Bloom Where You Are Planted

My reasons for wanting to move:

• We need more space for when baby #2 comes along
• Ben has almost an hour commute each way
• My parents (aka our babysitters) live over an hour away
• The ward we are in is crazy and I’ve had repeated nightmares about certain ward members kidnapping Sadie from nursery
• I miss being close to the beaches
• The schools up here scare me and there is NO WAY I’m sending Sadie to one of them

For some time now I have been hoping, wishing, and praying that we would move back to Seminole or Palm Harbor for the named reasons above.

However, we received devastating news last week from a lender that if we want to get out of this house we would have to do a short sale. That’s not an option for us. So, therefore, I feel stuck and frustrated.

But I keep repeating in my mind a line from a YW’s lesson I remember from my youth: bloom where you are planted. So, that’s my new motto. I’m trying not to dwell on how life would be so lovely to live 5 minutes from Ben’s office and see him everyday for lunch and have an additional two hours a day with him and be able to accept help with Sadie on Sunday from people I trust and be able to go on dates every weekend and get Sadie in a really great preschool and find a bigger home to accommodate our growing family. No! I’m not dwelling on that!

Instead I’m asking myself: What good can I do in this sad city of Hudson? What can I do to help strengthen some of the ward members that scare me, so that they won’t frighten me as much? How can I help the youth in this area make better choices and encourage them to get an education? Are we making the meager amount of time we have together as a family as meaningful, memorable, and happy as possible?

I’m trying to enjoy all the open space, great parks, and good people up here (because there are a lot of good people, too). Also, we do love our home and with a little ingenuity it’s plenty big enough for another person. And surely one day, when we are able to move, it will be very sad to leave. So, I’m trying my best to thrive and count my blessings; I’m accepting my fate and trying to make the best of it. Pray for my success, please!!