As I write this, I am sitting in our new house in Liberty Missouri beside an open window as an almost Fall-like breeze blows through the room. I just heard the church bells down the street chime the hour and the birds are still chirping joyfully. The house is quiet as everyone is at work. Walter, the community beagle pup, is curled up in a chair nearby taking his mid day nap. I wore him out taking a long walk around the beautiful college campus next to the house. I could not feel more at peace in the space I am in right now.
After a whirlwind week of moving, settling in, visiting family, digging and planting a garden, and getting to know people, we are settled into our new home in Liberty, MO. It is good to be here. We have missed being near family so much and we have missed our dear friends greatly. Now, we get both! When we entered Missouri on the 11th hours of our 14 hour drive back last weekend, I felt this great peace flood over me like driving through a waterfall. It feels like I am truly where I belong right now. I felt the same way when we moved to Pittsburgh – like we were meant to be there for a season, and now that we have moved to the next season, it brings me great joy to feel that same sense of God’s perfect peace guiding our footsteps.
Here is a quick update of what we have been up to this past week or two…
We packed almost all of our belongings into our little car in Pittsburgh and drove 14 hours to Liberty, Missouri where our sweet friends Travis and Bethany and Jess and Tyler were waiting to help us unload. We unloaded, unpacked, sorted and came to the conclusion that a garage sale would be happening soon.
Last Monday, we hung out with Tyler and Jess, who we are sharing a house with, and made decisions about what this year would look like as far as sharing life and being intentional with one another. This year is very scaled back from last year for us, but it is ramped up a lot for the Tankersleys, so it was fun to find a happy middle ground. The community here is much more casual and organic than Formation House was. We are enjoying the freedom and flexibility of this so far. We meet with all 8 people (2 other couples are also part of the broader community that we are being intentional with) every Tuesday for a meal, prayer and conversation. Jay and I didn’t know these other two couples very well prior to moving, but are having fun developing relationships with them. We will keep you posted on other community rhythms and updates such as that.
Last weekend we visited the Bowen side of the family in Springfield then went to visit the Howards in Mt. Grove. When we said goodbye, it wasn’t awful because we knew that we were going to be able to see them in just a few weeks instead of half a year or more. I didn’t really think I had a special place in my heart for Missouri, but living elsewhere for a year has shown me otherwise.
Jay started working at Crepes on the Square yesterday. He is training this whole week. I start my job with Liberty Public Schools next Monday, so I am savoring this week of peacefulness and quietness before I dive into a 2-3 grade special education classroom.
We are really happy. For me, living with the Tanks has kind of been a long time dream that I didn’t know would ever happen. It is so joyful to share life with them again. The other 4 people are like a bonus! I feel as though we just keep receiving blessing upon blessing. God is so good to us!
So super happy for you guys. Liberty is absolutely perfect for you and Jay. That’s exciting that you get to work at the school! Are you working as a para too?