we finally made it home!

It’s official – the Schutzes are no longer onthemove! Yesterday, with the help of our fabulous agent, Kavita, escrow closed on our sweet little house in Montesano, WA, and we are home at last.

The past two years leading up to this day were some of the most exciting, disappointing, beautiful and bitter years of our lives to this point, but we’re so thankful for ALL the experiences – good and bad. We’ve definitely been stretched, as individuals and as a couple, and are just now realizing the depth of some of the transformations God wrought in us as we rode the rollercoaster of full-time RV life.

Would we change it if we could?

Nope.

Though it’s possible we could have arrived where we are now via a different route, we wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on any of the joy or the lessons along the way. And ending up in Grays Harbor, the same place we visited 8 years ago and then forgot about, makes the journey all that much more special.

Looking back, I can see that as much as I resisted leaving our beautiful Santee home, all of our friends and family, and our church home, it was necessary. Even though I couldn’t see it, we’d reached a point of stagnation in our walk with the Lord – everything was familiar and easy, and we didn’t have to try too hard – we were almost meandering through life. Uprooting ourselves and spending two nomadic years traveling around with just Jesus and each other for company, and then planting somewhere completely unfamiliar has definitely awakened us from that sleepy Santee life. We’re digging much deeper into our faith and seeking the Lord more diligently than ever before.

We arrived in Hoquiam on a Saturday and visited the first church on our list of potentials the next day – and knew we were home for sure. Joining Harbor City Church was obviously a God-ordained decision; from that very first Sunday we felt so welcome! We started newcomers’ classes the following Sunday, and got to know some of the pastoral staff as well as some other relatively new Harbor City members. The senior pastor, Doug, and his wife, Lois, have been so persistent in welcoming us! Not only was the follow-up newcomers’ lunch held at their home, but Pastor Doug also invited us out to breakfast the next morning, and then Lois invited us to Easter dinner at her brother’s home. They never fail to greet us with a hug at Sunday service.

We’ve also enjoyed several dinners out with one of the couples we met at the newcomers’ classes, we attended the quarterly men’s and women’s breakfasts, and we recently joined a home group focused on Harbor City’s freedom curriculum. And starting next month, I will be volunteering in the connections booth and Deron will be on the multimedia team. We’re slowly working on getting to know other people in the area as well – Deron’s making friends at Tractor Supply and I’m joining a local bunco team. And of course we’re exploring our beautiful surroundings whenever we have a chance.

The moral of the story? We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love (Romans 5:3-5 TLB).

As to our home – we’re excited to fill it with memories, but right now we’re working on filling it with furniture, LOL. The previous owners left behind a couple of loveseats and a TV, so our living room looks lived in, but most of the other rooms are empty. We’ve budgeted for bedroom furniture but that’s about it, so we’re using our travel tables and chairs for dining, etc. until we sell the RV. But a lack of furniture won’t stop us from inviting friends over – hit us up if you’re in the area; we’ll all have dinner together at the camp table and then you can slumber on our lovely guest room bed!