jinx

like I said, change is ineveitable. for me, it's one of those bittersweet things.

originally we moved to Divide to get out of suburbia; it was a compromise before we got REALLY out, or "off the grid" as Matthew likes to call it. we both wanted out so bad. there is something about the cookie-cutter maze which makes up suburbia, that just really gets under our skin. back in September we were down to 2 places; 1 being in the historical downtown area & also close to Samuel's school, but then there was this other house (the one we're in now) that offered a bit more space than we needed, but really spectacular and literally in the forest. since the cost was the same, we opted for beauty than convenience. it's so gorgeous here, but I think we're discovering that we made a mistake.

this house is in an HOA ... which basically means you are not free to do whatever. granted we're not going to have our front yard filled with cars that don't run, but they seriously have some crazy rules. for instance, you cannot collect storm water (like to water your plants or whatever), you cannot have chickens (most people wouldn't care, but I could've had up to 10 in the in city. you'd think in the mountains it would be more flexible!), you cannot water your landscape, which also means you can't have gardens (which would be difficult anyway due to all the deer, but that's not the point) ... and that's all I can think of right now.

the other downer to living here is the distance from what our priorities are becoming. we knew Samuel's school was 40 minutes away, that's not really the problem. our fellowship with other believers have increased; before we just didn't know people to really connect with. we are more or less done with superficial, surface-y relationships, and honestly, we as a couple (ok it's really my husband!) is a difficult person to take. you either love him or hate him ... and I mean that in the best way possible. by not having friends, makes it real easy to think of just ourselves, but since we do, we have a need to be near these people. we are entering a season of serving, and not just because there is a conviction, it's a whole new level for us.

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak with him. Someone told him, "your mother and brother are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." he replied to him, "who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" pointing to his disciples, he said "here are my mother and my brothers. for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Matthew 12:46-50

so basically, the grass was greener on the other side. I think most things would've appeared greener, considering we were living in his parents' basement!

I forsee another move in our future ... but we all knew that was coming, didn't we?