Moving up in 2015!

So this is it. A new year and almost a new life. The downward spiral our lives have been on for the last few months has reversed course, and we can see the end of this chapter. In another week, Jon will be in happily employed once again doing the same job he was previously doing on the AF base, and we will be in our new/old city of Charleston.  I have been waiting for this moment for the past couple of months. This moment when I can finally sit down, take a deep breath, and enumerate the ways that God used His people to carry us through this time.

It's hard to list it all because people have gone above and beyond for us. But I'll give it a try anyway.

  • People have given my husband work.
  • Friends have given him a place to stay while he worked away from home
  • Friends have given US a place to stay when we had a gap between homes.
  • Friends have encouraged all of us, even the kids.
  • People have fed us meals and listened to us talk through everything.
  • People have watched my kids for me while I either worked or rested
  • They helped us move, and more people will help us move again in a week!
  • We've been treated like normal people instead of social pariah (our story was a little out there and scary, even for me)
  • People have prayed for us, and they've let us know that they're praying.
  • Some people gave me dark chocolate covered cherries and wine. Because chocolate and wine are good for the soul sometimes. =)
All in all, our friends and family have been amazing. We couldn't have made it through everything so well if God hadn't used all of these people in our lives.

And now we're moving into our new home in a week. Jon starts his new job in a week. The kids are already involved in a new Classical Conversations homeschool group so school is still happening! Now that everything is coming together, I've looked back over what I wanted to get out of last year.  My 2014 goal was simplicity. I wanted to get rid of the excess in our lives, the overscheduling, the extra stuff, and get back to basics. Well, I think I achieved that. In fact, I think we were a little overzealous in our search for simplicity. Jobs are good complexities to have!  I was able to look at commitments with a more critical eye before agreeing, and I have a good grasp of things that are worth my time as opposed to things that just aren't.

For 2015, the two words that keep coming to mind are stability (obviously) and holiness. The stability thing is more about location, but also a state of mind. I mean, I'm not unstable. Really.  But I do want to focus on fewer things for longer instead of bouncing around. I don't want to be a bouncer this year. As for holiness, it's something that I've felt I need to take more seriously personally. I don't mean a live-action, daily performance of holy-like behavior. I think we can all agree that it's revolting to see and all too common. This year, I want to dig deeper into what holiness means and what that looks like in my life. God's been pointing out some instances when I've really failed, and honestly, I don't like to fail. So there's my 2015 goal: stability and holiness.

If you have any book suggestions, throw them at me! I'd love to hear what you've read or studied on the topic of holiness.  And that's it. The Dumonts are moving up again!

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