jonah complex

There's something I've learned from my parents- it's location, location, location.

A good location for your business to thrive is smart.

A good location when buying (or building) a home is a good plan.

A good location to raise your family is a wise idea.

My parents have always moved us to places where all of those things are possible: steady work, affordable housing, good for families. So as Jason and I have been looking at places to move, I've had these 3 things running through my mind.

But I've also been thinking of places I do NOT want to move. Hot places, cold places, out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere places. I do not want to move to Maine. It's on the opposite side of the country from family. I do not want to move to Chicago. Jason lived there as a kid and one of his neighbors...well the guy killed his grandma with a crossbow and then proceeded to chop her up and dispose of her as he (and his mom) traveled cross country in an RV. Yea. Jason doesn't want to move back there. Understandably.

I also don't really want to move to Phoenix, Arizona. But so far it's the only place that God has cracked the door.

So now I feel like Jonah. I do not want to go there.

It's hot. Really hot. I see one of the perks to being saved is not burning in hell. If you asked me what hell on earth looked like I would probably first say childbirth, next would be living in Phoenix. My brother lives there (not in hell...Phoenix) and the other day he posted on his Facebook page that he really liked the weather there- it's cloudless skies, warm temps, no rain, no wind. I like rain, wind and cloudy skies. I realize that Phoenix gets the extreme- very windy weather, flash floods from sudden rainstorms. But I am not so excited about extreme weather either.

Yep, I'm Jonah. I (me, myself and I) would like to move to Astoria, Oregon.

Ever since I watched "Goonies" and then "Kindergarten Cop", I've thought it would be cool to live there.

Or Whidbey Island, Washington.

(We've sent resumes to jobs in both places.) I was looking at pictures of Whidbey and I almost cried. I do love the ocean. And trees. And green. And I do love rain. I could even love lots of rain....

I'm kind of hoping God doesn't let a whale swallow me. It would look funny in Colorado. But if I'm not careful, I will let the "whale" swallow me. I will let my wants consume me. I used to listen to this guy called Patch the Pirate when I was like 5. He told cool stories with a Godly twist. One of them was about not being a "Me First" because you might get sent to Me First Island- where you were never first. I don't want to be a "me first." So I've really been praying about being open to where GOD opens the doors.

I've already conquered the fear of moving itself. I've lived in Pagosa for 13 years. It's the longest amount of time I've ever lived in one place. I have friends here, a church family I love, a house that's tiny but enough, I love the weather in the summer (could totally do without snow though.) I've learned to deal with the fact if I want to go to Target it's an all day trip since it's 2 hours away. There is no Gap or Old Navy, nor a mall or a Walmart here in Pagosa, so I am the eBay queen. Shop Victoriously? Why yes, I do...online.

But I'm ready to go. So is Jason, it's always wise when you're married that both of you feel ready to move and are willing to do so at the same time.

I'm ready to see what God has for me in another place.

I'm just having a hard time letting Him pick it.