Roots and Branches

When we moved to Kentucky, we planned to be here for a while. The job was going to be a wonderful fit for Michael, the area was beautiful, and we felt such a peaceful confirmation that this was where we were supposed to be for now. I remember telling the kids that we would stay in Kentucky for at least 6 years (because that's when Michael can apply for tenure). Once he was tenured, we'd see how it was going and decide if this would be our forever home. For the first half of our first year here, all seemed to be going according to our plans. Michael was loving his job, and we were loving Kentucky!

But then EKU faced MAJOR budget cuts. The governor made drastic cuts to higher education and increased pension requirements that forced EKU to cut $25 million dollars. That meant cutting programs, closing degrees, and even laying off over 100 faculty members! It was a very rough time at the University and as you can imagine morale was severely affected. While they announced how many faculty would be cut from each college (14 of the approximately 80 faculty in Michael's college) they decided not to tell specific individuals until finals week. As a first year faculty member, Michael would be an extremely easy cut. You can imagine March through May of last year was a pretty stressful time in our house! 

When the cuts all came through, the Deaf Studies degree option was cut from Michael's department and the Deaf Studies Master's degree set to start in the Fall was also cut. (Michael was hired by the Graduate school to help teach in this program!) Miraculously, Michael kept his job. The University instead cut a female co-worker in his department who was also a first year faculty member, but she had been at the university in another role for nearly a decade. It was a huge blow for his department. 

This past school year has been rough. It's always hard to lose a degree and Michael's department lost two. The ASL lab staff were also reduced from 4 people to just one person. The department was hurting and tensions were very high. They faced big choices like should we fight to bring back the Deaf Studies degree (which the Dean supported) or focus our energy on reaccreditation for the surviving Interpreter Training degree? Some people were also very hurt (and understandably so) that they chose to lay-off one of the Deaf faculty. While no one came out and said it, some were hurt they chose her instead of Michael. After all, she had been there much longer.

Work was becoming a very stressful environment for Michael. At the same time, several other universities began reaching out to recruit him - NTID in New York, University of Iowa, Larmar University in Texas, and Utah Valley University. Had everything been going well I doubt he would have even considered applying to any of them. But with everything going on here, we decided he should go ahead and apply for the jobs at UofI and UVU. He had interviews in both Iowa and Utah...

And brought me Cafe Rio all the way from SLC! 

... and was offered a job at UVU! They have an incredible Deaf Studies department and we will get to be closer to our families! We never imagined moving again so soon, but we have no doubt this job offer was a blessing. 

Everyone keeps asking if we're excited about the move, but that's a complicated question.

Are we excited about the new job? Yes! I'm so excited to see Michael enjoy work again. UVU has one of the top 5 Deaf Studies programs in the country. With the way their program is set up, Michael will only be teaching the classes he loves and will very rarely have to teach a language class (which aren't his favorite). We've also VERY excited for better health insurance and benefits.

Are we excited about moving to Utah? Yes and no. We're thrilled to be closer to family! We will get to spend so much more time with cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I'm excited to be back near the mountains. We can't wait to be in the Deaf ward again! But, we are not looking forward to leaving the slower paced, more rural life we've enjoyed in Iowa and Kentucky. It will be an adjustment to be in an urban area again. This was our biggest hesitation when considering moving back. We are hoping and praying we can find a home thats affordable and will still have a yard big enough for a large garden, chickens, and bees (they're our next goal). Working our "land" and raising animals has become an important value we want to pass down to our children. There are so many great lessons in responsibility, hard work, etc. We'd have a mini-farm if we could! Knowing that a mini-farm won't happen, we're really hoping we can create that experience for our kids in a more urban environment.

Are we excited to pack? Not at all
Move 1,5000+ miles? Definitely NO!
Sell our house? NOOOO!
We just did this 2 years ago. And 3 years before that (minus the house selling part). We were just barely starting to get settled in Kentucky. Our house is just starting to feel like home. We installed the most beautiful floors over Spring Break. It was hard, but we did it. We've developed a beautiful garden and chicken coop. We hate to leave our hard work behind and start all over.

Will the move be worth it in the end? Yes! We keep focusing on family, the job, and the Deaf ward. We can rebuild the rest.

Still, facing another major move is a struggle.The packing, the living arrangements, the unknowns are all stressful.  This will be our 5th MAJOR move in 12 years of marriage. (If you count moving between apartments we've moved 8 times already!) We have naturally found ourselves asking some whys. Why would we feel so good about moving here if we weren't meant to stay? Why can't we just settle down? Asking why is rarely productive, but in this case I did receive a powerful answer - the Lord has been hastening the teaching of our family. As I felt the Spirit whisper this to me, I immediately knew this was true. We have been stretched in good ways. We've grown stronger as a couple and as a family. We've discovered those values of hard work and industry we want to pass down to our kids. We found homeschooling which we love. There's much we have learned, and much we hope to take with us.

My friend made an interesting connection with moving and the parable of the olive tress in Jacob 5. The main olive trees in the parable are covered with wild fruit. They aren't producing anything of worth, but the roots are still strong. So the Lord of the vineyard grafts branches from wild olive trees in other areas of the vineyard to the strong root. The root strengthens these wild branches. They in turn yield good fruit and once again make the root productive. My friend commented how she feels there are some families that are root families. They stay in one place for generations and bring great strength to the area. Other families (like ours) are branches families. They move often brining diversity and their own skills. Strengthened by the roots, these branch families help the tree produce wonderful fruit. The Lord needs strong roots in his vineyard. He also needs flexible branches. Then the roots can strengthen the branches, the branches revive the roots, and the whole work is able to move forward better and stronger than before. Such beautiful symbolism! We've spent a dozen years as branches. It has strengthened us and helped us grow. I wouldn't trade these years for anything.

Now we face the hard part. Our house is on the market. We've had lots of showings and one low-ball offer, but we're still trying to sell.  For now we wait. We try to be patient. We keep our summer plans on a week-by-week basis haha! We work through our Kentucky bucket list. Most importantly, Michael finishes writing his dissertation which has to be done before he starts at UVU on August 1st. We try to have faith that everything will fall in to place. It always does, but it's always nerve wracking. It's sure to be a memorable summer. Utah, here we come!