If you have had the question, "Did Hannah move?" come across your mind in the last 6 weeks, you are not alone. Yes, my family and I moved to Fort Worth, TX in early August.
Didn't you just have a baby? Yup, July 17.
Did you still have to finish school this summer? Yes! Graduated August 16 and just got my diploma in the mail!
Sooooo...You decided to have a baby, pack up and sell a home, pack a moving van and move 15 hours away BEFORE your classes ended in mid-August and start a new job in September? Uh, why? Because it seems to have been orchestrated that way. People have called me "brave" which could be true, although I think there are some people who use "brave" as a euphemism for "crazy," and I don't blame them one bit.
The truth is, it has been a crazy time. In fact, everything happened so quick that we hardly got to tell people we were leaving at all. I would argue if there were a facebook group for, "I am annoyed and upset that the Taylors didn't tell us they were leaving," the membership would be larger than we'd like. What has been required of us in time, energy and focus has been unprecedented in our lives up unto this point, and we were clumsy with our communication in the face of it. We did not communicate well, and for that, I am deeply saddened. So, I wanted to reach out to give you a brief version of the story.
I found out I was pregnant back in November. I was angry, overwhelmed and stressed beyond most points in my life. I have already been very raw about this journey in a previous post about Elephant Blessings. Part of that blog also lets you know that I DID NOT back away from my trip to India, even in the face a pregnancy. I was 5 months pregnant when I went on that trip and it was life-changing in more ways than one. It turns out I developed friendship with a young woman on the trip and she reached out to some connections she had as she knew I was looking for work after graduation in August.
It turned out that the connection she had in Fort Worth not only proved out to be a valuable one, it was a beautiful fit for who I am and it turns out they think I am a good fit for their organization as well.
After rigorous interviews, the job was offered, and Jason supported me taking the job without hesitation, knowing how deeply called I felt to this particular job from the very first interview. So, we put our house on the market and moved across the country in a matter of about 8 weeks. I was also finishing up my school and internship while coming down to the end of pregnancy during that time. Needless to say, my life was nuts and I hardly reached out to friends at all because I lacked both time and energy. I was very isolated out of necessity during that time. It does sadden me that I was not able to be more focused on good communication with others at that time, but it did make me grateful for the people around me who showed so much grace when we weren't able to sit down with those closest to us one-on-one to be able to describe the circumstances. However, we have seen God's faithfulness as one step after another was seeing so much of his provision and kindness toward us.
People have been wondering how we are doing: We are...adjusting. Life hit a fever pitch of stress for all of the month of August. We did get the girls into school, as they started August 19. They have connected in their classrooms and we are grateful. Our 4-year-old has always been our fierce one, and so she's showing some stress in the adjustment to being here, but we are working on being communicative parents with her and we are praying for grace in the process. Jason has been doing work on his business "Golden Legacy CBD" from home and seeking God's guidance about the future. I've started work and have loved the staff as much as I thought I would. I'm still very new, so every day feels a little like drinking from a firehose, but it will get better. We have found a church home last week, which was absolutely crucial as loneliness was setting in big time for Jason and I being at home a lot of the time. We had so many great friendship that took years to build back in Wisconsin, and now we are keeping contact but knowing we need to build a community around us where we live. So, finding a church home (and a small group!) last week will be helpful for us.
To be honest, while there is a sense of adventure in moving somewhere new, it has been hard in a lot of ways. Adjustment, loneliness, the realities of newborn life, finding new grocery stores or doctors, getting lost because you don't know where you're going (and ending up on toll roads inadvertently!) are all parts of being somewhere new...and not just new, but GINORMOUS compared to where we came from (moved form an are of about 1 million to a metroplex of 7.5 million)...it's all been a challenge and some days are really hard still. But, slowly...sometimes very slowly...things are coming together. At some point we will have real routine and structure, at some point we will have good friends here, and we will know where to go for things. That day is not today. But I trust the God who brought us here to provide the things we need because we know in our hearts that God has carried us through the toughest roads of our individual and corporate lives as Taylors, and he will continue his past faithfulness now and in the future.
