Life Update | A New Season
It's been a long time, y'all. I just looked, and the last time I actually posted anything was back in October. As in, six months ago.
Needless to say, a lot has happened since then.
Most recently, I moved to a different state. Tennessee, to be exact.
Let me rewind.
Back in December, a friend and neighbor of mine told me about a family she knew, that needed some help. Specifically, someone to come live with them for several months, and help care for their eight children, while the mom underwent treatment for a brain tumor. This friend thought that I might be a good fit.
I politely told her that I'd think about it, and went along my merry way. I wasn't really interested.
But I couldn't stop thinking about this family. This family that I had never met, and knew basically nothing about.
I told my parents about this family, expecting that they would be completely against the idea of me going to live with people that we didn't know. I figured that their disapproval would get me off the hook, and I could stay in my comfy cozy little life that I had.
But, contrary to what I hoped and expected, they thought is was a great idea. My mom was thrilled that I would consider such a thing. (She has a servant's heart, what can I say?)
So I sent the mom of this family an email. I explained to her who I was, and why I was contacting her. I told her that I was interested in trying to see if I might be a good fit to be that person who came and helped them for several months.
Then I waited on pins and needles, waiting to hear back, for what seemed like an eternity.
In reality, it was actually just a week.
I ended up telling a couple of friends about this family, and what I had offered. Rather than than telling me that I was crazy, they were excited for me, and encouraged me to go. I was surprised.
Long story and a lot of details short, I flew out to meet this family at the end of January. Getting off that plane and walking down to the baggage claim to meet them for the first time were some of my most nerve wracking moments. I was pretty sure I was crazy. I mean, who just gets on a plane to go stay a couple days with a family that they've never met?
Thankfully, I had a wonderful visit. They're very sweet people, and I enjoyed my time there. When it was time to go home, there was a part of me that felt like I had known these folks for ages, and that they were dear friends.We got along very well.
In February, I was in Tennessee for something else, and was only about three hours from where this family lives. So we planned that I would drop down and spend spend some more time getting to know them better, before I made a final commitment. This time, it was a two week visit. Going that time, I knew that this was it - I had to say yes or no. Either I would come for five months, or I wouldn't.
You'd think that that would've been a difficult decision, to say yes or to say no, but for me, it wasn't. Even before I went that second time, I knew what my answer would be.
I can't presume to know the mind of God, or to somehow have a supernatural understanding of His directional will for my life, but, I knew that it was the right thing for me to do. I had a peace about it. There was no reason I could see that I shouldn't agree to go spend five months of my life doing something that I'd never before had any desire to do. So I said yes.
I was terrified, of course. Or maybe not terrified, so much as sad. Five months is a long time to be away from your family and friends, when the longest you've even been away for previously, is five weeks.
So I went home, and gave my two weeks notice at work. I tied up all my loose ends, tried to spend quality time with my family, and went through everything I owned, deciding what to take, what to leave, and what to toss.
I also had several days there where I was dealing with an infection in my foot, went to urgent care for it, and then had to lay around with it propped up on pillows, to ease the pain and help keep said infection from spreading. It was quite the adventure. That infection actually pushed my moving date out by two days, but that ended up working out better for some people anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal.
Wednesday, April 5th, I finished loading everything up in my little car, and said goodbye to my family. Making the decision to go was easy, but actually carrying it out was so much harder. Saying goodbye, and then a final goodbye, and then having to get in the car and drive away from all those people was awful. I learned that is very much possible to simultaneously cry and drive.
In fact, I felt like crying off and on all day, and part of the next. Maybe I'm a little more emotional than I look. Or maybe I look way more emotional than I think I do... Either way, it was a hard, and at the same time, exciting, trip. I will say though, that when I got to Texarkana, I realized that it would still be closer to turn around and go back home. But I didn't.
The longest I'd ever driven in one stretch before was about five hours, and that was with a whole boatload of other people in the vehicle with me. This was totally different, as I was by myself, and driving for eight hours. I was spending Wednesday night with an aunt and uncle who live a little ways past Memphis, so that I didn't have to drive the full ten hours in one day, and I'm so glad that I did. I had actually even questioned the brilliancy of driving a full eight hours in one day, but decided to go for it. I did fine, but by the end of the day, I was SO done with sitting. It was very comforting to be able to have a break and spend some time with extended family.
Thursday afternoon, I finished I drove the remaining two and a half hours to my new home, and now, here I am.
So. That's the story of how I ended up living in Tennessee.
Pray for me, friends. I'm here, and I'm happy to be here, but that doesn't mean that life is always all rosy. It's an adjustment - both for me, and this family that I'm living with. I'm also very aware of the fact that now that I'm here, it opens up a lot more doors for me to be in Tennessee longer than these five months. I hope to move back to Texas at the end of this, But I've come to terms with the possibility of staying longer, if that's how God leads.
Some have suggested that I share further updates about my time here, along the way. I don't know yet if that will happen or not, partly because I want to protect the family's privacy, so if you have and specific questions, feel free to message me.
