inbetween

Last night, I woke up at 3 am. Don't ask me why. It's "the usual" for me when I am stressed or my mind is full. Lately, I've been waking up wondering where we are going to live in Knoxville. This morning, however, I was thinking of Saginaw, MI. I was thinking of our friends there, our church, our small group, our Ross community, and our Green Acres cozy apartment. It was far from home, yes. and cold. but it became far more for us. We found a church. that we LOVED. and it's ruined me for big churches ever since. We felt known and loved beyond what we were expecting, and by the time we left we had made genuine friendships.

We had a Ross community to walk with us....we may or may not have hung out on the island, but once we made it to what some of us considered the North Pole, we were in it together. Bearing each other's tension during STEP preparation and rotation scheduling... Hanging out in our Green Acres apartments, eating potluck food, watching football and hockey games, and tromping through the snow to bring each other sugar for a recipe.

Then there was Betty and Sam, who lived in Green Acres. Betty, the 87 year old woman, and Sam, her dog. that wore bows in his hair. That's right, "bows in his hair". Betty would get out everyday, barring a snowstorm, and walk Sam. We'd pass each other, talk for a bit, then be on our way.

Timbers. Sunday night was $6/large pizza night. And John and I made a date of it every Sunday night. After a few weeks of having Sam (not the dog) as our server, we wouldn't sit down to anyone else's table. We learned that Sam working her way through school, was engaged, and planning a destination wedding in Jamaica! And there was Fuzzy's, Frankenmuth, Fralia's, our midwives, Suki and Jeanine, the BEST Goodwill ever, YMCA trips with Tricia, and community volleyball on Tuesday and Thursday nights....to name a few other highlights.

After laying awake for an hour thinking about how much I miss Saginaw, I realized some of what was keeping my heart so connected there. First of all, it's just plain saginawesome. yes, that's a word. Secondly, it's the last place that John and I lived and had real community. We are living in Nashville, which is our hometown...but it's not really our home right now. We are moving to Knoxville, but it's not our home yet. We are inbetween. and I don't much like it. My mouth is watering to be a part of a community again....to know and be known.