this side
We drove around as a family and looked at some houses in Lewisville yesterday. It’s not the first time we’ve done this. Even before we moved out of the old house, Diane would find a house or two online and we’d drive through its neighborhood on the way home from the store or church or wherever.
We’ve always known the apartment was a temporary situation, a stepping stone to the next place. When exactly that’ll happen, we’re not sure, but it’s definitely in the cards, Lord willing. Pen and Luke aren’t going to be able to share a room indefinitely, and the kids definitely need some free range area a little more accessible than the apartment complex playground, as nice as it is. Luke has been very interested in gardening lately–his Grandad and him planted a garden at their house and he looks forward to checking on the plants every week. He’s gotten to the point where he’s "planted" apple seeds and popcorn kernels in the flower beds next to the parking lot outside, in hopes of growing an apple tree and a "popcorn plant" (he doesn’t seem to believe our explanation about popcorn being made from plain ol’ corn). So a yard would certainly do him good.
Diane’s parents are local, and while I was initially a little resistant to the idea of living so close to them, the particular suburb of Winston-Salem they live in is the best, the most small-town-ish and has the most active community. In terms of living too close, what with easy transportation all over the area, there’s little practical difference between living five minutes or fifteen minutes away. So if I’m not going to change jobs, which I’m not planning on doing for the foreseeable future (I really like my job and it supports us), why not live in the best area available, regardless of how close it is to her parents? That’s been my line of reasoning.
So we’ll see what happens. In terms of taking more chances life-wise, this is very much the path of least resistance; however, Diane and I remind each other to keep a proper perspective on the things we’re given, since we’re just stewards of everything anyway (even our children–and that’s hard to apprehend). I think if the Lord has a more far-ranging opportunity in our future, we’ll be ready for it, or at least as ready as we can be. I certainly intend to pray for that attitude to take firm root in our family.