Moving is the Worst

   Pack. Move. Unpack. Repeat.
   Repeat, again.
   And again.
   And again.

   That's what I feel. I've had 9 addresses in 6 and a half years. That's a lot. Every time I pack my stuff and unload it, I feel more and more disconnected. Less and less like I belong somewhere. It's like I leave a part of myself in each house, each apartment. A little piece of my heart and identity lives on in the daily routine of each place. I'm taking a walk in Austin, enjoying the uniqueness of each house and the metal stars hung by the doors. I'm drinking morning tea with JoAnn and learning about the tabernacle. I'm watching Gilmore Girls at the Florida townhouse when I can't sleep. I'm eating dinner with the Wilkenings and engaging in the daily shenanigans. I'm taking a nap on the brown coach at my current apartment. Simultaneously, there are nine different lives going on. And I'm still moving. Always moving.

   How do I settle? Be still-physically, emotionally, spiritually? It seems to be easy for other people around me. There was a time when I loved the adventure and the new, but not anymore. Maybe I missed the window for stillness and now I'm looking for some kind of magic portal of perfect scenario to transport me to life. Some group of friends, closer geography to my family, a great church. And certainly all these things are good and things I long for, but are they an ideal rather than a reality? Are they things that need to be found or things that are created? Often I feel like people have their routines and friends and lives and there just isn't room for anything else. Our culture of busyness has edged out any opportunity for new community.

   Questions abound. And I have no answers. But this I know-in all chaos and unsteady, Christ remains constant. Even if my surroundings are ever changing, there is one who is Ever Lasting. And because He is steady, I can be still. Because He is ever present, my life is known. That is where hope lives-in Christ's constant love, presence and work.That will be my encouragement this week and in the months to come as I resettle in a new home and make new routines and as I think about the future.