Everyone should move. The act of moving offers up a sense of clarity, it jostles ones world, and it also provides a sense of adventure. Marni, the boys, and I packed the truck and headed to Colorado just over a week ago. We are down to a few boxes left to unpack, and last night was our first home cooked meal! (Marni’s rice pasta with a secret sausage sauce!)

Once your feet are firmly planted on Colorado soil, you look back and ask yourself – what is left from the decade in San Diego? What remains? What will you take with you? (It was a bit of shock and sadness yesterday to see all our beach items – why did I bring the boogie board?)

Paul in the New Testament has a similar reflection. It comes in a little excerpt at the end of his life when he writes to Timothy and has this to say:

^“9 Do your best to come to me quickly, ¹⁰ for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. ¹² I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.” 2 Timothy 4:9-13

You know what I like in this text? I love the 7 names – Demas, Crescens, Titus, Luke, Mark, Tychicus, and Carpus. In the end, as Paul reflects, it was about the people. The people are what make the story!

Yesterday I took Charlie to school. The day before we went to Hudson’s first game. I came away from both of these very typical and normal occurrences with a sense of emptiness. The people! Marni and I don’t know any of the people. In San Diego we sat with a crew at Hudson’s games… and talked life while watching the game. If we took Charlie to school you knew the people walking, the amazing traffic volunteers, and kids shouting, “Mr. Scofield! Hey!”

Moving offers a great sense of clarity. Do I really need to move this or not? As you unpack, you focus on beds first, and then the kitchen so you can eat. Clarity. The clarity for me though is the people. Marni and I invested in people, and if we go back to San Diego for a visit we won’t be at Seaworld, the beach, or even Torrey Pines. We will be with our list of seven! What really matters? I love the simplicity of loving God and loving people. Seems clear doesn’t it?

Moving jostles your world for sure! Movers separate lamp shades from lamps – why? It is like a big puzzle on the other end. The jostling of ones world is good – it offers you the chance to reground yourself. It’s like a freshman year in college all over – who do you want to be? The truth is, you don’t have to move to have a “jostling” … a project around your home can do it, a crisis will definitely do it, and a new job can also do it. We are such creatures of habit, and in that habit, we tend to trust the world around us… here’s to jostling!

Moving is a sense of adventure for sure! I talked with a friend from Montana on the phone yesterday. What an encouragement he was in the short call we had. He just kept saying, “This is so good. What an adventure you are on!” He continued saying that it is in the adventure you can see the fingerprints of God with even greater clarity. We are on day 8 since flying out of San Diego, so I cannot say I see the plan yet, we are still in the marine layer (sigh). We have seen God go before us on this move though – that is for sure.

I know this much – please keep doing traffic with a sense of energy and personality Kristin … I will try and make our Christmas lunch Tyler … Lisa, you still will get the calls on what to do in certain situations … I will miss golfing with Matt, John, Mike, and Dave … take care of the Broken Yolk TATY crew … and I could go on and on. But now I have to work hard right here…. Investing in people. The crossing guard at Broadmoor Elementary is a great elder gentleman named John, and yesterday I got to break down boxes with Curtis, and the man of the hour who has swung by twice is Brian. I sense the Lord has already given me a sense of excitement to go deep with a few… give me a decade, and let’s see how it all unfolds!