I have been
wanting to write this post for several weeks but circumstances and other
reasons have prevented it. The holidays happened, which were great for the
Bowden’s. We traveled to FL right before to see family and then back home for a
very quiet Christmas at our house. We relished the news that we had received
shortly before that, grateful for what we were being given, humbled by the way
the path was being laid out before us and overwhelmed with all the details to
come.
Then right after
Christmas, Michael was hospitalized. He earned himself an 8 day vacationJ at Piedmont Atlanta. I make light of it
now, but it was an incredibly scary and tense time of wondering if I would be
burying my husband. But grace abound and it was not the time.
We have spent the
past weeks getting used to the new normal, getting back into a routine in our
house. Itching to share this news and yet there were still people that we
needed to tell face to face or at least through the phone. I am glad we held
back, during this time we have seen even more of the path being laid out for
us, and have watched in complete awe of how we have been once again taken care
of. Grace abound……..
Back to our news,
the Bowden Family will be going west, specially making our new homestead in
Dallas Texas this spring. Yes you read that right, the Georgia born, never
leave the state, Michael Bowden will be moving to TX with the adventurous
family in tow.
Michael was
offered an incredible position at American Airlines and he has accepted. “It is
more of what you want and less of what you don’t” to quote him exactly.
Last January, I
told Michael I thought that we should start working on the house for a possible
sale. He looked at me for a second bewildered. Something in my heart said we
would be moving. H will be in Kindergarten next year, we were not happy with
the schools where we were at and needed to figure out what that would look
like. But there was more, I just knew we would move. We slowly have been
working on our fixer upper. Through the year, he had heard several No’s to
things that he looked at. But I knew. Texas kept coming up for us over and
over. Through people on the street that I would meet, people through adoption
groups, articles I would read. So when he got the call for an interview in
December I knew. And as we waited, I knew.
Of course the
hospital stay was completely unexpected and traumatic to say the least. We
wondered the whole time if this Texas thing would still happen. All the Dr’s
said yes, you can go. In fact we even know Dr’s out there for you.
The pieces have
slowly come together for us. Provision has been made in so many ways that I
think we are both speechless. And so in a week, Michael will pack his car and
head out. My uncle lives out there (the one person we actually know) and he
will be housing Michael for a while. H and I will spend our time finishing out
the school year and packing the house with the ultimate goal of it selling
quickly. We are excited, overwhelmed, open handed and ready for the next
chapter in our lives. Lots will be happening in the next months and will more
than likely bring a range of emotions but for now I sit in thankfulness. My
husband is alive, he has had an amazing 21 year career at his summer jobJ and will put on his boots and head west for
the next chapter of his career.
Prayers would be
appreciated. There is so much to do in a short period of time here in GA, and
that does not include figuring out where we will live after. But that will
come.
Jennifer
