It's scary, but it's also amazingly empowering. We're taking the proactive road, the one where we are giving up what is familiar and comfortable, in order to shape our future. It's our leap of faith. We're trusting in ourselves to go chase our dreams and not wait for them to come to us.
It's not without great regret that we are moving away as we have made a really good life for ourselves here.
Our church, Trinity Lutheran in Ann Arbor, is top notch. We've been so very blessed to have found a spiritual home there and had created wonderful memories. Cathy founded a sacred dance group and also directed the Loving Casseroles hospitality group, and I brought Financial Peace University to trinity and spent a couple of years as the catechism guide for an absolutely amazing group of guys. I was baptized there, and through Trinity, I learned how to grow in faith and to serve others.
Our town, Saline, is nationally ranked as one of the best places to live. It is small town living at it's best and we've made it a weekly tradition to get apple fritters and pastries at Benny's Bakery, lemon ginger tea and sandwiches at My Favorite Cafe, and fresh and delicious Japanese cuisine at Biwako. We'll miss the quaint downtown with it's summer concerts, trees sparkling with lights lining the street, parades, friendly faces, and relaxed pace. There's good swirl here, and we've loved every moment of it.
Our home. Cathy and I have spent the past 6 years transforming a cute townhouse into a beautiful and cozy home. From the cheerful paint colors, to the gardening, to the cottage style furnishings, we've never felt so settled as we have here. We have wonderful neighbors, and an amazing view. Every evening we're treated to gorgeous sunsets over rolling hills crowned with a stand of trees.
Our friends. We've been truly blessed to have found such wonderful friends! Some we have only recently met and some we have known since we first moved here 11 years ago. My volleyball team, I've played with for seven years or so. We're not the most talented bunch on the court but we know how to play well with each other and have won our fair share of championships. Each of our friends has been a blessing in our lives and we'll feel the loss of their company keenly.
Even these words barely describe the rich fabric of people, places, and things that we have experienced and fell in love with out here. The word 'Michigan' means more than the name of a state or a university. It will forever be a sense of 'home'.
Thank you, Michigan! We'll never forget you, and we will return someday.
