S-T-R-E-T-C-H

These past few weeks have been stretching...s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g me...to say the least.

Three weeks have turned into nearly a month and yet I feel as though I've been in Monterey for a very long time.  But it's not quite "home" just yet, and I still have so much sorting out to do- both mentally and, yeah, physically (unpacking, shifting around boxes, making space, etc.)  And although moving in was a lot easier than moving out of our home in Alabama, it's still a pretty tremendous transition to be suddenly transplanted from the South to the West Coast.

My stretching this week has a lot to do with finding my way around the city and navigating.  This place is not difficult to get around in- there are taxis and citi buses everywhere and once you learn the map and know which streets are one ways, you can get around.  The cool thing about Monterey is the amount of people riding bikes or walking and jogging along the recreational trail.  It's definitely a place to stay green and active and I'm hoping to add a daily walk in the city as part of my own regimen, but for now...I'm just happy to find my way around to the local grocery store, pharmacy, library, parks, stuff like that.

The other big stretch for me is making new friends.  So far I have met a lot of nice people, but I haven't really connected with anyone on a friendship level- and yeah I know I have to be patient-- friendships take time.  I guess I am in such a hurry to pick up where I left off in life before Monterey that it's been a bit of an adjustment for me to start completely over from scratch.  Family and friends are far, far away.

But you know what?  I'm not afraid or scared...just feeling really STRETCHED right now.  It's like the Lord is showing me how to truly be transilient, how to really, truly trust Him for His provision in my family's life.

The move here was a blessing and a miracle in itself.  Maybe one day I'll be at liberty to talk about how God worked all of this out for us, but it was definitely a move we needed and saw coming (just not one we thought would take us this far away from family and friends).  But it was an answer to our core prayer, and my husband and I are really extremely thankful.

Just being stretched right now.  New job, new environment, new place, new people--need to find a church, trying to get plugged in wherever we can.

That kind of stuff.

Pray for us?

Oh, and I'm thinking really seriously about switching over to Blogger (blogspot).  This domain name will expire in a few months and I'm not sure it's worth renewing it.  I'll give you a heads up if I should decide to switch.

Okay...well off to story time for my kids here in Pacific Grove.