Exactly one week from today we will be signing the paperwork to close on our Texas house. After all of our i’s are dotted and t’s crossed, we will be hopping in the car to start our drive south.
Google tells me that we will have 944 miles to drive before we pull into the driveway of our new home. I have to admit that I’ve been dreading making this trip for months. In part because there is still a heaviness in my heart about leaving Minnesota, but also because we will be making this drive with a baby in the backseat. Nicole and I both seem to loose our sense of normalcy when we spend long periods of time in the car together and I struggle with how unhappy she is in her carseat. However, as our travel date rapidly approaches, I’ve been asking God to give me a better attitude and a new perspective.
My new attitude is that I’m ready to learn from this endeavor. When Nicole was still a tiny little baby, we packed her up and headed to Wisconsin for Christmas. It took me 2 days to pack for her because I had never taken her out of her environment for an extended amount of time. She did awesome in the car, I had everything she needed and we had a wonderful time visiting our family. My Uncle Dan told me that every trip I took after that one would get easier, and so far he’s been right.
This will be the longest drive we’ve ever made as a family, but I am going into it knowing that it’s just the first of many long drives to come. My new perspective is that for whatever length of time God has us in Texas we will be loading up our car and driving back to the midwest time and time again. I know that if I can use this first trip as a learning experience I will be able to start looking forward to the rest of the car trips I know will follow. It’s important to me to be the kind of person who shows up for stuff. I desire to the love the people in my life well and in order to do that I believe that I need to be present to continue to invest in those people. I am moving with a deep rooted awareness that no one is preventing me from continuing to be the kind of person who participates in things. It might take a couple of days in the car, or a few hours on an airplane and a little more forethought than it did before, but I love my family too much to be anything less an active participant in their lives.
As I do my best to cultivate a sense of gratitude towards this trip, I remind myself that Shawn and I love spending time in the car together. His laid back personality and inherent sense of adventure make even the most boring stretches of highway interesting. Our drive time is usually a healthy combination of talking, planning, strategizing, listening to podcasts, and silence. Even if the travel itself is tiring, the time we share making the drive always feels renewing. Each trip solidifies how much we enjoy each others company. Since Nicole has joined us, not all of our car rides have been as quiet as we were previously accustomed to. I am learning how to set her up for a more successful drive and she is learning how to be more tolerant of extended time in her carseat. We both have some growing to do!
I am going to do my best to touch base next week Wednesday to keep up my regular posting schedule. If for some reason the day doesn't allow time to check in, you can think of us as we close on our house and start the first leg of our drive. I'll be sure to check in as soon as we have internet in our new house.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a smile from the sweetest six month old I know.
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