I like change.  I just do.  Angie and I think that there may not be two pictures in our house of me with the same beard structure/hair style.  I love the change in seasons.  I like to rearrange my office.  I just like change.

I’ve never lived farther than 30-45 minutes from the town where I grew up.  In fact, right now as I right in my office, I’m sitting less than 2 miles away as the crow flies from the house I lived in as a kid.  I always figured that I’d be the one that would move away.  Angie and her family assumed that she would move home after college.  Kind of weird how that worked out.

So, last week as we traveled I started thinking about what it would be like to live away from Fishers, IN.  Then my brain really started wandering and I had this HUGE list of other places where I could live and so I paired them all down to 11.  Seems like a good round number… (math people are laughing hysterically at that… trust me.)

Here’s the list in no particular order with the reasons why I could live there:

1.  Chicago, IL. – I know Angie would love to live near her family again someday.  They’re all quite close and 3 hours makes it a little tougher.  The Cubs.  And, let’s be honest… they have THE BEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD.  (Sorry, NYC & Italy… it’s true.)
2.  Hong Kong – I absolutely loved the culture and hub of activity when I visited a number of years ago.  Only took me 2 days to master the mass transit system.  Little proud of that one.
3.  Anywhere in Ireland – Guinness, green, and the opportunity to run into Bono and buy him a pint?  Sure, I’ll take it!
4.  Golden, CO. – Once you get over the hoppy smell in the air from the Coors plant, it’s a beautiful place.  A little secluded but close enough to everything that you’d hardly notice.
5.  Northeastern US. – Seafood, evergreen trees and the kind of damp winter air that makes you want to light a fire and smoke a pipe.
6.  Waco, TX. – Worshiping on a regular basis being led by David Crowder would be alright by me.
7.  Grand Rapids, MI – I love the Mars Hill community here.  Sure, Rob Bell’s a big a draw, but I totally connect with what they do and how they operate.
8.  Cincinnati, OH – Chili, the geography, and one of the few churches I’ve walked into and feel at home instantly.  If I ever hear that Crossroads is hiring a worship guy…
9.   Seattle, WA – Birth place of Starbucks, another Mars Hill community I appreciate, and the western seascape… melts my heart just thinking about it.
10. London, Eng. – I get told regularly that I’m a pretty melancholy person.  I don’t really see it.  I do, however, find a good rain refreshing the music in my life’s soundtrack takes on the look of the weather, so maybe it’s a good place to be.
11. Southern California – Angie dreams of living near the beach someday.  I think the sand might get annoying after awhile, but perfect weather and this Mexican place called Miguel’s that the women in my family crave seems like reason enough to go.

But, I don’t live in any of those places.  I haven’t even visited all of them.  Truth is…

I’m called to live here.
I’m called to make a difference in my neighborhood.
To make an impact on my community.
Kind of hard to argue with GOD about that kind of feeling.  I’ve tried.  Didn’t get me too far.

It reminds me of a passage in Genesis where GOD told Abraham to pack up and go.  The Bible doesn’t give a lot of detail to Abraham’s inner monologue, but I have to think he was a little confused and maybe even tried to talk GOD out of it.  But, he still went.  He followed his call.  Maybe mine will change someday, but as for now… I can’t live anywhere else.

I’m just not supposed to.