Home. Have you ever really thought about that word? It’s one of those simple 4 letter words kind of like love that means so much that books have been written about it, movies have been centered around it, and conversations are constantly going on relating to it.
Home used to have a very clear definition in my mind. Home was Zionsville Indiana, the Mike Einterz residence a wee bit out in the country (not so much anymore) where my family would enjoy family dinners and all 8 of my siblings would begrudgingly tell about their day at school. Home was where the kitchen always smelled fantastic because of my mothers cooking. Home was where I knew the streets like the back of my hand because I would train for hours on them in preparation for the next sports season. Home was where I would run into town and bump into multiple people and end up turning a 5 minute trip into a 45 minute trip because they just wanted to know how things were.
“We’re going home. I got the job.”
Was I supposed to jump with joy? Maybe I should scream with excitement? Maybe I was supposed to cry out of relief and happiness?
As Brian spoke those words I’d been longing to hear for years my emotions seemed to get stuck in the pit of my stomach.
I was so sad and so happy all at the same time. Truly a bitter-sweet moment. Why?
Bitter-sweet because now we have 2 homes. The life that we have in Oklahoma is one full of blessings. We have so many friends that we consider family that I can hardly imagine day to day life without them. It gives me a knot in my throat each time I tell someone else that we are leaving. We’ve been met with prayers and excitement though. Everyone is so happy for us and it makes this move just a tad harder then it already was.
Six years ago I moved out to Yukon Oklahoma with not much more than my clothes. Brian and I began our married life here. We have been through deaths and births together. We have become so strong together because of this place. Our family is the way it is because of this place. This place became our home. The memories that have been made here are not just memories but are true blessings in our lives.
When it comes down to it “home” is where your family is and our family is now being split between two amazing places. God has truly blessed us.
Saying good-bye is not going to be easy, in fact it’s going to be really hard-- but how awesome is it that we get to leave one home for another?
We left Zionsville as kids. We were so young and thought we knew so much. We’re leaving Oklahoma as a young family with a wild life ahead of us. There’s no more thinking we know what we’re in for. This new adventure is one that we’ve been looking forward to and that we will start with eyes wide open.
Thank you to all of you who made us feel truly welcomed. I couldn’t have written a better story for our first adventure together as a married couple. We will never forget you. You will always be welcomed in our home and you will always remain in our prayers.
As for those we’re coming back to--we can’t wait! We are so happy to bring our kids home to be around all our family. There are so many things we’re looking forward to that I could write an entire post just about them. Bring on the family fun!
