For anyone who is new around here, or maybe who we haven’t been in touch with for awhile, we moved from Illinois in June, back to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (where I grew up). At some point, as a young teen, I began to dislike small towns/country life (Or what I thought of as country life; I should clarify-most East Coast small towns are significantly bigger than small towns in the Midwest, as I learned during my time in Illinois haha). I longed for city-life and to be a city-girl along with the faster-pace and adventures that were the opposite of the life that I knew. I hated country music, farm animals, and didn’t want to stay in the town I grew up in. Fast forward  7+ years later when Phil and I were living outside of Philadelphia, near the college I graduated from, and we began talking about starting a family. I started to really appreciate where and I was raised and Phil and I both realized that we really like Lancaster County for raising a family; the slower pace, a more family-oriented culture, and still not that far from the city, beach, and other things we occasionally enjoyed.

We started to look into the area a bit more, but at the same time Phil was starting to realize that the career path that he was on, was not where God wanted him (he was working in sales). He really loved helping people and it didn’t take much prayer and some obvious closed (and open doors) for us to realize that God was leading him to go back to nursing school. Since he already had a degree, we started looking into accelerated programs. And then we found out we were pregnant. We were thrilled, but also uncertain about what our future with a baby and full-time school would look like. Unfortunately, Lancaster County didn’t have any accelerated programs. Phil would have been able to opt out of certain classes, but still wouldn’t have a BSN in nursing until Spring of 2023.

We were really praying about our next steps, when Phil’s parents reached out to us and mentioned that they were turning their detached garage into an apartment and that they would love to have with them and help us with our new little one. We prayed about and from there, the rest of the pieces fell into place. It really didn’t feel quite that simple at the time, as our daughter was born April of 2020 and it felt like the world around was falling apart. I still tease Phil about it, because he had said on multiple occasions that he never wanted to move back to Illinois, and here we were moving out to Illinois with our 6 week old daughter, before Phil even knew if he was accepted into the nursing program he had applied to (originally he should have known in March before our Isa was even born).  We also moved having no idea what I would be doing for work and knowing that Phil could not work during his program.

But just as everything else in our lives, God had a plan and fully provided for us…Phil was able to transfer from his job in Philly to a location in Illinois, working until school started. Financially the Lord provided for me to be able to not work until September, and then he provided the perfect job. I got a remote job for a Christian homeschool curriculum company with totally flexible hours that have led to some great opportunities and transitions over the last few years.  Phil’s mom homeschools  his sisters and they were all a HUGE help watching her when she wasn’t napping or happy with me making phone calls, and I was able to take off when Isabel was sick or having a hard time or when we wanted to travel and spend extra time with family. When we moved to Illinois we were hoping to eventually move back to Lancaster County, but we really had no idea what God had in-store for us.

Our 2 years in Illinois went by more quickly than I ever could have imagined. It was so much different than I what I expected with all the changes around us during 2020 and 2021. And such a blessing for all of us during such a crazy season. It was a great opportunity of learning and growing for me as a new mom, and being with Phil’s family really helped us to cultivate our family vision-homeschooling, health, ministry, etc… But suddenly, it felt like I blinked, and we had a 2 year old and Phil was preparing to apply for jobs. We looked at many hospitals, in multiple states; but in the end he put in one application-we thought it was the first of many-but by the end of the week he was already offered a job. And it was in Pennsylvania, close to where we had talked about living before we even were pregnant. We prayed about it and felt peace that this is where God wanted us for this upcoming season in our lives, and accepted the job offer.

Shortly after Phil graduated, we prepared for our move back to the east coast. Leaving his family was not easy, but we are so thankful for technology and the ease of travel. As we pulled out of the driveway in Illinois, I thought about when Laura Ingall’s went west with her family. They never knew if they would see their extended family again; and a lot of them, they didn’t. But we have the ability to videochat with family multiple times a week and in just a few short weeks we will see half of them at a wedding. This time when we moved, we had jobs nailed down, but nowhere to live haha. A bit ironic, when I think about it and Phil was starting his job on a provisional license, but had not taken his boards. We planned to move in with my mom for a few months while we continued to look for an apartment or home, and the day we moved in, my mom’s landlords let us know the place next to her was opening up. We stayed with her for a few weeks and two days after Phil took his board exam (NCLEX), we moved next door-and also found out that he past the exam that day.

While we originally hoped to buy a home, we now know that this is exactly what God wants for us in this season. Phil is excelling at his job in the ICU, we are mostly settled into our new house right by Nana, and only 15 minutes from both my dad and brothers. I continue to do some online work and I also now watch my one year old nephew during the week.  I laugh when I think about the life I thought I wanted when I was 16. I now love this area and all the opportunities it holds for our family (maybe for just a short season, or maybe a much more extended one). I wanted to share this as some background to set the stage for this season of our life and what I will be sharing moving forward; but also as a testimony to how God often works in mysterious ways, but is always faithful, and sometimes has to bring us in a full circle to get us to where He wants us.