Unpacked

Finally, bags are empty.  Drawers are full.  And I mostly know where things are. 

My car is being titled as a Californian, and I'm following suit with a voter's registration and license to match.

I haven't given this level of commitment to any place since I left home after high school.  In Massachusetts and Miami (and obviously Mexico City and Lima and all the other adventures in between), I held firmly to my Tennessee ties.  California wouldn't let me do that.  Literally, the state has strict residency laws that I couldn't get around.  =)  In some ways, though, it's refreshing to be all in.  Of course my family would still welcome me back home in a heartbeat (and I'm incredibly grateful for that), but I have taken my stuff and my car and my job to another place, so for now, it's home.

When I crossed the deserts of the southwest last month, I thought a lot about God taking the people of Israel through the desert.  I understood in a deeper way the profound meaning of springs and pools and blooms showing up in such a desolate place.  The thing about deserts is that they FORCE you to keep moving.  There's not even the slightest temptation to settle down and put up a white picket fence.  That would be ridiculous!  And so, as I see this time of wandering and formation as a time to let God lead and teach me in the way I should go, I think a little desert mentality can be a good thing.  San Diego isn't exactly wilderness, but it's not Canaan either.

Bags unpacked, but within easy reach.