I've only been here a few days, less than a week. I've met with the pastor of a church I think I will join, got my son registered for school, made my initial trip to the motor vehicle department. (Initial, since I have to go back having presented no acceptable proof of residency - that may be my first hurdle to overcome.) And cleaning a house that has not been tended to in some time.
My mom passed last April and that was the first time I had come up to the Cape in years. I was up here for a week and NEVER once did the thought occur to me to move here. A few weeks before my mom passed, my job was cut to half time. My oldest was headed for college out of state, so I started to think about selling the house and downsizing to something smaller for my younger son and me. And to prepare for that eventual event by clearing out closets, doing some touch-up painting and sprucing up the house in general.
The "For Sale" sign went up on July 4th weekend. On that Saturday afternoon, my site manager from work called me to ask that I come to work on Monday to attend a conference call. I didn't really think anything of that since I was down to part-time and assumed my site manager just forgot to tell me about the call. Well, long story short, it was not the usual company-wide conference call. I was to be let go effective August 7th.
I had the habit of heading to North Topsail Beach, NC to walk and clear my head whenever I needed to which was pretty darn often. I was walking on NTB when I put the question out to God as to what I should do now. The answer came: move to the Cape, be there for your dad. It was an answer I never would have come up with on my own.
After all, I'd been in NC for about 8 years. For three I was married and for five I was not. The five years after the divorce were times of change too. Those days arced, just a rainbow does. Starting from terrifying to reaching pretty good. "Pretty good" became my new normal for a while. I got a decent job for the area, and additional work writing for the local weekly paper and blogging for a parenting forum. I had wonderful friends, a beautiful beach only a short drive away and had a nice house.
My reaction to the "the answer" was this: if that was the right thing to do, if it was the right thing for me and my boys (even the one away at college), God would make it happen. And I think He did exactly that. This blog is a way for me to reflect on things that happened, consider the coincidences, and accept that I am to move forward in this direction even on the days I have my doubts.
My mom passed last April and that was the first time I had come up to the Cape in years. I was up here for a week and NEVER once did the thought occur to me to move here. A few weeks before my mom passed, my job was cut to half time. My oldest was headed for college out of state, so I started to think about selling the house and downsizing to something smaller for my younger son and me. And to prepare for that eventual event by clearing out closets, doing some touch-up painting and sprucing up the house in general.
The "For Sale" sign went up on July 4th weekend. On that Saturday afternoon, my site manager from work called me to ask that I come to work on Monday to attend a conference call. I didn't really think anything of that since I was down to part-time and assumed my site manager just forgot to tell me about the call. Well, long story short, it was not the usual company-wide conference call. I was to be let go effective August 7th.
I had the habit of heading to North Topsail Beach, NC to walk and clear my head whenever I needed to which was pretty darn often. I was walking on NTB when I put the question out to God as to what I should do now. The answer came: move to the Cape, be there for your dad. It was an answer I never would have come up with on my own.
After all, I'd been in NC for about 8 years. For three I was married and for five I was not. The five years after the divorce were times of change too. Those days arced, just a rainbow does. Starting from terrifying to reaching pretty good. "Pretty good" became my new normal for a while. I got a decent job for the area, and additional work writing for the local weekly paper and blogging for a parenting forum. I had wonderful friends, a beautiful beach only a short drive away and had a nice house.
My reaction to the "the answer" was this: if that was the right thing to do, if it was the right thing for me and my boys (even the one away at college), God would make it happen. And I think He did exactly that. This blog is a way for me to reflect on things that happened, consider the coincidences, and accept that I am to move forward in this direction even on the days I have my doubts.
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