Only a quarter of the new year has gone by...Wow. And already so much has happened. We found a church to worship in...we have started to meet people...I have learned my way around to the grocery store, shopping...and we have found a house to possibly rent. So, why do I still feel sick when I read reviews written by Yankees who have moved to my hometown? I was trying to compare the rating that this website gave to Sugar Hill (where we might possibly want to live) and Lexington...and, of course, they had a place for people to write reviews...I had to read it. This Yankee from Colorado wrote in to say that either you got used to the accents and the people or you just hated them. Please! And then she said how much she loved all of the culture of the Low Country...and her air conditioner...and "the blacks" were nice - right after she called the locals a bunch of prejudiced bigots. Maybe I'm a little silly, but that just made me plain mad.

Somedays I am sooooooo homesick that I could die. Soooooo homesick....soooooo homesick. South Carolina air just is so much sweeter and so much easier to breath. The roads feel better under my tires. The sun shines a little brighter. The birds sing a little more. And it's changing so much that when I go back home finally - if I ever do - it won't even feel like the same place. People are moving in and changing everything...and then I have to think, aren't I doing kind of the same thing here? I've moved here...but I don't care to change anything. I just want a little piece of land to make something grow in and a place to play with my children.

I just want to cry some days. Instead, I pray. And pray. And pray. And after 7 months of praying...God is still telling me that I need to stay here for the present. I don't believe in a "secular" portion of my life. My whole life is the Lord's. And nothing happens without a reason. Even if I never know what that reason is...He does. I am His child. He knows what is best. And I praise Him that He has put me where He wants - even if it is not where I necessarily would choose to be. If this is where He wants me, this is where I want to be. I surrender.

God is teaching me so much. I can see how His plan for me is unfolding. My family will not celebrate Easter this year. Now before you brand me a heretic...let me ask you...what is better? Is it better to confuse my children by teaching them that a bunny and an egg from a Celtic fertility ritual held at this time of year is a Christian symbol of "new life" that we use to celebrate the resurrection of Christ...even if the dates of the Passover (the whole reason for the Last Supper) don't coincide with the dates for Easter? or does it make more sense to celebrate the Passover...and the completion of the Passover - Christ's blood protecting us from death. Christ was the perfect sacrifice. He commanded us to remember His death. Long before Christ came to earth, God commanded His people to celebrate the Passover. Christ celebrated the Passover during His life on earth. Please tell me why the church in general doesn't celebrate the Passover...or why they celebrate it only partially?

All right...more on this later - most likely...It's time to chase my kids around this tiny apartment.