The View From a Different Window: ~We followed~

It was one year ago today that we arrived in this part of the world, having packed up everything we owned and left our mountain home in Montrose, Colorado. We had absolutely no idea what would lie ahead of us and only knew what we were leaving behind. After a long day of driving, we arrived in Wichita Falls around 7 in the evening. We were tired, hungry, and a whole lot on the discouraged side. The home that had been promised to us to rent was not available at all. The money we put down was lost and for a brief moment in time, we were without a place. It was as close to being "homeless" as I ever want to be.

Little did we know that God had another plan for us. Wichita Falls was not to be our stopping point after all. Early in the morning of the next day, we knew we had to do something. Mike got behind the wheel of my vehicle and said 7 simple words.

"Where do you think we should go?"
At first we headed towards Henrietta, a small community just a few miles up the road. I had applied for a teaching position there, but had not heard back from them. We only got about a mile down the highway when I told Mike that we should go the other way. Something told me that we should try Burkburnett instead and being the good husband he is, Mike Renfro turned around.

Within half a day's time, we had secured a place to rent and were so thankful that we could finally get our moving truck unloaded and our pets into a new place. We knew no one in this community and wondered how on earth we would get our truck unloaded. A local church came to the rescue and we were able to hire a couple of their young men to do the job. It began to rain half way through the unloading process but it didn't damper those two men's spirit. They kept right on going. Soon my sister and brother-in-law from the nearby community of Altus, Oklahoma arrived and how good it was to realize that we were now just a stone's throw away from one another.

Things were beginning to look up.
Thank goodness!

Both Mike and I went through the first month without the prospect of a job for either of us. I had applied in several places but nothing came available for me. In mid-June, Mike suggested we get out of the house for a while and go over to Byers to see their car show. On the way over there was when I discovered the small town of Petrolia and learned of a teaching position that was available. Within the month, I had an offer of a classroom that I gladly accepted. Later on, Mike was offered the job of being the manager of our new hardware store here in town. By summer's end, we both were employed.

So much has happened to us since we arrived. Mike's dear and special Aunt Margaret passed away in October. She had been living in Olney, a nice town about an hour's drive away from us here. We had been able to go and visit her every weekend from our arrival in June until shortly before she died. How we wished to have been able to have more time with her but at least we had the summer. We bought a new home in January on the other side of town from our original rental and moved in towards the middle of the month. The Renfro Family is putting down our roots here and we feel much to home. This community has been wonderful to us and for us. There are no regrets whatsoever in our decision to locate here.

God has been good to us.

I so often have been asked why it was that we came to settle here. People want to know why we would ever leave the beauty of the mountains for the plains of Texas. When Mike and I were first deciding on where would go in this huge state, we weren't quite sure. I do remember the day when Mike sat at the table with the atlas in front of him and drew a circle around the city of Wichita Falls. One way or the other, we knew that this area was the place that God was leading us to. With a whole lot of faith, we did one thing.

We followed.