The Decision to Move

I'll try to explain a little of what has transpired over the past 5 years.  My apologies for the length of this post and it's intimate nature, but it seems it's the only way to accurately recap events and emotions leading up to this rather large decision.  My intent here is just to answer any questions about how and why we have decided to move to Mexico.

Where did it all begin?  It's a bit blurry.  Looking back we realize many things didn't make sense in the moment.  But added all together over time... 

The first event that comes clearly into focus is the day we turned in Tyler's application for entrance into a dual immersion language program for kindergarten.  We had known about it for a while and were weighing the pros and cons of having a child in the program. The dual immersion student's day would be taught half in English and half in Spanish.  Studies showed kids lagged behind their peers in conventional classrooms until the 4th or 5th grade, when they would have a good grasp of both languages and begin to outperform their peers on standardized tests.  Many encouraged us to go ahead with it purely for it's academic benefits.  Others resisted the program, some because of the added pressure on students, but mostly for political reasons.  There was a lottery to get in, but once Tyler was in, all his siblings would automatically be grandfathered in.

It was a weighty decision.  The answer that came in prayer was this: It is fine, but are you willing for what this means? A weighty answer.  But yes, we are willing.  So we turned in the application and after some time we received the letter in the mail telling us he had not been selected.  Whew!  That's over.  Now on to a normal life with normal school.  But two weeks before school started, another letter saying someone else had dropped out and since Tyler was number one on the wait list, he could have the open spot. So we're not off the hook.  More prayer.  And the same answer: It is fine, but are you willing for what this means?  Yes, yes, we are willing.  So, off we go!

Tyler entered kindergarten, and the intensity of the program was obvious right out the gate.  But after three months, he was understanding most classroom instruction and beginning to speak in his second language.  We were anxious to keep up with him, so we purchased Rosetta Stone and began to study at home.  We settled into our school routine and though it wasn't always smooth sailing, we didn't regret our decision.  Some time later, Keith was experiencing unrest with his job and I began to pray about our future.  Another very direct question came: Are you willing to move out of the country?  Shocking...

Initially, I wanted to yell the answer, loud and clear to the mountain tops!  An affirmative no!  I had never even entertained the thought of moving to another town, much less another country.  It seemed scary and absurd.  I feared I was going crazy and kept the matter to myself.  Then, one morning I was standing at the mirror in the bathroom, fixing my hair, thinking about moving and where to go and something profound happened.  Monte, maybe 2 years old at the time, came dancing into the open door waving a little stick and on the stick was a little flag of the country of Mexico.  All I could do was stop and stare at it.  I had the feeling of being shaken to attention and though it wasn't audible I was being told, you better pay attention here: the answer is Mexico!

Again, what a shock!  How could we ever move to Mexico?  No one would approve of it or give their support.  I felt weak just to even think of explaining the matter to Keith.  He had a very keen interest in starting his own business soon and this would just not fit well with those plans.  I prayed that if moving to Mexico was truly God's will, He would keep it foremost in my mind, and if it was not, that he would remove it completely from my mind.  He did not remove it.  Every time I went to Him and many times throughout the days, there it was, you are moving to Mexico.  Months went by. Maybe a year.  And still the message was laid on my heart, daily.

So, what to do next?  One morning as I went to read, my bible fell open to a place marked by a bookmark.  The bookmark had been given to us by Alan Anderson, the overseeing worker in Mexico when he had come to Cody convention a couple years prior.  And there was his email address at the bottom. I knew I needed to write to him.  I told Keith that Mexico had been on my mind a lot and he agreed it would be nice to reach out to Alan. I wrote a little note, very nonspecific, expressing interest in the gospel in Mexico.  Weeks went by and no response came, and though it was a little troubling to me, I thought, good, I can let the matter rest for awhile.  But it would not rest.  It only grew bigger and bigger in my heart and mind.

