Southern Girl Meets Midwest

I am officially an Indian'ian.  Wednesday I moved to my new town of Terre Haute, Indiana... 478 miles and 7.5 hours from all that I am familiar with.  Not only am I in a new town, but I'm in a new region.  

I am a southern girl through-and-through, so being in the midwest is another transition in and of itself.  However, I felt much better about the area on my first restaurant visit in town.  I ordered sweet tea to drink, and they actually had it.  I was relieved to say the least.  Many say that Indiana is the state that is out of place up here, that it should be a southern state.  I can gladly handle that.

On to the apartment... My sweet apartment is very small (just over 400 sq ft) but is very cozy.  My mom, dad, and Brandon joined me for the big move and stayed with me through Saturday.  You can imagine what kind of close bonding time and room we had.  I thoroughly enjoyed them being here, though; I could not have settled in without their help.  We laughed a lot and managed to squeeze a lot of activities into three days together.  I am already looking forward to them coming back.

Mississippi State is sprinkled all throughout.  If this is going to be my home for two years, I had to make it feel like home.  So I brought some Starkville with me.  And perhaps my most prized furniture piece is my new beautiful couch, compliments of Kevin Charles Fine Upholstery in New Albany.  I absolutely love it!  Brandon and Dad worked for a solid hour devising a method to get this huge piece of furniture in the apartment.  Let's just say that doorways and screen porch doors need to be made wider for moving in and out.  After much trial and error, they got it in. 

 

 

Another favorite... an antique dresser found in a furniture outlet at home.  It has hand-painted flowers on the first drawer and gold knobs. 

After days of organizing, the place has taken shape and really feels like a home.  I am excited to see what other new things lie ahead.  While it is scary to be in a new place and not know anyone, I know that God has brought me here intentionally.  He has a plan to use me these next couple of years, and I am ready to see what that entails.  I read the most applicable passage in Spurgeon's "Evening by Evening" last night.

"Our various experiences are meant by our Heavenly Father to provide new vantage points from which we may view the loveliness of Jesus. How friendly are our trials when they allow us a clearer view of Jesus than than ordinary life could afford us!"

How true!  I read that, and it clicked.  I have been given a new lense to see God from and a new vantage point.  I will see God's might, beauty, power, and sovereignty here in ways that I could not have seen where I was.  And for that I cannot wait...