In the months that led up to leaving, we made a lot of hard decisions.   Jeff applied, and was accepted, to Delta Connection Academy in Sanford, FL so we knew we had to find a place to live near the training center.  He made dozens of phone calls in an effort to find an affordable place for five people.   We were concerned about schools, employment for me and, of course, a quick training course for Jeff.  We could only live on limited income for so long, we needed this to be as fast as possible.  After much prayer, and a reality check about the cost of housing, we made a heart wrenching decision. It was just too expensive for all of us to stay together, so I would live with my parents in Alabama for an entire school year (with the kids) and Jeff would live in a one bedroom apartment in Sanford.  As you can imagine, this definitely put a damper on our excitement.   My parents were pastoring a mid-size church in small town Alabama, they loved it and, amazingly, they were thrilled for the four of us to live with them for several months.   Jeff’s mom offered her home to us as well, but the thought of more snow was not something Jeff and I wanted. Plus, she lived in the Midwest and that was farther from Jeff than I wanted to be.  I am forever grateful for the generosity of our parents during this time, after all, we weren’t twenty somethings trying to figure out life, we were pushing mid-thirties with three kids in tow.  Wherever we stayed it would be a major life shake up for all involved.  I will never forget how good they were to us and how they prayed for us and how they loved and encouraged us through the whole experience.   I’m not even sure they fully agreed with all we were doing, but they never said anything, they offered only love and prayers.  I want this writing to be a public place where I honor and thank them for being the support we needed.   My own mom isn’t with us anymore, she lives in heaven; I wish I could thank her again for everything, she was incredible to let us (pretty much) take over her home and her life.  I hope she knows how much it meant.

I still remember arriving at my parents’ house in Alabama.  We rolled up in our moving truck and green minivan and exploded into the yard.  If you’ve ever traveled with children you understand how much pent up energy happens when you sit cooped up hours on end.  There was a lot of running and giggling and, at the same time, a cloud of sobriety that hung over us all.  Being a kid at a time like this would be so great, you get to enjoy all the change and fun without the stress of wondering how it would all work out.    

The church where my dad pastored had an old building right next to it that they owned, it sat mostly unoccupied, and my dad told us we could store our things in there for as long as it was standing.  We were so thankful; it wasn’t lost on us that was God providing in the most practical of ways.  Jeff began the process of unloading while I wrangled the kids.  He unloaded that truck almost singlehandedly and he worked late into the night.   My dad helped, of course, but Jeff was so full of adrenaline that we all just sort of got out of his way.  He was a man on a mission, God was opening doors, and he was sprinting through them.

The next morning we set off again.  There were a few basic things left in the truck that Jeff would use in his single bedroom apartment, we needed to get to Florida and get the truck unloaded so we could turn it in.   We left my parents’ house in a shamble, so full of stuff you could hardly walk around, but they never once complained.   

Sanford.

You held so much for us. 

So much hope.

So much fear.

So much unknown. 

So much of what we needed.

An interesting part of the story I purposely left out until now, is the phone call Jeff made that changed everything.  When I say to people God will go before you, I honestly know what I am talking about.  I wish I always defaulted to faith in hard times, because I’ve seen God work so many things out, but, unfortunately I don’t.  I have to be reminded.  Writing this story has been a wonderful reminder to me, he takes care of his children.  After we visited the Academy, when we went back home, Jeff started the process of calling every single apartment complex in Sanford, FL.  There are a LOT of apartments in Sanford, trust me.   Every day in his free time, he would call and find out the cost of living there and the rental agreement. And, every day, he would get more discouraged.  But then, one sunny day, he called and a lady answered, Jeff explained our situation and told her he needed to live as cheaply as possible.  Unlike any other place, she completely understood the situation because, and this part amazes me, her own husband was at Delta Connection going through the same program.  They also had kids and were changing careers in their thirties as well.  What?!    From that conversation forward, she made it her personal mission to find Jeff an apartment in the complex where she worked.  That was tricky because it was a popular place, but, she did it!  He signed a year lease and, amazingly, we marked housing off our list.  I was especially excited about this place because there was a pool and, if you have no money for anything else, you can swim.  And, boy did we, the pool became our “place” that summer. 

There was a lot going on during this time, let me go back over the timeline.  We dropped off our furniture, and so much more, at my parents.  Then we headed to Sanford where my sister and her husband met us to help unload the moving truck.  Of course, the apartment was on the third floor, so we walked a lot of stairs that day!  Funny fact, we had a very used sleeper sofa that felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, Jeff and my brother-in-law carted that thing up all three flights!  How do you adequately thank someone for that?  Ha!  In case you’re wondering why we kept the heavy thing, you’ll understand why in the next paragraph.   On top of everything else, our dog decided to run away.  So we spent an hour searching for him while dodging cars in the parking lot.  We finally found him, and he was unharmed; a dog chase sure made that day a whole harder! 

By the end of it, we were absolutely exhausted.

When we finally settled in for the night, all five of us in a one bedroom apartment, the gravity of what was ahead began to creep in, what were we doing? I remember lying in the dark, the kids settled into the sleeper sofa and Jeff sleeping beside me in the one and only bedroom, wondering if we were as crazy as people thought?  I don’t know why, but all of life seems to roll through my mind in the dead of night.  Even though the day had been brutal, and there was no real plan in place, I still felt like we were exactly where we were supposed to be.  As uncertain as it all was, I never once wished it wasn’t happening. 

Never once.