Months later, maybe a year or more, there was again turmoil with Keith's job.  He told me, it's like I'm standing in the doorway looking out with my hand still on the door frame and the door is slamming shut on my hand.  It's getting painful and I know I need to leave my job.  I brought up God's dealings about Mexico again and we both agreed, it was time to write Alan again.  So we wrote another message, this time more direct about our intentions.  A wonderful, unexplainable peace followed and we received an answer the very next day.

After some corresponding it was decided we should plan a trip to visit Alan and his companions in their current field, the state of Jalisco.  Exciting, but talk about feeling overwhelmed.  We had never left our kids for one night and now planning a trip without them for two weeks...  and in a country where we knew very little of the language... and the expense... and, and...  Crazy!  And yet strength came at just the right times, and interest and support from friends and family was much more than we could have imagined.  And so, on the evening of July 31, 2015, my parents came to collect the kids and Keith gathered the last items out of his office downtown, closing the door for the final time after 12 years.

The next morning, we loaded into Mom and Dad's van and they drove us to the airport.  I felt my heart tearing out as we said goodbye to the kids and Mom and Dad and boarded our plane.  What were we doing?!  But strength came again, Isa 40:29-31.  And off we went, on the wings of an eagle, knowing that somehow we would find an answer to our future in the days that lay ahead.  We received a warm welcome in Guadalajara by workers and friends.  From the very start, our hearts were open to whatever the Lord would present to us.  Even if the answer was to go back home because now was not the time to move to Mexico.  We certainly were open to that!

The friends were so helpful to show us around Guadalajara and we enjoyed some nice meetings there, although we didn't understand much.  Then the workers kindly took us along on their travels out to the coast.  We spent a couple days visiting contacts and poking around in a little town called Lo de Marcos.  We felt things were a bit pricey, but if this or even the big city of Guadalajara (pop. 10mil.) was where we were supposed to be, we could find a way to make it work.  Then Alan made arrangements for one of his companions, Samuel (bilingual), to travel on down the coast to Puerto Vallarta with us while he and his other companion made visits up north.  We could continue on with Samuel taking a southern route and stopping to visit friends in a little town called La Cienega.  However, he was in a hurry to get back to Guadalajara and work on a hymnbook project, so our time in Puerta Vallarta would be cut short.  Or... we could stay on by ourselves in Puerta Vallarta and find our own way back on the northern route skipping La Cienega altogether.

Thoughts were churning that day.  Should we spend more time poking around Puerto Vallarta?  Maybe we were supposed to move here.  Definitely more English spoken here.  More construction.  More job opportunity.  What to do.  We climbed up a steep road near our motel to have supper at a nice restaurant that evening.  We had a beautiful view and watched a magnificent sunset in an open air dining room overlooking the ocean.  We visited with Samuel there.  He was to leave the next morning early. We had to decide whether to go with him or do our own thing.  More visiting.  Finally, he just said, you really need to see La Cienega.  And somehow we knew he was right, even though we knew very little about it.  So that sealed it.  We would leave early next morning, catch a taxi and drive to the bus station, wave goodbye to Puerta Vallarta in the dark.  Not having even had 24 hours in the city which held out more opportunity than we had seen thus far, not to mention tourist activities of which we had yet to enjoy since being in the country.

But somehow it felt right.  And so we spent the better part of a day swaying back and forth in bus seats, travelling over the beautiful green mountains and countryside to the little farm town of La Cienega.  To explain all the meaningful moments from the time we arrived there and the days and visits following would take pages and pages, so we'll keep it to just this: when the workers and friends showed us onto the vacant little convention grounds that next afternoon, we both knew right away, this was it.  This was why Mexico had been in our hearts and minds!  We left La Cienega with smiles and lifted hearts and a hearty welcome to return from our friends there.  The rest of the trip was just a pleasant sorting of thoughts and visits as the picture for our future began to unfold.

So these are the events leading up to our decision.  We have offered to live and care take on the little convention grounds for an undetermined amount of time.  Keith has begun work for a new employer here in Jackson, with the plan that most of his work will be done via telecommuting when we move.  Many more details are being sorted through, but we're so thankful to be headed down a path of real peace!