Saturday, September 3, 2011

Another city, another day....

Beckham is now living in his 3rd state during his 5.5 months of life!! We are in Chattanooga now, and even though we are 2 hours from Nashville, it feels like we are home :). The accents, the people waving in their cars, the ugly furniture in the nearby thrift shops....even the humidity is welcomed by this homesick heart. In the two weeks we've been here, I have made lots of neighbor friends. Jessica, who lives next door, and brought us cat food when we first came and couldn't find ours. Mr. C who lives down the street who's been married to his wife for 66 years, and Steve who is a grandfather of 4 and a painter by trade but going back to school for Bible and Education. We really like our neighborhood....and our neighbors.

Just yesterday Beckham woke up at the crack of dawn. It had been a hard night and a way too early morning coupled with a good dose of loneliness, so I had already had my fair share of crying that day. We were already up early, though, so I took the opportunity to be the FIRST person at the garage sale on Sunbeam avenue. Who would have known that God was sending me there just so I could meet Kimberly. She didn't know me at all, but after a few short words, I felt like I could tell her everything....how Beckham hadn't slept through the night and that I was tired of traveling all over the world with an infant, and that moving to a new place is hard....even when its your home state. Kimberly was a good listener. And if she didn't have a 3 wk old infant and 2 toddlers, I'd call her up right now and ask her to go to coffee. Because when you move so often, you learn that you have to seek out friendship.

So, we're home. And yet...my heart aches for community. Part of me wishes I could create it overnight, but I think it's much more of a daily thing...a one foot in front of the other kind of thing. A put myself out there even when it's uncomfortable kind of thing. A pray for it every night kind of thing. Because even though we might only be here for 7 months, it's still 7 months.



Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2011 at 6:49 PM

    Bri, the above picture of you and Beck and the laundry tells such a sweet story! Love it! (and...you are beautiful!) ~Meg

    ReplyDelete
  2. JuliaSeptember 5, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    I hear you on the moving thing - its gets harder and harder and you really do have to work to get to know people and find a community. Its been a month in GA and I am slowly starting to know some people - the church is a big help. Hope things continue to get better for you also.

    Julia (SBC)

    ReplyDelete
  3. -s-September 6, 2011 at 6:20 PM

    I suspect moving someplace new is almost harder when it feels familiar; there's an unconscious expectation that familiar=community you've had before. Jumping into something completely unfamiliar, you've abandoned those expectation. The times I've been homesick the most, it's been in places not that different from my previous home. Halfway around the world? Not a touch, too much adventure!

    I'm glad you've found another great neighborhood and your community is building! I think you have a knack for it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 19, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    isn't it SWEET how God appoints meetings w/ other people at the exact moment we need it!!
    this post is an encouraging reminder to me of the value of friendship. i often forget to prioritize it among life's 'other' necesseties.
    THANK YOU lovely!!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)