With this post I am officially alive again. Okay, that's a little dramatic, but I feel that way a little bit. I now fully know why people often forgo accepting new positions that would require them to move. Moving is too hard! It's not just the physical act of moving itself, which is no little achievement, it’s the emotional trauma of going through all your stuff, and sorting out what you want to keep, and what goes in the dumpster. Your whole life sort of runs before your eyes as you look at those old letters, pictures, half done projects, etc. All those things that tie you to the place where you live get packed into a box, and a whole bunch gets thrown out. The ordeal can be described with the words trauma, chaos, anger, frustration, sadness, and I suppose a few other words that I can't think of or should not say. It's been hard! Now that we're here much of the problem has been due to the fact that we rented a house sight unseen. We had hoped to buy a home in Springfield, but after a week of looking in late July we concluded that we would not be able to find anything. We decided to rent, but since we were in Pennsylvania we were unable to inspect the home were rented before we got here. We knew the house would be small . . . but not this small! Boxes are packed to the roof. I had dreams of finding a nice big home and moving in with great excitement for the entire family. That will have to wait.

All that being said, we are here! The kids have already begun school, I begin teaching this week, and my wife Sue begins her new job in the Psychology Dept. here at Evangel University. I am finding that everyone is very helpful, and except for a few things, all is pretty much as we thought. There is something about the rhythm of life in which I find some contentment. It will be good to settle into a pattern, and again be able to know what is happening and when. Part of that pattern will be regular postings again, something that I have seriously neglected to do in the last months. No longer! I am officially alive again, and it feels good!