Crowd Surfing

I'll be honest... at first I didn't know what to say or blog or write, whatever it is on here. I was stuck on what to call it, trying to find a clever tagline-- all of that. And then where do I start? The last six months? Leaving home? Leaving kids? Leaving our churches and our families? Maybe I should start with the wedding? The honeymoon? The move-in day? Or maybe I should start with telling you all the things I know about Fort Wayne now that we're here?(Which is about three things) Or how many times I've cried lately?

It's hard to start because I don't know where the story even began and it's definitely not over yet.

So instead... I just want to say thank you.

Thank you for getting us here.

We crowd surfed the entire way.

Back in December when we got engaged, I was pretty sure we could do this all on our own. I was certain we could plan out a flawless wedding timeline that would run itself. We could make sure we had every kind of utensil we needed. We would save up enough cash to get us through the first month. We would be fine as long as we had one another no matter how hard the uprooting was.
We could do this.

Not surprising-- I was really wrong.

That's when all of you came into play.

These last few months you walked beside us and got us ready to go. And when it was time we didn't really get ourselves anywhere... we just crowd surfed our way through a wedding weekend, a honeymoon, moving day and the first week here. Our family and friends have been at every corner-- you've passed us from one stop to the other. We've never been alone. Just when things were getting scary-- leaving everyone we know-- a familiar face was there to pick us up at the airport, another to help us unload our moving truck. And when we finally landed in our new home, the people here overwhelmed us with more love than we could have expected with food and hugs and "welcome home".

I could tell you that I'm exhausted, that it's been a long few weeks of difficult goodbyes and transitions, that I am lonely and I miss you. But I didn't do any of this alone.

This morning was our first Sunday in this new church with this new family and new ministry.
 I was so scared.
 But when I walked in the sanctuary there were three more very familiar faces here; not so scary anymore.

There's just too much to say. My heart is too full. I've never felt so supported in my life.

So thank you.

You showered us with toasters, spatulas, and measuring cups.
You listened to us complain about how stressed we were.
You supported us when we had to say goodbye to the jobs we loved and the kids we love even more.
You counseled us and encouraged us, you told us we could really

do this marriage thing.
You paid for oil changes, margaritas and moving trucks.
You decorated an entire reception hall.
You endured a tornado just to see our wedding.
You took care of us, we have wanted for nothing.

I married Garrett because I love him, and I wanted other people to know how big that love is.
I never expected that so much love would be shown to us instead.

So one more time:

Thank you.

We're about to head out for the very first youth group; pray for us.
I'll let you know how it goes from here, so check in on my fancy little blog from time to time.

We have so much to look forward to here in our new home, but we crowd surfed all the way and we are so thankful for all of you.

With love,
- Garrett & Emily