in the house, we discovered we had wasp problems.
Problem One. I am deathly afraid of bees. I have jumped out of a moving car to escape one. And when I did, I closed the door leaving a friend and her daughter trapped inside. What can I say? I panicked! Sign.
Problem Two. We had exterminators come in multiple times but it did not end. Two months before we left we finally realized they were coming in through unsealed holes and gaps in the attic and flying out of our vents.
Bee infestation.
Sign.
Even when we left Texas to move BACK to Chicago there were signs.
A month after we left, a tornado swept through the town and subdivision we’d lived in. Homes were destroyed-. Homes right next door to us-that could have been us were destroyed. I remember Thanking God out loud that we weren’t there when it happened. Finally-a good sign—for us. Not for everyone else who was there.
And then another. In February after we moved back to Chicago, we found out I was pregnant again. I was so happy and so scared.
The pregnancy with my son, five years prior, was traumatizing. My water broke at 30 weeks, followed by two weeks of hospital bed rest, a preemie in the NICU for five weeks.
The next time I was pregnant, we found out just before we left Texas but it ended with a very early-term miscarriage. I remember being ecstatic on Halloween and shattered by Thanksgiving with this tiny little soul slipping away. It was a hard and dark period for me. I took it much harder than I thought I would.
That was a sign too-even if I didn’t know it at the time.
And then, pregnant with my daughter, diagnosed with a high-risk “geriatric” pregnancy, (YES! Over 35 is a geriatric pregnancy!) that would require a village to support, I was happy that we were “home” in Chicago.
More good signs…
One. Between the doctor visits, the false alarms, the ordered bed rest AND the court dates for our tenant, there was NO way we could have managed that on our own. It was good that we were surrounded by friends and family to help out.
Two. The market started to recover. Homes on our block started selling quicker and for much more than they had in previous years. You know what’s better than For Sale signs? SOLD signs.
Three. I was offered a job with my company-full relocation and a position back at our HQ in Dallas. I thought this was the best sign of all! My original five year work plan could be put back on track. We had to go.
My husband was not exactly thrilled at the prospect of another cross-country move-especially considering what happened with the last one. But being the amazing man he is, he knew that I sacrificed my career to care for our family and home. He had also made sacrifices for me and for us, and luckily he would again.
And so in the smmer of 2017, we let the company pack up the moving truck, and we packed up the minivan for our trek from Chicago to Dallas by way of…Green Bay Wisconsin.
Green Bay Wisconsin? Yes. Green Bay Wisconsin.
Green Bay is not en route to Dallas. But before we knew we were moving, we planned a 4th of July week at Silver Birch Ranch with some friends. As it turned out, we couldn’t think of a better bon voyage than a week at Christian camp with friends we’ve known for twenty something years. After all, if you’re going to take a leap of faith, what better place and time to start than right after a week communing with God.
Sign.
Our two years here have been a complete 180 from our last attempt at this Texas residency thing.
We made friends. Like, ADULT friends. People who don’t only know me as “Abram’s mom.” We found a church and a connect group. And our son attends a school he absolutely loves.
Sign. Sign. Sign.
Despite my husband’s initial concerns about the move, he landed a job with the city we live in. The town is growing quickly and that means a lot of opportunity and a lot of other transplants just like us. It’s like we are all in it together.
The same day he got the job I was out shopping and found this.
It’s for a garden. But COME ON! Could it be any clearer?
Another Sign.
God was so good and showing up in so many ways. This time I was not going to miss all the things He and the universe were telling us.
And then one day He showed us another sign. It was a For Sale sign made just for us. At a house made just for us. The dream home. A house that may not be perfect for everyone, but was perfect for us.
We knew to give the decision some good thought and even more good prayer. And while we prayed and thought, and prayed and thought we also made an offer. The worst they could say was no.
But they said yes. And so we said yes.
Put up that SOLD sign!
And because apparently God speaks to me through weather, insects, AND shopping, He showed me another sign that we made the right decision. I put it right in the cart without a 2nd thought.
It was the first thing I put up in the house despite the fact that even WE don’t live there yet.
Looking back, that grand five-year plan of mine wasn’t work related at all! It wasn’t about ME at all!
It was about our family. Our careers. Our dreams. Our happiness. And now-our new home!
We do like it here!
If only there’d been a sign? Oh wait…
That’s all for today.
From This Girl Here!
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