Moving to a new place, far away from your regular support group of loving family and friends and your familiar community is always a transition for any family. When we relocated recently, only three hours drive away from "home", the distance was just enough to keep us from commuting back and forth frequently. A new town, no friends, and feeling very nauseous with a new pregnancy, our family did the only thing we could; and we stayed home. All. The. Time. For several weeks. The few times we would go anywhere significant would be on Sundays when we would venture out looking for a new church community to plug into. We have since made big strides as far as reaching out and connecting, as we have started integrating in the Classical Conversations community (homeschooling families who aren't weird, by the way...), found a really awesome church that we all love, and have even met and made friends with a family who is expecting their seventh baby just before ours is due. So momentum has really picked up for us, not surprisingly, since this mama is feeling much more herself these days.

However, the days and weeks leading up to this fruitful season were hard. We didn't know then what God had planned. In fact, there were many times I would wonder if we had made a bad decision. But God has a purpose in all things, in all seasons. Not only did He know that "Spring" was coming for our family after about three months of harsh "Winter", but He used the season for the benefits that we don't usually think about that occur in the physical Winter.

See, our family had no choice but to do two things:

Draw closer to God, and listen ever more intently for His wisdom and direction and purpose for our family.

And two, draw closer to each other as a family.

These are huge blessings that we might have missed had we not spent this time in "hibernation". Of course it was hard and we missed our home and grieved the separation from our church, neighborhood, family and friends. We still miss them. But the focus that comes from being forced to "start over" in a sense is so valuable. When you're away from all things and people familiar, you're more able to hone in on the goals that God has placed in your heart. And spending all this time with our family, instead of at church, sports, or other activities, while all these are wonderful, has allowed us to pull together and bond like never before. So many times in the hustle and bustle of busy life before we moved here, I was guilty of forgetting to just sit and look at my children, to listen to them while they talked about nothing and random rambling. I forgot quite often, to notice how funny their silliness was and to laugh at their antics. And the laughter they bring me blesses me now more than ever. I am captivated by each of their personalities and adore each of our children so much.

I think that as parents, we get a special glimpse of just how much God loves us when we allow ourselves to think about how much we really love our kids. I would give my life for any one of them without batting an eyelash. And it's obvious He loves us that much too. But I am captivated by them, mesmerized by my children. My eyes dance with laughter as I watch them and observe them just being who they are. I want to hold them and sqeeze them and make sure they're safe and that they KNOW they're safe and loved. I want them to know that I care about every detail of their lives. I want them to know that I enjoy spending time with them and that they are magnificent creatures. And isn't that how God feels about us? I know that it is. He adores us and is indeed captivated by each one of His children.

And so, the unexpected silver lining of something I once thought so dreadful - being isolated from our familiar community - has been a lesson well-taught, again by a loving merciful Father. We're closer to Him and each other and we know where we're going more now than ever before. He is good. In the Spring. And in the Winter.