my very first ever blog posting!!!

I've never been the "trail-blazer" type, and blogging is no exception... Growing up, I remember being in awe of TV remote controls, microwaves, VCR's, CD players, and later, cell phones, laptops and iPods. Of my friends, I am almost always the last to discover or obtain a new technology or trend. I know weblogs have been around for a while now, but I have recently come to discover the value of blogging. I've been thinking, "Yeah, I should do that." Being completely uneducated about blogging and having no idea about rules and proprieties concerning it, I figure I'll learn as I go.

I've had the desire to journal and document the events of my life for some time now but have never done it. I regret that I've lost a great deal of great memories because I never wrote them down. On many occasions, there were lessons learned and, unfortunately, forgotten. Things I promised that I'd never forget have faded into blurred images. But if there's anything I've learned in the past two years, it's that we're not doomed to repeat our mistakes and go through life repeating failure.

There are so many things I've learned and experienced in the past year that I never want to forget. This is the perfect time for me to get it all down. Hopefully, then I can continue forward and write down all the exciting things that will be happening in the future.

Forgive me if the following seems too personal and too long; at this point, I think I'm the only one who will be reading this. :)

A (probably not too) brief overview of the past year and a half:

(April? 2006) Life was busy with our newly enlarged family. Caitlyn was almost 6, Timmy just turned 3, and Kylie was almost a year old. We were living with my parents in their home in Altadena. We had just finished remodeling and expanding it to accommodate our family. David had an interesting job opportunity come up that involved travel to Goleta. It would mean him being away from us a few days out the week, but also a significant increase in pay. David took the job. With Caitlyn at private school, we felt we could use some breathing room financially, although I was not thrilled with the thought of David being absent half of each week. In fact, with 3 small kids, I really didn't think I would survive. I was overwhelmed with motherhood, unmotivated, and honestly, life seemed hopeless. I felt David was abandoning me for career success and another adventure. I wasn't sure, but it seemed like this job move spelled disaster for our family life and our marriage.

(Summer 2006) David started making the commute up to Santa Barbara, staying in motels while he was there. He was enjoying the job but missing his family. We all missed him a lot, too. We did get to visit Santa Barbara over the summer for a short vacation while David worked. It was a fun time, but was over too quickly. Each passing week, I felt the distance growing between us. Even the kids seemed to do better without him. We seemed to become numb to the pain of the separation.

(Fall 2006) Caitlyn started 1st grade at Pasadena Christian School. She did very well academically, but she was starting to have a lot of anxiety issues. Daddy being gone compounded it all. Our lives seemed to be spiraling out of control. I felt something needed to be done or we weren't going to make it. After discussing the options at work, David was given the go ahead to move our family up to Santa Barbara for the duration of his job in Goleta. We figured it was better for us to be together as a family, even if it meant switching Caitlyn to a different school mid-year.

(Christmas break 2006/2007) The kids and I joined David in SB and Caitlyn began school at Kellogg Elementary school in Goleta. It was a big turning point for us. Caitlyn was popular and well liked at her school immediately. A lot of the anxiety issues disappeared. David's commute to work was only 10 minutes each way so we saw much more of him and he even got to come home for lunch most days. It seemed like things were going to get much better. We just needed to find a church.

We had done the "church hopping thing" when we moved to Arizona in 2002 so it would seem like we would know what we were looking for. We tried Vineyard, Free Methodist, Calvary Chapel, and Community Covenant; all great churches. None really seemed to call to us, but we were feeling like we really should just pick one and settle in. The kids were starting to get anxious going to a different church every week. We pretty much decided on one but then...

(February 2007) I thought we should try just one more church. If it didn't work out, we'd go to Calvary Chapel, a good Bible teaching church with a huge kid's program. I looked online and found a Foursquare church that looked interesting. I'd never been to a Foursquare church except for a worship conference at Christian Assembly church where Tommy Walker is the worship leader. I'd always heard good things, so I figured, "why not?" Plus, the name was "New Life" church which is the name of the church I grew up in. It seemed fitting.

I still remember driving up to the church parking lot and not really knowing what to expect. It's always a nerve-wracking thing, going to a new church. (Note to self: remember that! Remember what it's like so that you can put yourself in the visitor's shoes!) Anyway, I remember getting the warmest and most welcoming greeting that I've ever received while visiting a church for the first time. That was encouraging and heart-warming, but definitely not enough to win my approval. I guess I was pretty skeptical and wanted God to prove something to me. (Yeah, that was the state of my heart at the time.)

Well, we took Kylie to the nursery and explained how she hates to be left and cries and that we'd sit toward the back so they could get us in about 15 minutes. I was so impressed that they said they'd work with her and keep her there as long as it was ok with us. Another good sign!

When we walked into the sanctuary, we were totally shocked at how much the set-up reminded us of Shiloh, (our church in Arizona where God led us on an amazing journey of spiritual growth and blessing.) That seemed like another positive. By the time the worship started, David and I were both pretty convinced that this was the church for us. As I recall, the music was pretty decent, but the presence of God in that place was overwhelming! Pastor Dale was giving the message that week and we thought he was just awesome! We were stoked!!! Then, as we met other people after the service, we heard so many amazing things about Pastor Robb. Really, we couldn't imagine he could be that good! It would be a while before we'd actually meet him because he had just begun a 40 day fast, seeking the hear God's direction.

Anyway, we left that day feeling like it had been a surprise party from God, celebrating us! Showing us that He does care about us and has not deserted us; that He had so much more for us than we could imagine. Most of all, He was beginning to unfold a plan that would be completely life changing for our family.

I'll pick up tomorrow with that plan and how it began to unfold during our time in Santa Barbara.