Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Leaving

"And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you, about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?

It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

I want to repeat one word for you: Leave.

Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed."

-Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts


If you only have a minute, here is the short story: this week, we were both offered jobs in Tampa, Florida. Kyle turned in his two week notice today and we have to be down there to start work on Monday, September 5. Although we’re sad to be leaving so soon after we’ve settled, we’re really excited, thankful, and frankly, amazed at God’s provision.

Here is the longer, more incredible story: Kyle’s cousin Stuart is the Chief Technology Officer of a software company in Tampa that processes workers comp claims. Apparently they get things done, because the company is growing at 40% per year. Stuart was in town midweek on an emergency business trip to Carolina Beach (of all places) and took us out to dinner Wednesday night and caught up on our lives. We spent several hours at Brasserie, gave him a quick tour of our new home, and took him back to CB, where he got back to work. Thursday afternoon, Kyle got a call from Stuart, asking him to meet him immediately for lunch, and to bring a notebook. His proposal was, in a nutshell, that Kyle and I gather our things and come down, live with him in his new home with his wife and four kids, and go to work full time in the call service center at his company. Kyle’s work pace, he said, was sure to leave everyone else in the dust, and he’d be sure to be managing some people within a year. He also offered to pay out our lease in Wilmington so we’d be free to come. What?

The decision didn’t take us very long. We’ve both been frustrated by the job search in Wilmington in the past few months. Nothing permanent seemed to be settling and I was feeling discouraged that there wasn’t work for me to do. I threw a few (or more) tantrums and tried to believe in the places that were being prepared for us that seemed so far off. Now the door is wide open for us to go, and we’re going for it.

We’re really excited to be striking off. I’m thankful for finally some chaos in my life (if you know me well, that makes sense to you) and for something brand new. We feel a little bit shaken up, both by the suddenness of the opportunity and the incredible generosity of our families to help us get there. I can’t believe the extravagance of the Lord in this provision. He’s so Good.

That said, I want to tell you that everything over the past few days has become really sentimental (“is this the last time I’ll have Flaming Amy’s?”) Knowing that I’ll be far from all of you, my favorite people, breaks my heart a little bit. We’re going somewhere new, and so we’re leaving behind something familiar. We couldn’t overstate how much we love all of you or how much you mean to us. You’re our family.

I’m not good at good-byes. I don’t like them very much. I know I’ll see you all again, because of course we’ll come visit, and I know we’ll be in touch, and I know this is only the first time we’ll be striking out for something new.

We would love to see all of you before we go. Ideally, we would spend hours personally with each of you and soak in all the “last” moments. Realistically, though, we have two weeks to get our life in boxes and into a truck, and our free time is about to plummet. Please, please, please, stop by in the next two weeks. (For some of you, that will mean stopping by to see our place for the first time! Hah…) I’m sending along Kyle’s work schedule for this coming week– please come by anytime when he’s not at work. We will perhaps treat you to a can of Coke, and probably some tears.


Thanks for being a part of our lives so far. Thank you for loving us. Pray for us. Come see us before we go. You are all wonderful.


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