peachy

A few months into Houston, I convinced myself somehow that our blog silence could be communicating that something was wrong—and a lot was wrong, especially the bumps in the road I faced professionally. Now that we’re almost five months into Georgia and have yet to write a sentence on the blog, I can imagine the suspense we might have put an observant reader in. But our silence this time was for the exact opposite reason.

The short version is that everything is peachy. But that’s just a pun on the state fruit of Georgia—it’s much better than that.

After years of living in coastal flatlands (Orlando, New Bern, Houston) we now live in the rolling foothills of the Appalachians, far from the reach of any hurricanes, where around most every corner there is an amazing vista and a new adventure to explore.

Our new home in Acworth has given us plenty to do, from installing a swing in the backyard from a suspended cable to adding lighting to a few dark places, to fishing speaker wire between two floors. That last project will be remembered for years as “WATER! WATER! WATER!” because of how I put a sawzall blade into a copper water pipe improperly straining against an electrical box. It was a big mess to clean up, but at least I knew where the master shut off valve was. And plus: that surround sound.

One reason we chose this house is it has a ridiculously large master bedroom with another adjoining space making the shape of an L. This “sitting area” is what I’m using for my home office, and I’ve put in a desk with motorized controls that converts between sitting and standing height. Working from home has been easier to manage than I anticipated, and I scoff in amusement when me my phone alerts me that traffic is normal or heavy in my area. Abby, of course, is also working from home, a floor below me, reviewing the classical grammar with the boys and chasing Mystery around the house. Our family gets to eat three meals a day together most every day. Most of the clients I work with and meet with are accustomed to videoconference meetings, although recently I’ve inherited a lot of clients in California, where I expect I’ll travel to with some regularity going forward.

The past two years we built road trips out west to culminate in Thanksgiving with Abby’s Aunt Dora and Uncle Alan. Now we live 45 minutes away from them, and we have been tremendously blessed by their hospitality and love extended to our family. Dora knows an impressive amount about the geology and flora of this area, and is a very prolific baker as well, so every visit with her is an educational and gastronomical experience. Uncle Alan loves teaching the kids about his bee colonies, and Abby is hoping Valor will take an interest in his side business of repairing mechanical sewing machines.

Mystery is adorable, opinionated, and going through a phase where Daddy is always unacceptable and Mommy is always best. She loves to climb up and down the ladder to Valor’s top bunk whilst saying “by myself!” to fend off any who might try to spot her. We couldn’t put the Christmas presents under the tree this year until Christmas morning because she was convinced they were all for her and should be immediately unwrapped.

With all the job changes and city changes over the past year, everyone was pretty overdue for a visit to the dentist. Both the boys and myself required more than just a simple cleaning. On an (unfortunately) unrelated note, all the kids are getting into flossing.

Percy is honing his communication skills. He has far fewer tantrums than Percy 1.0 (as we refer to his old self), but there’s still a lot of bargaining over things that aren’t really negotiable. After protesting wearing jeans (or most any long pants) for many years, Abby has convinced him his persuasive appeal is irresistible when he dons the denim. She now has to wash his jeans frequently to keep up with demand. I’m reading The Return of the King to the boys, but I’m only allowed to read when a simulated six-sided die on my phone produces a high enough value. (When Percy is very tired and it’s late, it might be a 5-6 night; when we’re in an exciting chapter it is sometimes a 2-6 night). Percy is quite a board game enthusiast, and he has discovered Monopoly, so we are rapidly teaching him better games so he will stop asking us to play Monopoly.

Valor made an instant friend with Logan, a neighbor across the street who frequently shows up on our doorstep. Our nine-year-old continues to enjoy writing code, and he recently tried to apply for a job overseeing a Minecraft server (I don’t think he was qualified, but it was interesting to see how he jumped into the application with confidence and optimism). At the conclusion of a Christmas Eve service, he surprised us by telling us a change had come over his heart: he is now trusting Christ! We’re in uncharted territory as parents, trying to discern and confirm this development, but so far we have every reason to believe that God has indeed rescued him from the domain of darkness and transferred him to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col 1:13). After a year of church searching in two cities, I think we’re getting close to joining Christ the Redeemer Church of Marietta, where we’re looking forward to getting more integrally connected. We’ll talk with the pastor soon about Valor being baptized.

While Abby’s parents are here to take care of our kids for a week, tomorrow the two of us are flying to Rome (!), where we’ll embark on a 7-day Viking Ocean Cruise with our besties the Graukes, as we celebrate 20 years of marriage (and they celebrate 10). We’ve been planning and anticipating this cruise now for years, and it’s hard to believe it’s almost here.

God has been so good to us, and his favor has felt especially thick in these last few months. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote epic adventures that alternate between action and refreshment; 2018 felt like that for us. We began the year with a lot of stress and anxiety, but it has ended well. Better than well. While we inwardly gird for whatever the next adventure is, we delight in the provision of the present.