Opportunity and Overload

I know, I know. I fell off the blogging wagon yet again. But there is so much stuff crammed into my head right now that if I don't do something to clear some space, I believe my head really may explode, which would only give me another mess to deal with. So here goes. You might want to hold on.

Jason has been offered a job in Perth, Australia. There...I said it. We actually might be moving to Perth. When Jase told me about the opportunity last week, my initial reaction was shock, followed shortly by excitement, followed shortly by terror, followed shortly by sadness, followed shortly by a million questions, followed shortly again by EXCITEMENT! And that's what's been going on my head constantly for the last week. We talked with the kids before even thinking about giving his boss an answer, and they surprised us by being really excited. So we decided to pursue it to our fullest and let God close doors if He has other plans for us.

There are so many things that need to fall into place before this becomes a reality, so we're trying really hard to temper our emotions either way until things firm up a little more. (This is naturally a little easier for Jase than for me....sometimes I HATE being such an emotionally motivated person.) We've been researching on the internet, talking with several friends of ours who have done the whole "expat" thing to gather their thoughts and opinions, and trying to live life as normally as possible here and now....but mostly we've been PRAYING, PRAYING, PRAYING!!! The very last thing we want to do is pick up our whole lives and move somewhere if God is not waiting there for us when we arrive.

Of the friends and family we've told, the overwhelming majority responds with "What an amazing opportunity for your family!" That's pretty much how we feel most of the time. But I'd be lying if I didn't throw in how terrified we are at the same time. What a HUGE decision to make. The prospect of adventure always appeals to me, and the idea of being on such a grand one with my precious little family is about to take my breath away....but I also have to remember that once we're there...we're THERE. Far from family, far from friends, 13 hour time difference, and as we verified on the in-laws' globe last night, on almost the exact opposite side of the world. I wake up every morning with knots in my stomach thinking of what it would be like to wake up in a whole other country and having to just get up and go about my day like things were normal.

IF the job comes through with suitable terms (still a fairly big if), it's a two-year commitment. Not so long, but really, REALLY long if you're miserable.

Ok, I think that's all I have the energy for right now. Now that I've laid the ground work, I can just blog as my head gets too crowded. I may be blogging a LOT over the next week or so.