If you'd like the read more about the family I'm living with, and their journey of dealing with a brain tumor, you can do so here: https://www.youcaring.com/rebekah-albrecht-530380
Needless to say, a lot has happened since then.
Most recently, I moved to a different state. Tennessee, to be exact.
Let me rewind.
Back in December, a friend and neighbor of mine told me about a family she knew, that needed some help. Specifically, someone to come live with them for several months, and help care for their eight children, while the mom underwent treatment for a brain tumor. This friend thought that I might be a good fit.
I politely told her that I'd think about it, and went along my merry way. I wasn't really interested.
But I couldn't stop thinking about this family. This family that I had never met, and knew basically nothing about.
I told my parents about this family, expecting that they would be completely against the idea of me going to live with people that we didn't know. I figured that their disapproval would get me off the hook, and I could stay in my comfy cozy little life that I had.
But, contrary to what I hoped and expected, they thought is was a great idea. My mom was thrilled that I would consider such a thing. (She has a servant's heart, what can I say?)
So I sent the mom of this family an email. I explained to her who I was, and why I was contacting her. I told her that I was interested in trying to see if I might be a good fit to be that person who came and helped them for several months.
Then I waited on pins and needles, waiting to hear back, for what seemed like an eternity.
In reality, it was actually just a week.
I ended up telling a couple of friends about this family, and what I had offered. Rather than than telling me that I was crazy, they were excited for me, and encouraged me to go. I was surprised.
Long story and a lot of details short, I flew out to meet this family at the end of January. Getting off that plane and walking down to the baggage claim to meet them for the first time were some of my most nerve wracking moments. I was pretty sure I was crazy. I mean, who just gets on a plane to go stay a couple days with a family that they've never met?
Thankfully, I had a wonderful visit. They're very sweet people, and I enjoyed my time there. When it was time to go home, there was a part of me that felt like I had known these folks for ages, and that they were dear friends.We got along very well.
In February, I was in Tennessee for something else, and was only about three hours from where this family lives. So we planned that I would drop down and spend spend some more time getting to know them better, before I made a final commitment. This time, it was a two week visit. Going that time, I knew that this was it - I had to say yes or no. Either I would come for five months, or I wouldn't.
You'd think that that would've been a difficult decision, to say yes or to say no, but for me, it wasn't. Even before I went that second time, I knew what my answer would be.
I can't presume to know the mind of God, or to somehow have a supernatural understanding of His directional will for my life, but, I knew that it was the right thing for me to do. I had a peace about it. There was no reason I could see that I shouldn't agree to go spend five months of my life doing something that I'd never before had any desire to do. So I said yes.
I was terrified, of course. Or maybe not terrified, so much as sad. Five months is a long time to be away from your family and friends, when the longest you've even been away for previously, is five weeks.
So I went home, and gave my two weeks notice at work. I tied up all my loose ends, tried to spend quality time with my family, and went through everything I owned, deciding what to take, what to leave, and what to toss.
I also had several days there where I was dealing with an infection in my foot, went to urgent care for it, and then had to lay around with it propped up on pillows, to ease the pain and help keep said infection from spreading. It was quite the adventure. That infection actually pushed my moving date out by two days, but that ended up working out better for some people anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal.
Wednesday, April 5th, I finished loading everything up in my little car, and said goodbye to my family. Making the decision to go was easy, but actually carrying it out was so much harder. Saying goodbye, and then a final goodbye, and then having to get in the car and drive away from all those people was awful. I learned that is very much possible to simultaneously cry and drive.
In fact, I felt like crying off and on all day, and part of the next. Maybe I'm a little more emotional than I look. Or maybe I look way more emotional than I think I do... Either way, it was a hard, and at the same time, exciting, trip. I will say though, that when I got to Texarkana, I realized that it would still be closer to turn around and go back home. But I didn't.
The longest I'd ever driven in one stretch before was about five hours, and that was with a whole boatload of other people in the vehicle with me. This was totally different, as I was by myself, and driving for eight hours. I was spending Wednesday night with an aunt and uncle who live a little ways past Memphis, so that I didn't have to drive the full ten hours in one day, and I'm so glad that I did. I had actually even questioned the brilliancy of driving a full eight hours in one day, but decided to go for it. I did fine, but by the end of the day, I was SO done with sitting. It was very comforting to be able to have a break and spend some time with extended family.
Thursday afternoon, I finished I drove the remaining two and a half hours to my new home, and now, here I am.
So. That's the story of how I ended up living in Tennessee.
Pray for me, friends. I'm here, and I'm happy to be here, but that doesn't mean that life is always all rosy. It's an adjustment - both for me, and this family that I'm living with. I'm also very aware of the fact that now that I'm here, it opens up a lot more doors for me to be in Tennessee longer than these five months. I hope to move back to Texas at the end of this, But I've come to terms with the possibility of staying longer, if that's how God leads.
Some have suggested that I share further updates about my time here, along the way. I don't know yet if that will happen or not, partly because I want to protect the family's privacy, so if you have and specific questions, feel free to message me.
If you'd like the read more about the family I'm living with, and their journey of dealing with a brain tumor, you can do so here: https://www.youcaring.com/rebekah-albrecht-530380
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