Switchbacks in our lives: #1, 2 and 3

We were headed forward on a path that seemed clear. Well, it was about as clear as a paved hiking trail around a lake: we could usually see when a turn was coming up and when it came we weren't real surprised about what was around it.  C. was working full time at job in Seattle and working on the weekends at a job in Tacoma.  He was using the skills he went to school for and ministering as much as possible in the positions.  I was working part-time at my job outside the home and full-time at my job at home.  We were all busy with sports, school (homeschool and public school), bible studies, church and ministering in our communities.

Suddenly our path turned into a hiking trail on a steep mountain.

Switchback #1:  OK.
My sister sent me a link to a home for sale not far from my parents.  I like the house and location and thinking "someday......" I showed it to C..  He said, "Ok.  We could sell this place and buy that one or...or...or...(and) I could apply for jobs down there and see what happens."  Suddenly I'm calling mortgage brokers and real estate agents and trying to figure out how to buy a different house.  Upon advice given, we started to plan to rent out our house and purchase the new house.  I also started looking for jobs for C. in the city my parents (and my plotting sister ;) ) live in.

Something came abundantly clear to C. and I during this first stretch of trail: our lives needed a change.  We hardly had any family time together.  C. was working two jobs in two different cities, one with a 2 hour a day commute and both in a different city than we lived in.  We were ministering in 5 different cities (that means A LOT of driving).  I worked 20 minutes away from home but with dropping and picking kids up for childcare it was often a 1 hour commute.  With C. gone most of the time sometimes half my paycheck went to pay for childcare.  We had a large house that we could barely afford to live in and certainly couldn't afford to fix up the way it needed.  C. looked at me on this first switchback and said, "Even if this (move and house) doesn't work out, I think something needs to change."  I burst into tears.  Yeah, I guess something needed to change and thankfully my perceptive husband recognized it!

Switchback #2: Jobs.
This was a gradual switchback compared to some of the others!  I started looking applying for jobs in the new city and there were actually some openings in C.'s field.  C. applied for them.  C. got called in for interviews.  THIS HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE WHEN WE APPLIED IN THIS CITY.  C. didn't just get called in for A interview.  He got 3 job interviews within a month. At this time he was also being looked at for a possible full time position at his Tacoma job.  He was offered a job in the new city and he was also offered the full time job in Tacoma.  The job in Tacoma would not pay as much or have a good of benefits. He accepted a job the in the new city that could use his skills from his Bachelors and Masters degrees.  He started almost right away and began living in the new city during the week. This started our move in motion for sure!

Switchback #3: House?
The house and property that started us on this mountain hike ended up not being available after all (the original owner has since moved back into it).  I wanted to rent our house out to single moms with low incomes.  I started looking into how to make this possible.  I was also looking at houses we could rent while we rented out our house.  We were thinking we could buy once we got settled.

Most nerve wracking, emotionally challenging and shocking,
Switchback #4: coming soon...