So.....about Tulsa

***Warning: It's a long one***

I have barely been home at all this week and even the past 3 weeks so it has been a little difficult for me to get to blogging lately. I apologize.

I have pictures to update the past several weeks but I will get to those in the next day or so. I wanted to give a little more detailed information about Tulsa.

It is a bittersweet situation. And it is not a "further my career" move for Mark. It is a "what is better for our family" move. I have told maybe 1 or 2 people how difficult Mark's job situation has been on our marriage. Looking back over the past several years I have really seen how God has completely protected our marriage from Satan.

There have been times that I have really questioned why Mark was at this job. Mark's love language is Acts of Service which serves him well with the line of work that he is in. He serves his clients. So whether it be work or something else Mark has one of the biggest hearts for serving others. Because of that, he really enjoys his work and that is very important to me.

But it has not made it any easier. It is not fun to communicate with each other for several months through a notebook. It is not fun to wake up at 3:00 AM every morning and see him still working. It is not fun to see how hard he works and how beat down & exhausted he is. It is not fun for him to get home at 7:00 each night when it is not busy season. It is not fun for him to have to spend 1.5 plus hours driving each day after working so long. It is not fun.

Mark and I had the opportunity to meet some of the people in the Tulsa office when we went to visit and it was such an encouragement. While I know that there will be busy times, overall it is going to be a more family friendly situation. It is not ideal for us to have to move, but it is the best thing for us as our family is growing.

Mark's company is doing a wonderful job about being understanding and willing to work with us in our specific situation. They are going to allow him to travel back and forth each week. During busy season, if they don't need him in the office on Friday, he can come home Thursday night and work from Fort Worth on Friday. THAT IS HUGE!!! (and unheard of in his other situation) If he has to work weekends, they will fly me up to see him. When busy season has slowed down, they will let him work 4 days and come home 3.

I would love to go with him now, but there is so much involved. Our house has a ton that needs finished before it is ready to sell. I cannot imagine packing up my classroom before the end of the semester. And we would love to be able to save for the rest of the school year, since I do not plan on going back to teach in Oklahoma.

There are times when I think about leaving Fort Worth that I just start crying, but I also know what it has been like in the past and can see how incredibly different it will be. That is what makes me so optimistic about this whole thing. It is hard to think about being further away from our families but I also know that Mark and I are willing (because it is so important to us) to do what we need to make sure our kids have a relationship with them. It is hard to think about leaving our wonderful friends here but that doesn't mean our relationships have to end and it opens doors for knew ones.

We know that God can use us anywhere we go, we just have to keep Him first in our lives. HE IS GOOD and has protected & taken care of us. He will continue to protect and take care of us. We just have to be ready & open to this adventure that He has placed before us. Please continue to pray for us as we go through this and I will do my best to keep you updated.

Hopefully things will slow down soon. HA!