We're moving!

I've mentioned more than once that we're approaching a transition, but the big news officially?

We're moving to Austin, Texas!!

It's a big step for us in so many ways, and geographically, it's actually a big step. We've been praying and preparing for Austin for months. Ever since our friends, Fleetwood and Molly (I mentioned their wedding back in May) brought up the idea for us to move to Texas, we entertained the idea.  And the more we thought about moving to Texas, more details fell into place.

Bottom line for why we're moving??  We want to do life with our dear friends Fleetwood and Molly. And what better reason is there to move somewhere than for community? Over and over again, we've felt stretched in our faith to trust God with providing for us and paving the way for us to where He can best use us. It just so happens that Austin is a vibrant city with lots of live music, a great tech scene (for Nicholas), and great food culture.  We're so excited and (getting) ready for an adventure.

I applied for my Texas nursing license back in January—back when we were uncertain, and we were trying hard to convince ourselves that it was too big of a step, that it was just too far out of our comfort zone.  But over the months, I repeatedly came across this truth (putting it in my own words)

We are better off stepping out of our own comfortable space and into His arms—wherever that may be. It's amusing how we find this process frightening, because there is no safer place or better source of comfort than what His arms provide.

Back in January, Summer Harms wrote a post about Labor and Birth Encouragement, seemingly not applicable for me (yet), but goodness knows, it was exactly what I needed to hear. This whole decision about where to live has been a long labor process of sorts—painful and scary and we hadn't yet seen the "fruits of our labor." We knew the outcome would likely be joyful, and the process could be beautiful if only we trusted Him. Her whole post is filled with gems of encouragement, but the verse below (oh, how I love Psalm 139!) was particularly encouraging:

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways [...] You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139: 3, 5

And this ^^ is what we've seen, time and time again. God never gave us too much to process at once.  Nicholas visited Austin last week to look into housing and job interview details. One thing at a time fell into place, and just today, Nicholas got an awesome web development job in Austin. I read this quote during the interview for the job he just got (hardly a coincidence that this was the John Piper devotional for that day).

Also, Nicholas found an apartment for us, and officially, we'll be moving mid-July(!) What we have seen and we know to be true is that God provides for His children and He provides well.

If you remember my post about patience, while Nicholas was figuring out logistics in Austin, I tried to keep myself busy with lots of creating. I'm not a confident seamstress (although my mom is super accomplished!), but I managed to make a pillow cover to spruce up our bed, and knit some more on (another) market bag.

If anyone is familiar with the Austin area and wants to share anything that we should try/eat/see/experience, please let me know in the comments or send me an email! We love hidden local gems (restaurants, attractions, hiking, camping, etc.), and we'd love some suggestions on what to explore. :)

One last thing? This quote is gold.

"Work, for God will be working." John Piper