MN to TN: Ok, So Here’s Why…

I promised in my last blog that I would explain what brought on this crazy life transition… Why would we pick up and move from Minnesota to Tennessee without a particular job or house currently calling us or waiting for us? One might wonder, seeing as we have been well settled in our adorable little blue house with cedar shutters and a white picket fence. (Ok…its not a picket fence, but it is white), I live right down the street from my parents, we are surrounded by wonderful friends, we are a part of an AMAZING church, and my husband has an incredible job with an incredible company.

(And on a side note: the summers in MN are absolute PERFECTION. I grew up in the Deep South where the humid summers feel likened to a sauna…with bugs… And as much as I appreciate certain aspects of southern living, I have to say that insane heat is not one of them. Minnesota summer days average at about 80 degrees and the humidity levels are so much lower. I thoroughly enjoy basically living outside and soaking up sun all summer without feeling sweaty, smelly and swollen.)

We are blessed beyond measure in our current circumstance and would never claim anything different.

So why are we suddenly deciding to move across the country and leave it all behind?

I’ll shoot really straight with you for a moment and tell you that I have been well aware of the comfort of my situation and have been completely content to stay exactly where I am. For all the reasons listed above, I have enjoyed every bit of my time in Minnesota and could probably stay for a very long time.

But here’s the thing… and it’s really the most important thing in this world to me…

My husband.

From the time Derek and I were dating, moving back near his family has been super important to him. He moved away some 11 years ago and has wanted to go back ever since. He misses his family so much and wants to be near his parents and our grandparents if they ever need anything. (Funny thing, Derek and I met in North Dakota to find out that our grandparents lived just 30 minutes apart on the other side of the country. Who’du thunk it?)

My husband is a bit of a mountain man and misses the Appalachians more than he often lets on to most people. He loved to hike, he loves the woods, waterfalls and mountain streams. Whenever we visit, he doesn’t want to leave.

Also… Derek really struggles with the snow (and if you know anything about this beautiful state… it snows… a lot). Now, I personally say it’s not so bad, but then again, I stay at home with our boys and I’m hardly ever forced to go out in it. My sweet husband, on the other hand, heads out the door at 6:45 every morning, no matter the weather. (A few years back he literally worked through a winter vortex where it took him an hour to get his van running because even his van knew it was too cold to be out and about). He’s been a sport about it for quite a few years but with each winter, he struggles a little more.

Derek has wanted this for so long, but I have quite honestly been digging my heals in. I’ve always known how important it is to him, but it hasn’t exactly been on the top of my bucket list.

Still… as I’ve been resisting, this quote from Ruth has often run through my head:

“Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”

And yes, this was actually a conversation between a daughter-in-law (Ruth) and her mother-in-law (Naomi). But we all know it is often quoted in marriage ceremonies, and for good reason. Part of honoring, submitting (oh, yep, I said it), loving, and respecting my husband is following him. Following him spiritually… and physically. He can’t lead if I won’t follow. He can’t be a guide if I won’t come along.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her… (Ephesians 5)

But even as I’ve known this to be true… I have been incredibly vocal about my desire to stay right where we’re at. I like my life. I’m good. No change needed.

But we’re going, aren’t we?

Now, if you’re thinking that we’ve made this decision because Derek finally put down his foot and said, “Woman! I’m done waiting. We’re heading south now whether you like it or not!” Stop that. That would be false. While my husband has always been honest in expressing his desire to go back, he has been incredibly patient as he’s waited for years to finally do this. He has lived out the latter part of the above passage beautifully. And he has lived with his “uncomfortable with big changes” wife in an “understanding manner” as he is called to in 1 Peter 3. He even moved us from North Dakota to Minnesota to first live with my parents and then right down the road from them and has enjoyed our lives and relationships here even while still hoping to move south.

No, it might shock you to learn that this sudden decision to pick up and move was not actually his idea.

It was mine.

But that’s a story all on it’s own… for next time.