Lesson: Learned

You might remember my former post about learning to love.
Now that we're actually moving away, I've wondered if I did, indeed, learn my lesson. Is it something that I'm carrying on with me?

After talking through it with a couple people, the answer is YES.

I did hate it here. I fought putting down roots. I struggled every single winter with the gray gloom, and struggled every day with the economic and spiritual darkness I felt every day.
But I was victorious. God showed me how to be thankful. Not just a light-hearted thankful, but truly and actually thankful. I've learned a new level of flexibility.
And I just realized this week how deep my roots really are.

If I'm completely honest with myself, I'm nervous about our upcoming move. Last time I moved to a different state I was 7. When I went to Turkey I was 22 and adventurous. Now I'm 35 and have three kids. We need new doctors, dentists, hairdressers, church, and friends. I am so very thankful for my group of homeschooling moms I can laugh and cry with, and for my other friends who encourage and push me.

I'm excited. I've wanted this for years and years. But the scene from "Tangled" keeps coming to mind, because right now I can completely relate to Rapunzel:


Rapunzel: I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be? 
Flynn Rider: It will be. 
Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then? 
Flynn Rider: Well,that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream. 

I'm so thankful for the things I've learned. I finally learned the lesson of being content in my situation, a lesson I hadn't learned when I was first given the opportunity (at 24-26, single and not sure where I was supposed to be or what I was supposed to be doing. I had no idea that it was possible to be content as a single woman, and now I can see that I was supposed to be learning that!!) I'm a walking testimony of how much God can change hearts.
I don't know how often I'll miss living here (unlike how often I'll miss my friends here, and occasionally Wegmans, DiBella's or Ted's), or how often I'll come visit, but I'm leaving with no resentment, no regrets, and a smile on my face about this time. Which is huge.