Nomadic

If you haven't noticed, we're a bit nomadic.

I used to dream of a little house with a white picket fence, and I dreamed I'd stay there, oh, approximately... FOREVER. 

Then, I married Brent.

Brent did not dream of a white picket fence. 

And he did not dream of staying in one place forever. 

He moved me once, then again, then again. 

And at some point I realized...  I should maybe get used to moving.

Now, we've been married almost 7 years, and we've moved 4 times.  The 'big move' (to Durham) has been so positive that I have the bug now. 

This year, Brent has been exploring career options, and with those options come discussions of where we will live and what we will do and what our lives will look like when he graduates.  Sometimes, scary stuff.  But I found myself (surprisingly) wanting, even longing to go somewhere else and do it all over again.  Don't get me wrong - I love me some Texas, and we really miss being close to our families - but I have felt what I think is God working on my heart saying we're not done yet.  It's not quite time yet to settle in and build the fence. 

Brent came to business school with a background in finance.  We saw Duke as a chance for a new beginning and perhaps a change.  I'm so proud of Brent for being brave enough to leave what he knew and dare to think that there might be something more, something better, something different that God would have him do.  He felt drawn towards strategic management, and specifically, drawn towards John Deere. 

"John Deere????"  You ask.  Yes, I asked the same thing.

This summer, between MBA year 1 and year 2, there is an internship component.  Brent interviewed for a ton of internships and explored a ton of companies, but there was always a draw towards John Deere from the very beginning.  A draw to the program, the people, the lifestyle, the values, the success of the company. 

As it has been true for us so many times before, Isaiah 30:21 has been true for us this year:

"Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it!" 

Oh, I love that verse.  Don't you?  If we listen and walk faithfully, the sovereign Lord promises to direct our steps.  Not always in the easiest or most comfortable way, but in the way that He wills, which... if you ask me... is the best way.

As it turns out, God may have been calling Brent to this job from a very early age.  Here is a pic his mom found of him driving a John Deere tractor at age 2 on his ranch with his dad and sister.  I mean, how cute is this?!?! 

To make a long story short, there were a lot of obstacles in the path and a lot of uncertainty, and a little bit of fear (on my part), but God was faithful, and Brent got the very internship he wanted.  He's going to be working as an intern in the Strategic Management Program at John Deere for 12 weeks this summer.  Then we'll be back to Durham for one more school year.  Should he be able to work for John Deere full time upon graduation, he would be in a management program that would require us to move often - every year or two at least.  Sound familiar???  haha...I think it's our destiny.

We are thrilled for Brent to be working at Deere, and he is so excited.  He's going to be working on a project involving forestry.  My mom is so cute - she sent us the most adorable John Deere t-shirts when we told her.  Mine is pink and says "real women drive tractors". HA!  (have they met me?)

The internship will take place at the John Deere headquarters in Moline, Illinois.  Praise God that I'll be able to go with Brent since I already work remotely.  Therefore, for the summer, we will be living in Moline, Illinois.

Wait, you don't know where that is?

I had the same problem.  It's OK.  Here's a visual.  Moline is where the red "A" is.  It's in northwestern Illinois on the border of Illinois & Iowa.

I have never been to Moline, and I don't know what our summer will look like. 

All I know is that God wants us there, so nomads we will be, and there we will go.