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It's so interesting to me how God works sometimes - and most times I just don't get it!

This blog started 2 years ago as a way to help friends and family keep connected to us as we transitioned from our home of 12 years in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a new place in Beaver, Pennsylvania. All the doors swung wide open as we made the move - although we didn't sell our Grand Rapids house as we would have liked, we had some friends move in as renters and all worked out well. We found a home in a quaint little town, I began working in a private practice, Rick became a professor, we found a great new church, and all was well with the world.

Well, not exactly, because the doors that once swung wide open were now not looking quite as inviting, and some discontentedness crept in. Was it the result of unrest because we were in the "wrong" place? But the message to go seemed so clear! Was it a lack of investing in our new place because we weren't letting go of the old? But we were excited for the changes and were trying to embrace our new place! So many things to wonder about and be confused by. And in the meantime, opportunities began to present themselves that would eventually lead us back to Grand Rapids.

Now here we are, two years later (almost to the day!), and we have returned to Grand Rapids with so many doors already opened:

1. We never sold our old house, so that left us with the ease of having a place to move back to

2. We both got jobs at our previous employer, Calvin College, within a week of each other

3. We easily returned to our old church since we had never transferred our membership

4. We have been able to pick up just like old times with our friends in Michigan

There are definitely some things about Pennsylvania that I'll miss. It was great being closer to my family and seeing them more often. We made some great friends and had fun getting to experience some of the Pittsburgh culture that is very unique. And my time in private practice was very rewarding and I'll miss it.

All in all, though, we came away from our PA experience feeling like Grand Rapids really is our home. We have roots here that were deeper than we realized, and only after we left did we see them for all they really were. We learned a lot about ourselves, what we think we need, and what we really need, and got to spend some quality time together - since for a long time we were each other's only friend! I hope that we've emerged from this experience as better people and better Christians - but I'm not sure what the whole thing was all about. Maybe we are already aware of the lessons we were to learn from this experience, and maybe we'll become aware of them later. Or maybe we won't ever know what it was all about - just that in God's plan it was very purposeful and that's all we need to know.

Some people have accused me of being too optimistic, but I've never understood how that's really possible. I think that in a roundabout way being hopeful and optimistic is actually Biblical! I like being able to look for possibilities in circumstances, I believe that things don't happen by accident, and I know that God's purposes are being fulfilled in and around us even when we don't realize it or understand it. So I think our time in PA was very good. In a lot of ways. Through the friendships we established, through the work that we did, through the ways our lives were touched, and hopefully by the ways our lives touched others. There is so much about God's plan that we are never privy to, but it's fun speculating on what might be going on. I know I may never "get" it, but I trust it.

Nevertheless, it's good to be back "home" again.