“The only thing that doesn’t change is change itself.” Heraclitus of Ephesus

Hello Everyone! I’m writing from our new apartment. We just moved 240 meters from our old apartment (still in the same residence). It’s bigger and about the same rent. We have a third bedroom for the first time in three years so the girls each have their own bedroom. This is good timing since Sophia is almost 11 and needs more private space. Moving is hard for me. It takes a lot of energy. Also, I must put a lot into location emotionally because each move challenges my ability to say goodbye to a place (even if it’s not that far away and I can walk there whenever I want!). I did all the work this time to grieve as much as possible in intentional ways. When I was packing, I paused on the balcony and said goodbye to the view. I took pictures and compared it to the new view. I reached out for help to friends and family members, I cried, I prayed, I did the deal. Fabio and I even took an afternoon and went to the old apartment when it was all clean and empty and we each said memories we had there… we realized it was where Julia lost her first tooth and Sophia learned to do the splits. Change is hard for me. Even though I’m not a person who likes to do the same thing every day, I do like routine sometimes and moving really disrupts routine! But today I went running on the same path in the woods that I’ve been running on for the last three years. Grateful that didn’t have to change! They say in Third Culture Kid literature that how kids grieve is directly related to whether or not they thrive in life. I hope and pray we are helping our girls know how to walk through grief and change even though it feels messy and imperfect. What are you grieving lately? What kind of changes have come your way? That phrase, “The only thing that doesn’t change is change itself.” This phrase is sometimes attributed to Heraclitus of Ephesus, the Greek philosopher who is known for talking about the universe being in constant flux. I’m grateful for the cup of coffee I made first thing this morning, for Lectio 365, a daily devotional app that sometimes helps me get grounded, for journaling and The Message version of the Bible, for acoustic guitar music, for almonds and breadsticks and cereal, for a walk in the woods, the girls being at school, Fabio working in Lyon so I have the house to myself, for my doctoral paper due this Friday, for friends and family, for Fabio’s birthday party last Saturday, for all the many things that have not changed even while we once again uprooted all of our belongings and placed them in another home.