Newest Chapter – The Howells are Indiana Bound.

You read that right. Here very shortly the Howell family will be packing their bags and starting a new journey as we move and start a new life in Indianapolis. Today we put an offer on a ranch home in Carmel, a suburb of Indy. To some of you this is surprising news, to others you might have heard through the grape vine or from us directly. This sudden change in our lives has happened quickly and unexpectedly fast in the last week and a half. There’s probably a lot of questions, and I’ll try to answer them the best I can here.

It’s safe to say our life can easily be summed up by one word this past year and that is “Change”. We have been on a constant roller coaster ride since we felt led to adopt and brought our son Jackson home from Ukraine this past Fall. We really thought that once we finished the adoption process that things would finally start to settle down for us and that we could finally sit back and relax. From the moment we’ve been home we’ve had to adjust to life with a toddler, to my transition from a professional to a Stay at Home Father. Overall it’s been a great transition and we count all of these opportunities as true blessings from our God. We should have known that once we got home from Ukraine that life would just keep rolling along in new directions.

The reason we are leaving Ohio came about because of a job transfer opportunity for Lindsey with the accounting firm she works for in downtown Columbus. The timing is interesting as before the opportunity became available we were presented with some private decisions where we were able to discuss what some of our future plans “down the road” would be. We had both contemplated the idea of possibly moving to Indiana at some point as Lindsey is from there and we would be closer to her family. However, such plans were long term and depended on certain things to happen and we didn’t want to step on God’s toes and not follow the path He’s laid out for us.

Well, after these discussions and lots of prayer, the opportunity presented itself the very next day. Lindsey was asked what her long term plans were, and she discussed them to HR just as we had done the day before. She then learned of an open position in the Indianapolis office. God’s timing is impeccable! In shock, we slept on the idea and Lindsey let her firm know this would be something she was interested in. At first, it seemed like it might be something that would work out after busy season, but after a call from the Indianapolis partner the thought of moving in the spring turned to as soon as possible!

So with excitement and nervousness mixed in, we set up an appointment with a realtor in Indianapolis and spent this past weekend viewing about eight different houses. We fell in love with two and made the trip back last night to give them a second look. We’ve decided on a beautiful ranch home in Carmel, Indiana which is just minutes from Lindsey’s sister Janel and her family. Tonight we made the first big step at becoming first home owners by making an offer. We will hear back by 1 PM tomorrow whether the seller accepts, denies, or counters our offer!

If it is God’s will, we will end up in this house. We are praying it is, as regardless if we get a home or not Lindsey starts work in Indianapolis on Tuesday. We are renting an apartment now, so I would stay home with Jackson until we get a house or find a temporary solution. But again, we are praying our offer is accepted or that we can reach an agreement on a counter offer! If the seller signs the contract, we’ve asked to have our closing date by February 18th.

So yes, wow. This is a lot. It hasn’t even been two weeks since we’ve been processing all of this. I feel bad for not updating but there was a lot of people we were trying to explain this to in such a short amount of time including our LifeGroup at church. We are excited for what’s ahead of us, but the decision has not been easy to relocate. This decision is putting its toll on us as we know we are leaving behind great friends and people we truly care about. We are also in love with our church at NewLife. Our church family has been so supportive of us during our entire adoptive journey in many ways and it’s hard not to feel like we are turning our back on them as soon as we get home. But we have to have faith that God has a reason for everything and that He must need us in Indiana. We are excited for the opportunity to meet new friends and find a new Church while sharing our walk with God with other believers.

Though I know a lot of our friends are just recently learning this news we want to remind everyone that my family is here in Ohio and we will be making trips back often to see all of you and keep in touch! We are only going to be a mere three hours away! Though we will make new friends and meet new faces, I personally will always love everyone here so much. I’ve grown up in this great Buckeye state and will always call it home.

We ask that you please keep us in our prayers as the next twenty four hours are going to be very important for us. We could be buying a house before the week ends! I will definitely keep all of you posted and now that the cat is out of the bag officially, I will try to start blogging again with my stories home with my boy. Thanks for reading. We love you all and God Bless!