You know that thing where you and your spouse have good jobs, you’re settling into life and looking around to buy a house, love your church family and want to get more involved, and are starting to think you just might have life figured out… then you quit your jobs, drop everything and within a month you’ve moved 1,400 miles away to what feels like a different planet, and you’re 30 years old, unemployed and living in a bedroom at your in-laws’ house?
Yeah… I definitely didn’t see that coming.
Brian and I were literally in the process of asking banks about loans and mortgages and scouting out houses in a community that would place us much closer to our church family. Then one night as we were getting ready for bed, he got the phone call. His dad had had a stroke, a pretty bad one. The next day, we were on an airplane to Orlando, Florida. Ten days later, we came home and I started packing or selling or donating everything we had. People thought we were crazy, people understood. He’s an only child, his parents need help. It’s us.
I didn’t want to do this, but I knew we must. My first impression on Florida was not good. In July, it’s so hot and humid and everything is fried to death. We were also driving on I-4 every day, which is horrendous, and I couldn’t find any southern charm or tropical lushness anywhere. While talking to a friend, she encouraged me to look around a find the good parts.
“Well… the birds are kind of cool.”
I do like the cranes that you see along the roads everywhere.
But there are too many people and everything spread so that it takes forever to get anywhere. Jobs pay way less and car insurance is about to triple. (We see multiple car accidents every time we go anywhere.) Buying a house? That’s not even on the horizon any more. And the time of year that I’m used to having abundant fresh food and good weather, down here you just stay in your house and don’t even think of gardening.
Complain, complain… I could go on for a few more paragraphs, easily, but I won’t. Because none of this has to do with why we did what we did. I easily see why people think we’re crazy and making a huge mistake. Several people told me that we’d end up back where we were someday. And while I don’t know what the future holds, I’m certainly not betting on that.
I’m actually more than fine with this change in life. Knowing it’s the right thing to do helps a lot, but also learning to trust the Lord and trust my husband are huge parts of this. It’s no longer Brian and I living in my world. It’s Brian and I living in a world we never thought of, together, figuring out life as a team. He’s been so reassuring, confident that we’ll find the jobs we need and make a home that we love. Just today he found an open position that would eventually put us in a very comfortable place, and he’s very qualified for it. (Prayers that his application is noticed would be appreciated!) There’s a position for a floral designer at a higher-end shop in Orlando that I intend to apply at. We no longer drive on I-4, and have seen beauty in the less traveled roads. And the first church we attended on Sunday was promising.
So… there’s certainly beauty in central Florida, even if it is an acquired taste. I’m hoping to share some of it as I find it.
Castle of Blue 