A lot has changed in the last 21 months. As hard as it is to believe, it was 21 months ago when we made the announcement we would be moving to Iceland. Time is weird. It feels as if it has been a lifetime since that moment, but also feels like it was just yesterday.
I think it is safe to say 2020 blindsided most everyone and we were no different. It was a hard year and to make it harder, we pushed on towards moving our family to another country, which involved purging most of our belongings, selling things that once brought a sense of security – our cars, our home, just stuff in general. It wasn’t easy and I think it is safe to say it may be one of the hardest things I have done so far in my life.
But when you feel God moving you in a direction, you move. After a lot of ups and downs and starts and stops, we finally made it here on June 24, 2021.
And Now We Are In Iceland
We are finishing up our sixth week here. My biggest source of anxiety about moving here was how the girls would adjust. Yeah, they are good. In fact, they are doing really, really well. It’s funny, they really didn’t miss a beat. They are playing hard, making friends, and just enjoying life.
I think of the four of us, I am probably having the hardest time adjusting. And it’s bizarre – it’s not the weather or temperature, it’s not the new surroundings or changes in daily life; it’s none of the things I thought would be the hardest. I realized that over the last year and a half I have been so very busy. Busy getting the house ready to sell, busy moving into an apartment, busy packing, busy getting visa applications and school applications in order, busy saying goodbye – just so very busy. And now, all that stuff is done, and I don’t have errands to run or deadlines to meet, or appointments, or activities…
It is the stillness and the lack of activity that has hit me the hardest. I don’t know how not to be busy. And it’s hard.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible has always been Psalm 46:10.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
All last year I felt God telling me to just be still. I felt Him telling me to slow down. I joke that He hurled me to the ground in January 2020 in an effort to slow me down and I just ignored it and barreled on through. But now, here I am, faced with stillness. I am surrounded by beauty and stillness, and I truly believe it is exactly where I am supposed to be in this moment. I believe my heart and life are being prepared for what comes next…whatever that may be.
But Enough About Me…
Here’s where things currently stand with our family…
- Our visas were approved back in July (sorry, never sent the official update of that info out). That means we are now legally able to stay longer than just three months.
- We moved…again. We were staying in a great little apartment in downtown Reykjavik, which was perfect when we first got here. It was within walking distance of just about everything – grocery stores, food, shopping, bus stops, etc. However, it was literally steps away from the busiest area in Reykjavik. So, on the weekends, it got loud. Everything was reopening, tourism was picking back up, and woah…from 3:30am until about 6am, it was constant noise outside our windows. Sometimes there was even a random firework or two. Therefore, we are now a little further away from city center.
- Girls will start school on August 23rd, and I believe we will get to take them on a tour of the school later this week, as well as meet their teachers.
- I will start school later that same week. (I’m too old for this). FYI, Icelandic is a tough language for a Southern girl from East Tennessee.
We miss our friends and family back home and love hearing from everyone. Please feel free to comment, call, email, text, or however else you wish to communicate with us.