Change is Never Easy

Change is never easy…but I know this change is good.

I could probably just post that one sentence to sum up my first week here in North Carolina.  However, I’m afraid that would leave too many of my people wondering if we are doing okay in our new surroundings.

I’m reminded change is never easy…

• When I’m bathing Ande in a Rubbermaid tub because our temporary home only has a shower.  (But, she doesn’t care one bit, and at least we have lots of hot water.)
• When I’m unsuccessfully resisting the urge to scratch yet another mosquito bite.  Robert and I have not had any bug bites for the past six years.  (But, I know living in this mosquito infested land means we are closer to our families.)
• When I’m trying to find a place to fix something for dinner, when we only have an extremely small space to do it in.  (But, this gives us the opportunity to go out to dinner more often.)
• When another house comes on the market and sells too quickly for us to take a look, or it isn’t the right one, or it’s in the wrong school district, or it has no yard/workshop/garage/etc., or the hill to get to the house is too steep.  (But, I’m told the right house will come along at the right time.)
• When I’m putting Ande to bed in her pack n play in the closet we call her bedroom because her crib was too big to fit.  (But, she sleeping soundly, and we have a place to temporarily call our home.)
• When I’m killing yet another spider we so unwillingly share our home with.  (But, to see the webs they create outside during the night are pretty amazing.)
• When the dog is frustrated because she can’t run around outside and no longer has soft carpet to lay on.  (But, we have a leash, and we can get outside to walk her.)
• When I pick Ande up from our first day at Bible Study and find that she is in the hall with the preschool director, and I have to go up and say, “That’s might child,” knowing she’s in the hall because she hated being in the class.  (But, at least they said we can come back next week.)
• When I go into a new grocery store and have no idea where to find anything.  (But, at least they speak English at their grocery stores here.)
• When I go to pick out that one shirt I thought I had packed with me, only to find that it’s in storage.  (But, at least I have other shirts.)
• When I go to storage and realize the walkway the movers said they were going to make so we could easily access our stuff isn’t there, and my clothes are in the back of the unit, and Robert says, “Nope, we’re not going to be able to get to those.”  (Yeah, I’ll be honest, I don’t have much positive to say about that.)

All in all, we are doing good.  Each of us in our own way is experiencing actual culture shock, to be honest.  It’s been awhile since we’ve been in the South.  It’s been awhile since we’ve been around people our age.  I haven’t really ever been around mothers of children my age.  Robert hasn’t worked in an office with lots of people in years.  We aren’t used to driving on busy interstates and seeing traffic.  It sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Change is never easy, but at the end of the day, we know this change is good.

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