Milwaukee

Milwaukee:

- The 22nd largest city in the US with over 1.5 million people.

- 277 miles from Rochester, 330 from Hastings and 6,500 from Beijing.

- Packer land, where movement stops for a couple of hours on Sundays during football season and Farve makes headlines daily.

- A short drive to a little cottage on a crooked lake in Northern WI.

- Home to the headquarters of Harley Davidson, Roundy's and Kohls.

- And Marquette University, a Catholic, Jesuit university where Chris recently got accepted to school for the fall.

It does seem a little strange that after months of waiting and praying and talking and planning we actually know where we will call home for the next several years. The day we found out was anti-climatic as Chris has injured his fingers earlier that morning, crushing them between two railroad ties and resulting in bruising and a very tiny fracture, a trip to the ER and a tetanus shot. So, I read him the acceptance letter as he laid on the couch with his hand elevated with ice and some strong pain medication pumping through his body. And later, when I climbed into bed, he mumbled "so ... what do you think of Marquette." A few days later, it was official: we are moving to Milwaukee, a decision which made many people happy (as the other possibly cities were Washington D.C and Toronto) and is a clear answer to prayer.

So, our house became a little work in progress as we (and by "we" I mean Chris, his dad and a friend of ours, with some assistance from our Bosnian neighbor) began panting our entryway and living room cream and continue to work on our retaining wall out front. And we are talking about taking advantage of that small amount of time before he starts school and when I am in between jobs - China, the Boundary Waters, Crooked Lake, hmmmm ... what else? ...

oh yeah, moving.

And I look at our half painted walls and am thankful for friends and family, willing to give their time and energy to help us make our home appealing to potential buyers. I drive into work and am thankful for my job at the WFMC. I look around the room at church and am thankful for the awesome people who we have been doing life with the last several years. I go out and speak words of encouragement to the small stalks growing up towards the sun in our backyard and am thankful for the house where friendships grew and love blossomed.

And for a girl who doesn't like change, I am finding comfort in being thankful for the blessings of today and excited in the hope of tomorrow.