How’m I Doin’ (For Real This Time)

So I’m ready to talk about some personal stuff, some real life stuff, some…stuff.

My family and I have been in Denver now nearly two months. We definitely love it here and have no regrets for moving. What is interesting, though, is that the season of transition didn’t really end when we made the move. We have made such a drastic life change that it is taking some time to find our feet underneath us. As friendly and warm as most Denverites are, forming meaningful relationships still takes time…but it is happening.

In keeping with why we came to Denver in the first place, we are pursuing projects that line up with our gifts and passions. For The Wild One, developing a photography business is the obvious choice, and she’s working toward that. The Director continues to work on various aspects of filmmaking. For me, it is writing and music–lots of little irons in the fire. I’ve contracted to contribute about three dozen short articles for a collaborative book, as well as probably three or four other small writing gigs. In addition, I cover the local music scene for Examiner.com, and have started a new music blog focusing on local and indie music. These are helping me establish some good connections with the music community, and eventually I’ll become a participant in that scene rather than just writing about it. 🙂

What this all means for the short term, for me personally, is that I spend a lot of the day writing, and several evenings a week at local venues reviewing bands–plus I am leading worship at my friend’s church on Sundays. In between that, I join The Wild One and The Director as we keep scoping out the area and looking for photo ops, and learning how much beautiful stuff you can discover when you hike in the mountains. 🙂

Yep. I think we’re on a good track. 🙂

That’s not to say it isn’t difficult, because it is. We are waaaay out of our comfort zone, and often feel overwhelmed with how much we don’t know, and the magnitude of our needs compared with the scope of our resources. 🙂 But what keeps us moving forward is a sense of long-term vision, which is actually something new to us. We spent so much time in the past just trying to survive that we weren’t really living. This time–I believe at God’s leading–we are doing it from a different perspective, with a longer-term view, trying to make choices that will build a good future upon a solid foundation, while trying to leave the immediate things in God’s hands. As we’ve been doing this…somehow we keep eating. 🙂 Definitely an adventure. And a definite improvement from the doldrums we were in. 🙂

One of the best things for us about this place is the sense of wonder and the unpredictable, the little surprises we find along the way. I don’t know if it’s this way for folks who have lived in this area forever, but we are continually amazed at how quickly the look of the sky and the mountains can change; how just a little bit of snow on the hills can make them look so different, so majestic; how you can be driving in the mountains and suddenly find a herd of elk just mulling around on the hillside. So many little, awesome moments like that–we’re just not used to it.

I hope we never get used to it.