"They're going home, to the place where they belong..."

Wahoo! After much hoping and praying my parents finally found out today that my dad got his job transferred back to the great state of Missouri!! They've been living for the past two years in Springfield, Illinois where my dad got a job as manager of the automotive department at Wal-Mart. My brother and his family were also living in Illinois at the time so it was a nice arrangement for them. And after living in the same 30 mile radius for their entire lives I think it was good for my parents to meet some new people!
But in March my brother moved to a church in Eldon, MO, which, for all of you who aren't familiar with Missouri, is close to the Lake of the Ozarks, but it's also 4 hours away from Springfield. Well, that's just too far for Grandma and Grandpa to be away from their five grandkids. As you can see from this picture they are pretty cute so it's easy to understand why you'd want to live close to them! Maybe someday I'll get to as well...Anyways, now my parents are moving to Jefferson City, Missouri which depending on where they find a house is only about 30 short minutes up Hwy 54 from my brother's new home.
This is good for me for a few reasons (I know it's not always all about me but it's my blog so sometimes it can be!)
*First, I will save so much money on gas by not having to drive on one of the world's most boring highways to get from Springfield to Missouri to visit my family, friends and churches.
*When I (Lord willing) go home for Christmas I can watch the Mizzou-Illini bragging rights game on a Missouri channel rather than an Illinois channel like I did last time I was home. If your team's going to get beat it's better to watch it with sympathetic broadcasters rather than on the enemies network.
*Just like when we lived in Cairo, they will now be back in the middle of the state so I can compare ticket prices and schedules for two airports (KC and St. Louis) rather than just St. louis.
*When I go home to visit I can spend lots of time with my nephews and nieces without lots of the advanced planning that goes along with visiting someone who lives a couple of hours away. I can just drop in whenever! well, I guess I'll have to clear that with my sister in law but I don't think she'll mind.
*Even though I will be sad to leave behind the Springfield strip mall that contains Bed, Bath and Beyond, Kohls and Old Navy I won't be too sad because the Lake of the Ozarks has great Outlet Malls!
I'm excited to see where they will end up living, and also excited that I don't have to help them move!:-) Although I think if my brother wasn't a poor preacher with 5 kids he would probably buy me a plane ticket home just so I would have to help!
So, starting in August if you happen to be in the Jefferson City Wal-Mart Supercenter and see the guy in the picture above--his name is David--you can tell him hi!