One year

We are getting ready to celebrate our one-year anniversary of being in Virginia.  We have come a long way since last summer when we were packing/moving/saying goodbye to our friends and family.  Perhaps someone told us that it would be hard to move across the country, but we must not have been listening.  We thought it would be an adventure--a fresh start.  And it has been, but it has also been much harder than we anticipated.  The only thing that kept us here during those first few months (besides the fact that we sold our house) was knowing that it was God's plan for us to be here.  And except for being so far from the people we love, it is a wonderful place to be.  I remember on Anna's birthday we were so sad and we were wanting to be with people who knew her and could share our grief.  We were driving in the country and I sighed and said, "It sure is pretty here."  Some days, that was the only positive thing I could think of to say!  The hard days have gotten fewer and farther between, but when they come, I still look around and  say, "It sure is pretty here."  We are looking forward to our second year--trusting that this is where God wants us, learning to love the people we are with, and thankful to be in such a beautiful place.