Get ready Texas, here come the Valentines....

We have quite the announcement to make & no, we are not expecting another set of twins ; ) The big news is this...

the Valentine's are moving back to the 

LONE STAR STATE!

We are experiencing many emotions as we think through what it means to leave our nest in Orlando & build a new one in Dallas but trust that the Lord is leading us in this direction & will provide exactly what we need when we need it. I am at a loss to know where to start in explaining all that has happened to contribute to this decision but I will give it a fair shot this afternoon. 

Backtracking to the very beginning, here is a bit of the story of how we ended up in Orlando.  It has been a joy-filled & refining (almost) six years of serving at CCC. God has sustained us through some difficult times & blessed us abundantly with the dearest of friends who have walked alongside us through life here in Central Florida.  We have seen CCC go from 50-75 people meeting together in a high school auditorium to a steady 500+ meeting in our own building.  We have seen the Lord change hearts, strengthen marriages, grow families & reach those in the nearby communities. We have celebrated with various friends as they have gotten engaged, married & welcomed babies into their families...life moments that have changed the person I am today. There is much to be celebrate as we look back upon our time in Orlando & we are grateful for the life we have experienced here.

Our plan was to evaluate at the five year mark & consider what God might have for us as a family in the next five years. Then.... we had that surprise twin pregnancy whose due date fell just a month shy of the five year mark so we decided to push the decision back to when we might be sleeping on a regular basis ; ) Over all, since adding children to our little nest, the desire to be back in Texas near the majority of our family has slowly increased & completely maxed out through the pregnancy & first year with the twins.  After spending a few weeks over the holidays between Dallas & Houston we began discussing the possibility of moving back in another year.  In God's providence, due to some changes with Robby's job which is based out of Dallas, we were faced with the opportunity to make a decision rather quickly & have decided that the Lone Star State is the place we would like to build a new nest for our little brood.  

I can hardly believe it is happening even as a write those words but it's true....we will be Texas bound the first week of May!  It has been a wild & crazy few weeks since we arrived home from our second three week trip to Dallas & Houston.  Once the decision was made, we were in go-mode to prep the house for renting. We have packed lots of boxes sometimes at a slow pace with our four helpers....

Robby walked by & snapped that picture saying "you will love this one." He was right, I do. Precious Owen "helping" his mommy who unpacked boxes nearly six years ago in that very room hopeful that this would be the home she would bring babies home to.  The fact that God has given us Charlotte, Eloise, Owen & Anson during our time in Florida is enough to make us tear up at the drop of a hat. What a gift they are & to think that they are all Florida babies will forever be a reminder of God's faithfulness to us in a time of trusting Him as we moved far away from home.

In all our evenings where the uninterrupted packing gets done we have had lots of conversations. We did spend a late night sorting through our closet to get rid of things. It ended with the two of us sitting on the floor, beverages in hand for a good two hours talking about memories shared in our home. We laughed, we cried & we felt deep thankfulness to the God who orchestrates everything in our life for His glory & our good.

In the midst of packing (so far), we survived a good 10 days of sickness between the kids, extra shifts at work for me & Robby picking up the slack with me away. It has been crazy, not exactly super fun all the time but we are doing well & the kids don't seem to mind all the changes. Speaking of those sweet kids, when we asked the girls what they would think about moving to Dallas & living near (name any person they know & love) they were so excited for a second then Charlotte's face got really sad & she said "I don't want to move to Texas! It takes TOO long to get there!" Haha! So true...it is a stinkin' long trip & she would know as we did it twice five weeks apart! Thankfully, my parents offered to get tickets for my mom & I to fly the kids to Dallas to stay with Gaga & GGran while I fly back to drive with Rob & my Dad a couple days later. At first we were thinking it would be really special to leave as a family but then we drove in the car for 45 minutes, all the kids were screaming & we looked at each other & said "let's take them up on the offer!" I think it is a fabulous plan for all involved!

My dear in laws are welcoming the Valentine Six in their home for as long as we need upon our arrival in Big D which we are thinking will be a couple months.  At that point, we hope to find a rental home near where we lived prior to our move here. That is quite the offer to let our crew move in & we are very thankful & excited to spend time with them. I'm pretty sure Grandpa Bob is excited too considering he built a huge sandbox complete with four little seats & an umbrella the day after we said we were really coming ; ) The service of our parents is a practical way God is caring for us and our children in this time....it is overwhelming & I pray that I will have that same desire & ability to serve our children & their families when they are all grown up too.

In the in between time:

• I am on the job hunt for a full time Labor & Delivery position in Dallas
• We are keeping the house spic & span so we can load up our wagon & go for a walk if we get a call saying someone would like to see the house
• Boxes are being packed & check lists are being checked
• The house is getting painted thankfully not by us
• We are scheduling in time with those we will miss dearly when we leave
• We are processing, processing, processing
• We are answering questions daily from two sweet girls like "is my bed coming with us?" "What about Bella, can she come?"
• I feel sad, excited & exhausted at many points throughout each day
• I struggle to trust God will meet every need we have & provide for all things to be completed in the right time
• I then laugh when I throw a "fit" about job application issues only to receive an email the very next minute confirming a phone interview the following day...God knows & he provides...always.

ALL that to say, I'm guessing it makes sense as to why I am still writing posts about the boys birthday, each of them at one year old (good news, they are still one), meeting my newest precious niece Olivia etc etc. All in due time, they will be published ; ) 

For now, please pray for us in this time of transition as we say farewell to friends & family here & reunite with others in Texas. My friend Annie had a shirt on the day I shared our news with her & it had the lyrics to an old hymn called "Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed."

I almost broke down & cried right then & there when considering the friends that we have sent on their way along with saying goodbye to our friends here.  I will close with the words that touched my heart that morning. 

"We meet to part but part to meet, 

when earthly labors are complete.

To join in yet more blest employ

in an eternal world of joy."