change

From Oregon to Alaska to Washington to Idaho! It just wouldn't be right if we didn't move about every 9 months or so, so in June we're packing up again and moving to Boise, Idaho! In Stephen's third and fourth year of medical school, the students complete 6 week rotations in each medical field. There are many options for the students as far as when and where each rotation can be done; you could spend each 6 weeks in a different city if you wanted to! But, with a little one in the picture and my large desire to hang stuff on the walls, we decided one city, one home, would be just fine. Though we're still considering a 6 week rotation in Fairbanks, one in Pocatello, and maybe even one in Montana! (We're just trying to live in the entire northwest before we move for residency...)
I'm feeling a little apprehensive, and a little like a hypocrite, about moving to Boise... When I left Pocatello for college in Oregon in 2008, I said I was never moving back. Not because I don't love the people, but because I always felt like I wanted something different, something more... And to me, Boise is Pocatello. It's still the same people, same landscape, same everything, just with better shopping. To me, you don't really get out of Pocatello until you cross that state line. And now we're moving back? For two years?
I am so very much looking forward to being closer to my family, and we're actually moving there with our good friends the Andersons, and I know once residency comes and we're shipped off to who knows where in the United States I'll miss being so close to home and my roots... But still...

It was two Sundays ago that our pastor did a sermon on change - adaptability, endurance, and focus. He was going over Acts 20:24-36, and looking back in my journal the day after we officially accepted our Idaho track invitation, the sermon really struck a cord with me. "Change will come to you. You can either deal with it with resolve or resistance." What's it going to be? Change is hard. But it is also inevitable. You can't freeze time. But in those times of change (in all times!) hang on to Christ - Christ doesn't change. And with Him, you can begin to embrace change with joy.

So maybe moving back to Idaho wasn't in my plans when I left it, but hey! We're no strangers to change! And a lot still has to happen (and change!) before June arrives, but regardless, Idaho is a part of our plans now and I am going to embrace this next adventure of ours with excitement and joy! Great weather, cheaper housing, closer to my family and old friends, a great place to raise our baby, having a home base for longer than 9 months...  This is change I can get on board with!