Living-Deliberately.com

So life in Florida was good. Blessed even. I guess from some viewpoints, it was really excellent. We had a wonderful house in suburbia. I loved our house! We’d remodeled the kitchen earlier last year. It had wood floors with light filled rooms, pale yellow walls, and a huge magnolia tree in the back yard. Sweet memories were made there; some so sweet we wondered sometimes how we’d ever want to leave. I guess if life was just in our house or made up of favorite spots during the week (like an occassional trip to the beach or Sunday dinners at Mom’s, just a block away) we never would have. But it’s like the contrast of our life started to get more glaring. Minutes in traffic became hours in traffic. Everything we did required a long commute. An entire month last year was taken up with hurricanes. The cost of living soared while the income stayed the same. Our children, who on one hand loved having neighborhood friends, started showing the signs of being on dangerous tracks headed into puberty. Our internal seasonal clocks were continually stiffled in the sticky wet heat and virtually no seasonal change. As David and I both looked into another decade we saw the monotony ahead. Working hard with little show for it and possibly loosing our children in the gamble of “staying safe”. Keep the steady job even as he drowned in cubical stagnancy. Be content with the small garden that discouragingly was eaten up with the millions of bugs and parasites in Florida. Ignore all longings for something different, something better, a chance to make a difference or do something BIG. Allow dreams to happen on those rare cool days, or Sunday afternoons, or moments under the trees with chilled wine in hand but…then then hunker down and hibernate your soul for the majority of the year when it’s either too hot, or too wet, or there’s too much traffic or debt to cope with to do anything else.I guess a crisis of the soul is when you realize that no matter how risky, you have to try or accept madness as an inevitable outcome. And risk doesn’t look so big when you realize that letting go of the temporal things around you doesn’t mean giving up what’s really important: we’re in this thing together!!!!!

That’s where we were. We prayed for opprotunities. We refinanced and bought ourselves some relief for a year. We researched and “did our homework”. We bloomed where planted, meaning, we made the most of small moments, of our setting, of our life with the realization that it may never change. Somewhere in the course of this past year, boldness set in. Clarification formed of what was important, what we knew we could accomplish, and what was not worth spending our days on. Life is too short! What it was I guess, was the fruition what we’d learned through Clara. It just took us this long to do something about it.

We took a vacation to Tennessee. It was suposed to sort of fit into the context above: if we couldn’t move somewhere else, we could visit. It was part of being content. We were really surprised when we were slammed with the strongest sense of “Place” we’d ever had. Can a soul belong in an earthly location? We felt like we could BREATHE up here. That our hard work would go further up here.

And ….suddenly….things changed.

David came home to hear that his job, which he was very good at, would never become more purely out of personal reasons from the powers that be. We weren’t just glimpsing that highway. We were STARING at it. It was as if our family was put into a strainer and all of our life in Florida just sifted down through the holes. What was left was US. We knew we were ready to leave everything else behind and just reach for something BETTER.

So the house went on the market that day and sold within 3 days. David left that following week to find a job in Maryville, Tennessee. A place we’d never been to exactly but knew people here. God is in the details you know…little miracles happened and doors opened and every need was met. “Grace for Today” was our motto, through being apart, looking for a job, meeting new people, getting packed, all of it.

In the end, the house closed July 13. All of our stuff went into storage except what we’d need for a few months. My (Tia) parents moved up here with us, with an extended van and large trailer, and a chicken in our minivan! We wound through the mountain pass to breathtaking views and a new life. Lucy the Chicken went to a foster home. Amos the cat lives with Grandma for now. We’re in a light filled 2 bedroom apartment up against the woods. It’s a quiet complex with a wonderful view of the mountains. While we get settled in a new job and a new life, this is a nice place to live and house hunt.

David got the sales job he wanted but couldn’t get in Florida. He’s spreading his wings and getting ready to really SOAR. Death to Cubicals and office politics! We are going to experience SEASONS!!!! We’ve found a wonderful church family and homeschooling support group. We’re frequently speechless at the kindness of the people up here; the community that we never had in the sprawl of ever-enlargening-Jacksonville is constant here.

This feels a little “Star Trek” here: the purpose of this blog is to boldly go where this Graham family has never gone before, to seek out a new life and a new civilization, to record for our loved ones how we stepped off the highway and took the scenic route instead.

2 Responses to “Opening Post”

1. on 16 May 2006 at 10:04 pm 1.Theon said …

   WOW!!!!! Your beginnings here (Maryville) began on my darling son’s first birthday! Reading your first post reminds me of almost 9 years ago when the Lord moved my husband and I here from MS. We know that it was totally a move of God and I must say that I am still amazed to this day of His never ending GRACE in our lives. God bless you sister and may His Grace continually flow in your life.

   God Bless,
   Theon

2. on 21 Feb 2007 at 4:59 pm 2.Teresa Charles (step-daughter of Cathy Tomlinson) said …

   Your blog perfectly explained where me and my husband have been for two years. We still live in Jacksonville, and recently made that final decision to move to Tennessee. Consequently, the area we have decided on is Maryville, TN. We have vacationed there, and have fallen in love with “LIFE IN THE MOUNTAINS”. It is truly a distinct and different culture from what we know in Florida. Our plan included me finishing school to be a teacher. As of now, I am interning and will graduate in May. Our house is up for sale in two weeks, and hopefully will sell quickly. Then, mountains, here we come.

   We long to be where we can be used of God to touch the lives of others, and pursue dreams and goals God has given us. Our children are excited, and we are excited for them.

   Thank you for your inspiring story, and your willingness to share.

   God Bless You,

   Teresa Charles

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