Onward Eastward (Moving Part 2)

At 11:15 AM on Saturday morning, we said goodbye to our friends and family who worked so vigorously to clean our house and load our cars. In our caravan of vehicles was Beth’s Jetta, my two-door Civic, Amber’s Civic, the Clark’s GMC Sierra truck, and the 15-foot moving truck – all packed to the hilt! As soon as we got out of Indianapolis, we came across road construction and six miles of stopped traffic. We inched forward, and over half an hour later, we were finally in the clear (good thing we left early!). And as we traversed across Indiana, I sang…

So keep'em coming these lines on the road
And keep me responsible be it a light or heavy load
And keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes

- Derek Webb “Faith My Eyes”

After a brief stop for Taco Bell, it was on to Ohio. At mile marker 54 (the exit for Cedarville University), I called my brother Bryce and talked to him for 15 minutes. A couple hours later, we were in the hills of East Ohio where we saw a community of Amish men – all adorned in their hats – building a huge post-frame barn. The sight – combined with the backseat full of house plants fighting the heat and wind of an unair-conditioned car reminded me that though this trip is just one leg of a journey on a path meandering ever on and on and stopping every so often into a new abode until I finally make it home.

Father Abraham/Do you remember when
You were called to a land/And didn’t know the way
‘Cause we are wandering/ In a foreign land
We are children of the/Promise of the faith

And I long to find it/Can you feel it, too?
That the sun that’s shining/Is a shadow of the truth

This is a far country, a far country/ Not my home

- Andrew Petersen “Far Country”

Down a steep hill and across a bridge and we were into West Virginia. The moving truck – and my little Honda for that matter(!) – were having quite the trouble getting up the hills, but onward we persevered. In only a few moments, we finally finished our trek on I-70 and were heading north on I-79 to Pittsburgh.

Finally, all five of our cars reached the house – just a couple minutes before our landlord arrived to meet us and give us the keys. And then came the “joy” of unloading. We unpacked what was necessary from the truck, took a break to eat the lasagna my mom had packed us, and went back out to unpack the cars. Finally, exhausted, we went to bed and left the rest to be done in the morning.

We are so thankful to be here – for all those who helped us packing and unpacking – and that all our stuff made it safely…ok so Amber JUST unpacked the first box with a broken dish. I think super glue will fix it! We’re still settling in for sure – and still waiting for the Sept. 7 closing date of our house in Indy – but we’ve had some good opportunities to get to know the town already and do some sightseeing (more on that later).