On comfort and reflection

I am sitting in a quiet home, surrounded by boxes and messes and disarray, sipping on a glass of wine, and relaxing after a LONG day.  Justin has been in training for the past two weeks, which means 12 hour days for him.  Today, after his 12 hour day he had a work dinner, which makes it a 15 hour day. That means today was a day of 3 meals and bedtime all on my own.. not my favorite.  But, instead of packing (which is what I really should be doing), I decided to take advantage of the silence and read a few old entries on my blog.  Oh.my.word.  I just read this entry I wrote 10 months ago.  10 months ago, I was so sad.  I was so lonely.  And I was missing home like crazy.  I was craving community and feeling known.  But I was choosing to focus on the small blessings I could see in front of me and believing that God was doing something amidst the hard.

Can I tell you about my day today?  I dropped Claire off at preschool and went to the YMCA.  My kids were loved on in the world class childcare they offer and I took one of my favorite classes where I got to focus on me and only me for one precious hour.  While at the Y, we ran into one of my favorite friends, who also happens to be a neighbor.  She and her kiddos came over after that for an impromptu popsicle date. After naps/rest time, she came back over along with two of our other neighbors and their kids.  The four mamas sat on the deck and chatted as best as 4 mamas with 10 kids can.  ;)  While they were here, we discovered that both me and one other mama were doing dinner on our own, since both of our hubbies had work commitments.  So she decided to stay for dinner.  They helped us clean and then headed home for bed.  I put my kids to bed, cleaned the kitchen, and melted into the couch, exhausted from my busy and full day.  And you know what? It was glorious.  My day had been filled with real, genuine, authentic friends.  I pulled up my blog and read that old blog post and tears streamed down my face.  I realized that God was absolutely doing something in the midst of the hard I was going through last summer.  I am so thankful for the community He provided here.  I am known.  It feels so good.  And... now, we're off on our next adventure.   Some days, like today, I'm like, "Really God?  You are doing this to us again??"  We are finally comfortable again. 10 months ago, I wrote this:

We are out of our comfort zone.  Eww... this one is a love/hate.  I kinda hate being out of my comfort zone and being stretched.  But I also know that allows God to work.  And I want to be grow and learn and apparently I'm not good at that when I'm comfortable.  Love/hate.


And then I think about the day I had today and realize how thankful I am that He stretched us and moved us out of our comfort zone.  If we had resisted, we would have missed out on so much.  So, here we go again!  It's crazy.  But because I know He provides so well, I am excited to see what new thing will spring forth in this next season of life.  He.is.so.insanely.good.