I love a good rhyme. Even better – a good word play. I’ve never done the whole “word for the year” thing, but on January 9th, God made it pretty clear this was the year.

I had just returned from another extended stay back in NorCal filled with all my faves like Peet’s Coffee, Brazen Racing’s back-to-back New Year’s Eve/Day half marathons, long hikes at the Lafayette Reservoir, Meadowlark Dairy soft serve, day trips to Napa and CarMEL, and of course, seeing family and friends.

On the flight back, something felt different from all the other countless flights I’d made between Indy and California. I missed CARmel. Why was this so unusual? I mean when you think about it, how long does it take for you to develop a relationship with a person, place, or thing (now I’m singing the School House Rock noun song) before you can say you actually miss it when it’s gone? Those faves I just mentioned are all things I definitely miss since moving to Indiana. There’s an ache in my heart when I see posts of those people and places. It took years – decades even – to cultivate what I now recognize as my safe place aka comfort zone. The place where so many things were birthed, planted, took root…

Everything from where I met Dave summer of 1986, getting married two years later at the same church where we met, Natalie and Meagan being born at Walnut Creek Kaiser, starting my teaching career, running my first marathon, running 200 more races, helping my parents move from SoCal to NorCal, experiencing them decline with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, selling their home, downsizing our home, welcoming sons-in-law to our family, all the graduations, all the holidays, all the memories… to starting several businesses in Indiana including four restaurants, getting my furry best friend Miles, and buying what I’m now affectionately calling our forever home.

When I got home to Dave that January 9th, it was weird in a good way, a life-changing way. I had spent the entire four-hour flight back thinking, reflecting, debating, praying, worshipping, crying, resolving…

Resolving to be intentional about calling Indiana home in all the ways the word has taken root in my heart. A simple postal change of address, acknowledgment, or handshake wasn’t gonna cut it. It had to be a full-on wholehearted embrace with every fiber of my being. Because God Himself doesn’t do things halfway or even 99 percent. But more than that, He knows me better than I do and what it would take to move on to the next chapter with unbridled hope and joy. So, I couldn’t wait to share all this with Dave whom I know has been praying for years that I would make this move with him not just with moving boxes but with all my heart.

I don’t think I said it in those exact words, but I did give him the teacher version almost like the poetry unit I used to teach to my third graders. No, not the dreaded haiku. “Class, not all poetry has to rhyme.” I’ve been breaking that rule all of 2022 now that I think about it. Embrace this place. Embrace this race. Embrace His grace.

About a month later, Dave put that to the test. “Hey, let’s go look at this new model home across town!” Say what? I swore up and down after selling our big San Ramon home I’d never buy/move again. I’m getting too old for all this packing and unpacking. Plus, apartment living definitely had its perks. Mostly, I didn’t have to feel tied down to any place. Guess what? Not only did we go look (dangerous in and of itself to a recovering house-a-holic), but we fell in love with the floor plan, put our name in the “lottery,” got first pick of dirt lots, and went into contract on February 19th.

To say that a whole lot of pieces had to fall in place before closing day would be the understatement of 2022. You know that verse about faith to move mountains? We took it quite literally as we moved mountains of furniture and 30+ years’ worth of memorabilia, consolidated into a UBox and Dave’s car in Pleasanton then drove cross country over mountains to storage here in Indy until our house estimated completion in December/January.

‘Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”’ Matthew 17:20-21

I was honestly dreading that 3,000-mile drive. I consider the four-hour flight to NorCal too long of a stretch to sit, so the thought of days sitting in a car was not appealing at all. Back to that embrace thing… moving is a whole different kind of marathon. I had to embrace this new race. Since Dave had inherited his dad’s love of adventure and national parks, he had mapped out what ended up being the most scenic, awe-inspiring, hike-filled, bison-stalking, photo worthy, enjoyable trip EVER.

God is sooooo good! I could go on and on about how He was in every detail big and small of the entire moving process.

