Live from The Sunshine State

Hey, friends! It’s been a minute since my last post. (Do I sound fresh using that phrase? I got it from the younger crowd. Let’s face it, I’m not in the younger crowd anymore. So yes, I borrowed a phrase from Instagram posts and from what I’ve heard in a few conversations with those I do consider in the younger crowd. I know admitting that makes me sound even older, but hey, I’m okay with that! And no, I’ve never used the phrase in real life. Should I?)

If you only follow us here on the blog, I’m so sorry. I’ve been absent from the blog world since we announced we’d been making the move to Florida. If you check in on us on Instagram or Facebook, you know that we surely did make the move to The Sunshine State the first week of August! That means that in the coming week we will celebrate being Florida residents for six whole months.

If I could only say one thing about how we feel about our move, it’d be this: We freaking love it here. After having made a far bigger move to Kenya, this seemed like a breeze. When people would mention that it was a big move, we’d just think, “But we didn’t need a passport!” We’ve moved so many times in the lat 15 years. And you know what? We don’t plan on moving again for a long time. We’re so happy being only ten minutes from a beautiful beach on the Atlantic coast where Ella is learning to surf. We live on a great street and have connected with a few amazing neighbors. There are lots of kids around and our little community has so many family-friendly things to do. The kids are both on local soccer teams. We’ve found a church we like a whole lot. We’re just two-hours from Disney World. And the temp doesn’t often drop below 40 degrees! We’re really thankful to be here.

Of course, there have been hard parts about this move, too. It’s hard being so far away from family and friends. It’s hard having to make new friends, especially in this strange time of Covid. It’s hard to start at a new church. It’s hard to navigate special needs education laws in a new state. It’s hard to find new doctors for the kids at places that take our insurance. It’s just hard some days. But we expected the hard things. We know these things are normal and that they won’t last long. Six months in and we’re all figuring things out.

So there’s our update. We’ve been in Florida for half a year and we love it. It’s not at all the place we thought we’d be a couple years ago, yet here we are. We’re really excited about the things God has in store for each of us. As we’ve always said: One step at a time. We follow where we feel God is leading us and take that one step. Then we listen and wait for the next. That’s the best we can do right now, so many of us, especially in the current condition of our world. God is always and forever in control, and we’re choosing to give Him the big things and the little things. Big steps and little. Everyday.

If you have questions about how to hear God or what it looks like to take little steps in your own life, feel free to send me a message! I’m always happy to answer whatever I can or point you in a hopeful direction. My email is TheMangoMemoirs@gmail.com.