ch ch changes!!

I don't really know where to start his post, so I will just get to the point.

The Greutmans are moving back to NY! Thats right! Sometime within the next few months, we will be relocating to Oswego, NY. There are several things that led to this choice, but the thing that really made the decision for us was everything with Rowan. Let me expand:

When we learned that Rowan was autistic, and after we got over the initial shock, grief, and all other feelings that come with that, I quickly became faced with several new daunting realiztions. Among them was the realization that I was soon going to be thrown into the world of paperwork, meetings, appointments, testing, etc. and that I was very ill-prepared for such a task. I think that if Rowan were our only child, this task wouldn't be so daunting, but since I have 2 other little ones to care for, I really didn't know how all of this was going to happen. I began longing for the people that I knew would be willing to help at any cost: the grandparents. But, we still have Joel's brothers on the same street, and our dearest friends right next door, so I didn't doubt at all that we would have help and support around us.

2 months after Ro's diagnosis: Ben AND Mark both announce that their families are soon moving away! Ben to Kansas City and Mark to Oswego, NY. Now, if I wasn't already longing for the grandparents, this just put me over the top. I have always felt strongly about living near family, having the grandparents around to watch their grandkids grow. When Mark and Lauren made their plans to move, I knew it was time to seriously consider this, because let's get real here. I know alot of parents with autistic children can do this without the help of family, but if we DO have the opportunity to be near them, then by golly, I'm taking it!

It's not just that i know they'll help us, though. They will love my kids like nobody else can. We really feel like that is important in our lives right now. And on top of all of that, I long for the days of spending holidays with family, being a short car trip away from my own family, having gatherings at my home with them, taking weekend trips to my parents' house, waking up on Christmas morning with SNOW! ;) so many other things I'm looking forward to. I haven't lived near my family in almost 6 years. Maybe that's ok for some people, and necessary for some. I'm very excited about that not being the case anymore. I miss my sisters and brother alot!

Oswego has a special needs preschool right in town, and is near Syrcause, which is good for Joel's work. Although he'll be keeping the jobs he has now and working from home, it is good to be near a city where there are more opportunities. On top of that, Joels' mom is the new principal at the fantastic Christian school there, so when my kids get of age, they'll be attending there. It is hard to imagine my kids going to school, but the day will come!

To all of our Charlotte friends: Thinking about moving truly is bittersweet. We have had such an amazing 3 1/2 years here. The people we've grown close to, the lifetime friends we've made, our time with ZHOP, our church the Well; there's no way I'd change any of that for anything! This has been an amazing ride in South Carolina. We arrived here without any children (and are leaving with 3!), lived in a huge home, housed 20+ missionaries, worked at a House of Prayer full time, lived 8 feet away from our best friends, only a few meters away from family, made friendships that we know will never end, and most importantly, we experienced the Lord in so many new ways. I could sit here for a week trying to tell you everything else the Lord did for us here and it still wouldn't be enough time.

As for timing, we don't know when we'll be moving, although we are feeling like it will be sometime before January. We should know more about that in the next few weeks, but for now, we're just waiting on the Lord. Many things have to take place before that can happen, but I will keep you posted. Our main prayer request is that the Lord would make a way for our house to sell.

I'd list all of the other things that happened to get us to our decision, but then I'd feel like I'm explaining myself, and I dont need to do that. All you need to know is that we prayed. :-)

Bless you! Thanks for listening (reading). It's good to get that out in the open!

Jenn