See y’all in Texas

Kids Books Without Borders is moving!

As some of you know, especially those of you who have requested books from Kids Books Without Borders in the last few months, we are moving from Bloomington, Indiana to Waco, Texas this August.

Where is Waco, TX? It is located between Dallas and Austin.

It is a big move for us to go from the Midwest to Texas. I grew up in France and Tim grew up in the Chicago area. During our married life, we have lived in the Chicago area, in Ithaca, New York, in South Bend, Indiana and in Bloomington, Indiana for the last 24 years with a few sabbatical years woven in – one year in St Andrews, Scotland and one semester in Oxford, England.

After teaching at Indiana University for 24 years, Tim has decided to take a position in the philosophy department at Baylor University. Since making the decision to move in late January, life has been crazy – decluttering, deciding what to keep and what to take with, preparing our house for sale, deciding whether to buy a place in Waco or rent for a year (we decided to rent), hiring a moving company etc. and in the midst of all of this, helping our middle daughter move to Delaware where she started a doctorate in physical therapy program at the University of Delaware. We were also helping our younger daughter decide on a college (she decided to go to Indiana University). In a few weeks, we get Lindsay settled in the dorm here in Bloomington, then drive down to Waco.

Our house here in Bloomington sold quickly so the movers have packed up our house and are storing everything down in Texas until our arrival. It has been a crazy ride and we will be glad when life returns to normal. By normal, I mean, no boxes and no major decisions – but we realize things will be different. For me, having grown up in France, I view this as another cross-cultural experience and I anticipate the culture shock that will come.

How does all this affect Kids Books Without Borders? We actually moved all 6,000 books (plus our own large collection). I overheard one of the packers from the moving company saying: "It's like packing up a library!". I will set up shop again down in Waco, and hopefully, be functional again and ready to fill orders in September. Until then, I can respond to inquiries and send out the information about my ministry, but cannot fill orders as all my books are in boxes and stored in Texas. I apologize to all those who are home for just a few weeks and were hoping to take back books.

When we tell friends and family about our move and we mention Waco, the first response is always "That's where Chip and Joanna Gaines live". I must admit, I had not seen the show or heard of them prior to our visit to Waco in January, so we had to get up to speed. Due to the popularity of their HGTV show "The Fixer Upper", Waco now has over 10,000 visitors a week, visiting Joanna's home decor store The Magnolia and their adjacent bakery. Chip and Joanna are also planning to open a restaurant called the Magnolia Table this winter.

As a result of this show, tourism and Waco's housing market is booming. The downtown area of Waco is also undergoing drastic change with a multi-million dollar revitalization project along the downtown waterfront area, involving water-front apartment complexes, retail space, restaurants, hotel, park and as well as transforming the popular downtown farmer's market. So we will be arrive in Waco in the midst of all these changes.

We are a bit apprehensive, but feel this is where God is leading us at this stage of our lives. We joke that we are taking the whole "empty nest" stage of our marriage literally! We view this as a new adventure, and pray that God will open up new opportunities to serve him in this community.

What next for Kids Books Without Borders?

I am also praying that God would bring others along side me there who share my vision for Kids Books Without Borders. As I receive more and more requests, I am aware that I need help to continue this ministry. The first step is that I plan to apply to become an official non-profit organization, thanks to a generous donations from my home church here in Bloomington. I also need to expand my donor base, both financial and book donations to be able to stay afloat. We pray that as we settle there, we can find a home church that can come along side me in this ministry, as our church, The Evangelical Community Church, here in Bloomington has done over the years. I am so grateful for their support over the years.

Thanks for your patience with all the upheaval – it has meant that orders have taken longer than usual to get out, that I have gotten way behind on responding to emails – my apologies ! It has also meant I have neglected my website and blog – I hope to get that back up and running as well this Fall, continuing my series on Third Culture Kid children's book authors, as well as share with you other books that have particular interest to your third culture kids, both picture and chapter books. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, since we are on the subject of moving and many of you are going through or have gone through that same experience, check out books for your third culture kids on moving on my website. Go to kidsbookswithoutborders.wordpress.com. then search for "books on moving and transitions for TCKs". There are some great books out there to help your children through those transitions.

See y'all in Texas where it's hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk!