Moving Story- Dec. 2009

Rosalie in Manitoba, Canada, Part II

(JM – I hope you read Rosalie’s moving story last month as she shared what she and many other women experience as “still moved”: despite the passage of years since a move, she is still adjusting and not “at home”. Well... printing Rosalie’s story prompted her to send an update! Whether you’re “still moved” or a recent mover, Rosalie will show you how she made choices that led to growth, and spiritual and emotional health in spite of her circumstances. You’ll also find out about a big change in store for Rosalie and her family!)

Thriving – not just surviving – in a difficult move...

While moving has been an adventure, it has also been full of challenges and, as the mom/wife, has especially felt like a personal sacrifice at times since I wasn’t the one moving to an exciting new career. Nevertheless, I have constantly sought to focus on the positives, the growth, and the discoveries. By moving we were able to accomplish dreams such as having a nicer home without me having to work fulltime to pay for it. I thank God I have a kitchen where the cupboard doors stay on the hinges and there are no mice running around.

In our two moves, we have been able to experience new geography, climate and culture. We now have a collection of friends from various parts of the country and an understanding of how things are done in each place. Our character has been challenged when we’ve gotten frustrated by crazy new traffic signs and rules of a new city. We’ve experienced the foggy, overcast winter of the West and the minus 40 degree winters of the Prairies.

We’ve adjusted to the blank stares and disinterest we get when striking up a conversation about our home town. We are quite familiar with the run-around we feel when we start in a new church and have to prove ourselves all over again.

The difficulties have challenged me to become creative and bold in finding what it is I need for myself. I have forced myself out of my comfort zone many times. I have a dog I take for walks, usually by myself, where I have met lots of dog-walking strangers. I’ve said yes to opportunities where I began as a volunteer that progressed into paid assignments. I’ve taken courses by teleconferencing and have built a network and a business online – one I can take with me if I move. I take my Facebook connections seriously. I have a deep understanding of the issues of a woman’s heart, especially the moving woman. Our relationship as a couple has withstood many tests, as has our faith, especially when we’ve had cabin fever and turned on each other, or felt abandoned by God. What I mean by cabin fever, is that which comes by nature of being each other’s best friends and spending a lot of time in our own home because it is just too hard to find other deep friends and places to go for holidays and so forth.

I’ve sought to provide my family with what I feel it needs to be happy and well-rounded. I’ve spent umpteen hours planning getaways that not only have included visiting family back home, but fun places the children hadn’t been to, turning over every stone I could find in the general vicinity.

I have made it a priority to work at making sure certain things happen, like birthday parties, going to a yearly Christmas Eve service even if it’s in a church where we don’t know anyone, taking in a Christmas light tour, and baking the traditional Christmas cookies even if it would be only the four of us eating them. I have made sure that we have technology-free family fun days, lunches out together and that we always try to include the children’s friends in our activities. We have sought to be part of a small group in a church, and to stay true to our values.

Recently we’ve had a surprise. Two months ago my husband was told his job is changing again. It looks like this summer, after 13 years away from our homeland, we will be returning. This wasn’t something we sought out, but that was proposed to us. At first it jolted us, but now we see God’s loving hand in it.

We don’t look forward to the hard work of selling a home, travelling to buy a new one and all the other thousands of things that need to happen with a move; but we will head back home stronger, more mature, with better personal boundaries and a stronger sense of what it is we need included in our lives to feel grounded and more appreciative of that environment. We are looking forward to what lies ahead, after all, for some of us there’s no place like home.