I’m 50. That’s not old these days, but it’s not young either and, as I constantly remind my husband Eric, he’s two years old than me.

We have two children, both of whom are now legally adults. One is 100% emancipated; she even pays for her car insurance and cell phone, the final apron strings according to modern child-rearing. The younger is a sophomore in college. We still have to keep her in clothes and food and shampoo for some more years. She’s many states (or countries) away for most of the year now, however.

We’ve felt a tug to do something different in this, our 6^th decade of existence. And we don’t know what that is.

Where are we supposed to be? And what are we supposed to be doing there?

For eighteen years, we’ve been suburbanites in North Baltimore. We have never been city people. But we both work in Baltimore City and see its charm, its challenges and its call.

In Baltimore, you don’t need to go far to go far. This greater longing to be intentional about where (and who) we are has led us to start a discernment process about our next move. We expect this will be a multi-year journey, but that’s only a guess.

We have far more questions than answers. Where should we live? How would we be a good neighbor in a different community? Where, and who, are we supposed to be?

 This all started as an exercise in trying to get out of lawn care—I’m not kidding. We are super lazy when it comes to maintenance of things like lawns. We update a fixture when it breaks or a wall color when the furniture bumps on the wall are too much to bear, and only then. But as this idea has germinated, it feels more God-ordained than sloth-driven.

I believe we are supposed to determine where (and consequently who) we will be in, God willing, the second half of this, our time on Earth. I’ve loved North Baltimore. We’ve been a part of many facets of its community life. But when God prompts you on, you listen.

Here I am, Lord. Send me. Is 6:8.

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PS: Get cool city maps on Etsy here. The artwork above is from this site.