California

I can't believe we've been here for a week!
Nothing really seems to have changed... except the weather, the friends and the location of our home... yeah, nothing at all.

It is hard being a new person in a new place. Nothing is familiar. It's hard but exciting, because there's so much to discover. The hardest thing for me, is that I'm a personable person. I like to get to know people, and I like them to get to know me. It's not authentic to me if someone just want to know about you or if you're not open to other people. The other thing that's hard is that my husband has been here for 3 months, so he's got all these friends and there's a pressure for me to be friends with the wives of the guys that he's friends with. I like to make my own friends, not have them pick out for me. Not that any of the women that I've met totally not my style of friend. They've all had something about them I like. I just haven't met that person that I "click" with yet... Some might think that I'm trying to compare my Cleveland friends to people here in California. I'm not. I think that there are people in your life that can never be "replaced" and each one of your friends are your friend for different reasons. For instance, my friend Danielle is like my sister. We laugh and she is the person that I can be the most, absolute honest with. I can be honest with her, she hears me, she's listening but she won't let me get away with something if I'm in the wrong. She lets me vent and I can take her feedback because in her I've found proof. My friend Megan is the wisest! She knows how to speak to the heart and not just actions and she is ALWAYS ready with a scripture to keep me on path. Candace is rough around the edges and I love her loyalty. She is my friend through WHATEVER! I KNOW that she will be my friend until the day we die. All of my friends bring something different to the table... nothing and no one can replicate that. But my table isn't full, I still have some empty seats left that I wouldn't mind being filled by some Cali people. I have to depend on God. He will make it clear to me.

Needless to say, not many people wanted us to move. Family, friends... many were against it... I mean to the point of praying that Jeremy's job didn't work out (nice). Not only did Jeremy get a job here in California but it must have been the only one in the country because he tried everywhere. I really felt like God led us here. Why? For growth of course! I feel like we'd gotten so complacent in our life... going through the motions... we had our routine. Don't get me wrong, a routine is good to have but there was something about it that was uneasy to me... and apparently God saw it too. He woke us up and gave us a good shake. Now everything is unfamiliar, so be careful when you pray for change! All those friends and family members that didn't want us to leave could have been a hindrance to what God wanted us to do. I literally had to defend our choice. A choice we made because of prayer and faith, so in essence I had to defend my God and my faith.

In making the decision to change or grow, we all face hazards... some we foresee and sometimes they're unexpectedly hard. Sometimes our friends are not on board and we end up having to defend our choices and sometimes our faith. Other times we have to depend on God to get us through and give us an extra dose of faith.

I'm okay with both :*)