Part 3 and 4 of "My Story"

I have been meaning to finish "my story" but things have been very busy with Christmas and New Years.  A friend of mine gave me a little nudge this weekend and it was just what I needed to continue.  If you missed the first part, read here for part 1 and here for part 2.

Part 3

"Home"

One of the traditions I had started while in Atlanta, was an annual "Cookie Swap".  A friend of mine invited me to hers 2 years in a row.  I loved it and decided to start hosting one myself every Christmas.  The realization of how alone I was in OK, hit me during that first Christmas in Tulsa.  I didn't have enough friends to host a cookie swap that year.  I could invite the 2 neighbors I had met.  They were sweet, but that's no party.  That was a really, depressing, lonely Christmas.  I could still cry today when I think about it.

It was at my very first Christmas Cookie Swap I hosted in Tulsa (a year and a half after our move) that I realized God had answered my prayers.  I had friends.  I even had enough friends to have a party!  I had a life again.  God had not forgotten about me!

I was finally content!  :)

We decided to build a house not far from the house we were renting.  As we were building, I prayed for specific neighbors.  I prayed for a "friend" neighbor for my boys.  I prayed for a "grandmotherly type" neighbor.  And I prayed for a "friend" neighbor for me.  As I looked around my house the night of my first Tulsa cookie swap, I was filled with contentment and happiness.  God had answered my prayers.  He blessed me more than I could ever imagine with great neighbors!  We had friends, grandmothers, etc... living all around us in our little cul-de-sac.  Thank you, Jesus!  God brought us to a wonderful Church.  As I looked around at their faces in my home that night, I almost shed tears.  My house was packed full of friends from here and there.  New friends.  Friends I would never have met had we not moved to Tulsa.  Friends that would, one day, help me learn to love living in Tulsa.  Friends that would, one day, help me to be able to call Tulsa...home.

When we moved to Tulsa, my Aunt Debbie told me that it really takes 3 years for a new city to feel like home, and she was right!  3 years is a long time.  I had prayed and prayed for contentment for a year and a half, and God answered my prayer.  I finally felt happy with where God brought me.  By the 2nd year, I felt like I could make it.  I wouldn't say I called it "home" at that point, but it started to feel like we could enjoy a life here in OK.  We had friends.  We had each other.  And we still had frequent flyer miles to go see family from time to time in Alabama!  ;)  It was that 3rd year, though, that I really, really felt happy and content.  I felt like I was home.   Thank you God!

Life was good again.

Part 4

"My Purpose"

I find myself at my happiest when I am doing for others and serving in the Church. It was during our second year in Tulsa that I realized that's what I was missing.  We were part of a new Church, but we were only "attenders".  We had no responsibilities.  We were only minimally involved.  We just took up space, really.  I needed more.  I needed a "job" in the Church.  I didn't have a purpose.  I needed a purpose.  God called me to serve and I needed to serve.  God blessed me with gifts and I was not using them.

I took on some leadership roles in the Church.  Through this, I met some wonderful sisters-in-Christ and formed close bonds with these girls!  I was doing for others and not thinking about myself anymore.  It's funny how when you take the focus off yourself and put it on someone else, you immediately feel better.  It was our 3rd year here in Tulsa, and I can honestly say, it was wonderful!  Tulsa felt like home to us more and more every day.  I could picture us living here forever and raising our boys here.  As a matter of fact, the thought of ever moving our family again scared the mess out of me.  I really, really liked my life here.  I was so comfortable.  I was more than content.  I was settled.  I was at home.  I had a purpose.

And then God threw me a curve ball....again.

To be cont....