And now for something new...

Well, this year has already brought a big change. Saturday Aubrey was called to be the branch president in Greensboro, which is about 50 minutes from our house. He'll be there (actually, we'll be there) for the next two years. The word anxious doesn't do enough to adequately describe how we feel about this. We definitely will do well--I mean Aubrey and I don't often fail and we know we'll have the Lord's help--but that doesn't take away the shock of it. To me, it mostly means we're old. And we won't be able to see our friends on Sunday. I mean, the next time we go to church in Tuscaloosa, Olivia will be two years old and we'll probably have another baby. That's a long time. On the other hand, we plan on being here for the rest of our lives, so in that way two years is nothing at all. My comfort zone has pretty much always been self-contained, meaning that as long as I was with me, I was OK no matter where I was. Please, I moved 1800 miles away from home when I was 18 and loved it. New things don't scare me, they might make me nervous, but they don't scare me. The question, then, is why is this so scary to me? I mean this isn't even my calling! I've thought a lot about that and the answer is complicated. Part of it, I think, is that of all the callings Aubrey has had, this by far carries the greatest amount of pressure and responsibility. That means that I have to be at the top of my game in all things life-related so he doesn't have as much to worry about and to protect our little family from the advesary...because he's going to come at us even harder now. If he gets to Aubrey, that little branch is in serious trouble. The problem is that I haven't been at the top of my game in a long, long time. But, despite all the worry I'm totally pumped for this new challenge and can only see it as making us better. I will miss my Sunday friends, but I got permission to continue doing Activity Days with my 8-11 year old girls two Wednesdays a month. Nothing goes on in Greensboro on Wednesdays and I don't have to be in Tuscaloosa on Sundays for the calling, so hopefully this won't interfere. A lot of people might think it's crazy to do that, but I'm actually relieved. I just love those girls and it will keep me connected to my friends. Wow! Finally some Martin news of importance to write on this blog. And I thought this year was just going to be another year.