But 3/4 in on our house build or the equivalent of mile 20 (as with most marathons I’ve run), I hit a wall. Or in this case, a basement. Did you know 70 percent of homes in Indiana have basements? Have I mentioned I’m from California? WE DON’T HAVE BASEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA. Basements are only supposed to be in movies where murders happen and dead bodies stored. Now we have a basement in a state where it rains at will all summer – and by rain I mean torrential downpour. We had several of these this summer after our house had been roofed and drywalled which, silly me, I assumed meant watertight. I’d never heard of a sump pump until this year. Those words would be great in a third grade haiku come to think of it – sump pump. Or Dr. Seuss book. Well, turns out it’s a very essential piece of basement equipment that prevents flooding. At least when the power is working. During a couple of these summer storms, our power tripped and, guess what, the sump pump stopped working. In retrospect, did I make a mountain out of a molehill? Maybe. But the sight of our flooded basement literally almost had me marching into the sales office and telling them what they could do with our house and deposit. I love rain, but if I have to worry about our basement flooding EVERY TIME it rains for the next thirty years, I’m out!

This analogy of moving being a marathon – well, I was about to DNF. Something snapped even after everything had gone so miraculously smoothly up to this point. I had a royal meltdown. Sorry Hoosiers, but I was cursing you up and down for your love of basements. As with running and racing, it helps tremendously when you don’t try to go it alone. Dave reminded me of this “race” we were in and to resist those schemes of the enemy to discourage, derail, and deter us from God’s plans. Dave also said he’d get us a back up generator, dehumidifier, and ozone machine then encouraged me to think about how maybe this basement could be used by God in the future. All part of embracing this place. Embrace the base(ment). Lol.

To be able to say “GOD IS SO GOOD” while staring at a flooded basement, or really, any unwanted circumstance doesn’t make me more spiritual or worthy. What it does do is flip the switch on God’s own floodgate of peace and joy which goes a long way in the quest to reach the finish line.

You know what else goes a long way? Trusting in His timing. Embrace His pace.

I got an email in early August which I legit thought was spam mail and almost deleted it since it was so farfetched. “Congratulations! Your closing date has been set for September 27th.” Three months early? That NEVER happens! Especially with all the supply chain delays as residual effects of the pandemic shutdown. Again, lots of pieces had to fall into place with this pivot in timing. “PIVOT!” said in Ross voice. Several more hurdles the following three months – now chasing move deadlines. Embrace the chase.

Thankfully we locked in a decent loan rate as interest rates significantly rose by year end. Had we closed when we originally planned, we may not have been able to afford the much higher monthly payment. Embrace the rate. (I know, doesn’t rhyme…sorry.)

God’s fingerprints have been all over this journey. He took great care in countless details that only He could have orchestrated. Moving day was a beautiful, sunny day. I couldn’t have asked for a more efficient, courteous moving crew. I tipped each of the crew members the dollar amount of the chapter to one of my favorite verses and shared the meaning behind it with them as well. One dude said “Wow, I’ve never been tipped with a Bible verse before!”

I met our new neighbors a few weeks later. Kate loves orange like I love lime green. Reminds me of my former classroom neighbor, Nicole, who loves orange. *Maybe painting your entire room bright orange was a bit much though – ha, ha. We text each other ending with lime green and orange heart emojis now. Our signature signoff as my teacher bestie and I used to do. Funny, Kate is also a teacher.

Speaking of lime green heart, mine was exploding over Thanksgiving as Natalie, Zach, Herbie (my new grand pup), and Meagan paid a surprise visit! Missing Nathan for sure, but having the kids home for Thanksgiving – that’s when our house truly felt like home.

Closing out 2022, it occurred to me the finish line is now in sight. Since we didn’t have enough excitement in our lives, we closed one restaurant and opened a completely new one on December 9th. Dean Thompson, friend and Run for God coach extraordinaire, has said to make sure you leave enough in the tank for one last push as you approach the finish line. As many spectators have cheered me on during that last mile to “FINISH STRONG,” I have also cheered for others to do the same on and off the race course which is now on my heart to say to you as we cross the finish line of 2022 together, friends!

Only someone as long-winded as me could turn a three-word lesson into an 1,800-word blogpost. Let me just leave you and 2022 with this to take into the new year: EMBRACE GOD’S GRACE!

‘Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.’ 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you.” Psalm 37:4-5