How did we end up here? (Part 1)
So there’s this expectation most people have when they relocate their family to a totally different part of the country for a job. They expect to be there for a while. “A while” is such a relative term, but for most of us “a while” is defined by something more than 8 months.
Vanessa and I definitely had no intention of moving back to Tennessee a short 8 months after relocating to Iowa, but as we now know that’s exactly how long our time in Iowa lasted. As we put our house on the market and packed up all of our belongings to move to Iowa we definitely had every intention of putting down roots and building a great worship ministry at Grace. We were excited about the opportunities that were ahead of us in Iowa City and all of the great things that would happen in our new home.
We were pumped about the idea of developing new friendships and relationships that would surely last a lifetime. We were enjoying sweet corn and awesome locally raised beef, a mild summer, the idea of being a short 4 hours from Wrigley Field (well, that was mostly me, but Vanessa does enjoy Chicago), and overall just the idea of new adventures. We even enjoyed the massive amounts of snow and learning that the term “blizzard” actually does refer to specific parameters of snow and wind, not just a lot of snow.
We met great people, were part of a solid church, and we lived in a good community. I had a coffee shop less than a mile from the house (you know that’s important). We were making every attempt to make North Liberty and Iowa City home, but it never quite clicked. Something never seemed quite right, and over the course of a few months it became apparent that our stay in Iowa City would not be permanent. Still, we never though it would only be 8 months.
You and Conan should hang out.