The quiet contemplation of sitting on the back patio, listening to the crickets and frogs sing their nightly songs, watching the flashes of lightning bugs travel up and down the soft sloping landscape which is only slightly obscured by the evening shadows, hearing the quiet chatter of neighbors down the street, and feeling the warm subtle breeze of summer…these are some things that I will miss when we leave Kansas.

The comfort of routine and the expected. The casual interactions with friends while our children huddle on the warm cement of the driveway, talking, laughing, and playing. The faces that we know wherever we go. The care that has been taken of my children by people who have become like family….these are some things that I will miss when we leave Kansas.

I have to rest knowing that God has a plan for our family. That what we have had in Kansas will be even better in Florida. I know it will. Our families are there. Aside from finally being where they are, I hope that my children get to experience what they’ve experienced in Kansas, only better. I hope that they remember our time in Kansas and have happy memories that will take the place of the sad feelings from leaving. I hope they stay connected to the friends they’ve loved so dearly, but make bonds with people in their new school. I hope that they feel fulfilled.

We have never stayed anywhere for this long. F O U R years is a long time in the grand scheme of this military life. From 2010-2015, we moved four times to include a trip across the pond to Germany. Four years is long enough to almost feel like home. To want to come back because you feel that you just really know the area, and it feels good, and simple, and easy. Four years is long enough to forget what it’s like to move for only just long enough to panic, but still be prepared when you’ve snapped back to the reality of time.

Time.

Time becomes blurry. Moments overlap. But then you sit on the back patio, and listen to the crickets and frogs sing their nightly song….and for that moment, you feel all the feelings at once, and you let yourself feel them….only to realize, it’s time to go.