where i am.

It's no secret that the move to Tampa was a hard one for me.  


It's also no secret that I still miss New Orleans on a constant basis.  I miss the view of the city from the interstate at night.  I miss the familiar halls and faces of McDonogh 32.  I miss running and walking and driving down St. Charles and spending afternoons in the French Quarter.  I miss walking down a street and hearing jazz music and I miss the way the entire city comes together during Saints' games.  I miss crawfish boils, beignets, and that amazing Creole/Cajun taste.  I miss days spent gutting with my relief team and running down Franklin Avenue to Lake Pontchartrain.  I miss the living room of the Willow House.  Most of all, I miss the friends that became family.


I also miss Virginia.  I miss the church that taught me how to love Jesus and the girlfriends who I've known since elementary school.  I miss my family.  I miss the rolling hills of Harrisonburg and chocolate peanut butter ice cream at Klines.  I miss dance parties at the Sandcastle with my housemates.  I miss the way that the seasons changed; fall always came in with brilliant colors and spring with a warmth in the air that teased of the summer days to come.  I miss the permanence of it, because when I think of Virginia, I think of the future, of settling down and not saying any more of these heart-wrenching good-byes.


But this post isn't to whine about how homesick I continue to be.  It's to say that I live in Tampa right now, and Tampa is a good place for me to be.  While I can't say that I recommend combining 3 major life changes into 1- marriage, moving, and new jobs- I can say that God has used it well in our lives.  Moving to a brand new city, leaving all the girlfriends I relied so heavily on, forced me to rely on my new husband.  It allowed us countless hours to live life together, to buy furniture and watch movies and cuddle and play the Wii and laugh and learn how to be husband and wife.  Moving forced me to leave my job, which- despite how much I loved it and still miss it- was the source of a fair amount of anxiety and sorrow in my life as I struggled to love and educate in a difficult environment.  It allowed me to start a new job where I have been able to remember how much I love kids.


And most profoundly, moving brought me into a new season with the Lord.  I'm sure it's a combination of so many things- our church here, the challenges and blessings of marriage, renewed obedience- but I am experiencing Jesus here.  I am being challenged to live for God fully, to pray big things, to read my Bible, to be uncomfortable for the sake of communicating the beautiful truth of all that Jesus has done.  


God could have done all these things in New Orleans or Virginia or Antarctica.  But He is doing them here, and that confirms for me that I am where I am supposed to be.  That even though I still miss New Orleans so much that I cried when I saw a picture with my old kitchen in the background and that I am ready to complete the adventure of living away from Virginia... Tampa is my home, because Tampa is where God has me.