my autobiography up to this date

This facebook thing has sent me into abit of a spin.
I feel like I am meeting myself coming around the last circle of information and updates.
And just when I think I might have brought all of my facebook friends up to date on our life and times, here comes another friend....asking....where have you been, what have you done, how did you end up where you are, when did you move, why are you moving...................................
and so, I have decided to post a blog that will chronicle the Robert DeKlavon family doings up to this date....and I will start with when we got married...Bob and I that is.

After 5 1/2 years of dating, I stated to the love of my life, that he was not able to make a decision about the direction of our relationship, by the end of February, then the decision would be made for him.. I had an application for Nurses Christian Fellowship on my desk, and had finally decided that in spite of the fact that I really did want a future with him, I had moved to Chicago to see if that future was possible, I was not willing to drag the relationship out any longer. And VOILA, the earth moved, the DeKlavon decided, and by March 1st we were engaged to be married. In spite of the air traffic controllers strike, and the cancelling of all flights, I was able to get out of Chicago one day early, and get to Miami for our lovely wedding. We returned to Chicago after a week of hurricane threat and recovery, and were soon confronted with record setting cold weather. Reminiscent of my decision to move as far south as possible upon high school graduation, we headed south after Bob finished his Master of Divinity program at TEDS.

Four years in Bradenton, FL cemented a love for the west coast of Florida, and as we have realized in the following years (make that decades), is totally our favorite place to live. SO - prophetically - 15 years from now, anticipate a change of address card notifying you that we have returned to the south and been reunited with our hearts. Kind of sounds like that song "I left my heart, in San Francisco...........make that I left my heart, in the land of De Soto......I digress. Why this sentiment? Maybe because this is where we started our family, and connected with friends who we came to really love and treasure.

My heel marks are still visible on I-75 heading south, as God moved us to Fort Myers, where Bob accepted a Pastorate and the new and struggling Ft. Myers Evangelical Free Church. I left a super support system, and was scared to death....two children under two - well really - one was one year and 6 months old, and the other 11 months. I remember sitting on the floor of the borrowed house into which we had moved, and holding both girls tightly, crying and saying - its you two, and me now girls...... Fortunately, I landed in a Bible Study where I met my first best friend, and my sanity was saved, or at least I didn't totally go over the edge. It took several years, and gradually, I came to really like my home, my church, my job, and my friends. We bought a house, and lived there for all but two years of our time in Ft. Myers. We moved there in 1986, and left in 2005 - so I guess that was 19 years.....almost to the day.

During our time in Ft. Myers, I found my nursing best unit - the recovery room, went to Grad school and got an MA, we weathered the years of parenting, church growth, building church buildings, and home additions. I remember Bob saying "I could retire in this town" - and I exclaimed "Retire from this town maybe, but not in this town". I frequently wanted to move, and wondered why we would be in the same church for so many years when the average stay of a Pastor is less than five years. We knew it was time to leave, and if you read previous posts, you will realize that the moving away from Ft. Myers was one of the most painful experiences of my entire life, I know that it was the only thing that we could have or should have done.

In Sept. of 2005, we came to Hiram, GA to plant an Evangelical Free Church. In the last four years we have made and lost friends, floundered, despaired, battled our belief in God's call on our life, and concluded that even though we really did believe that we came here to plant a church, God's plan was different than our plan. And so - Bob has accepted, and begun, a Pastorate in Joliet, IL. Faith Bible Church is 75 years old, and has been an Evangelical Free Church (our denomination of choice) for two (+). As I headed south to visit my parents (who retired in Bradenton, FL by the way - see a trend here?), Bob headed north to Chicago. He is in a little bachelor apartment. Elizabeth (who graduated in April 2008 from Indiana Wesleyan University) is at L'abri England, Evangeline is finishing her GED program - and her son Wesley - 3 years old - shares the three bedroom basement apartment in our home. I am working in a recovery room at a near by hospital - after 4 years of working in professional development - and have given notice that my last day will be May 15th. We will all pack up and move enmasse to the suburbs of the city where we started this saga almost 28 years ago............

Because we have been in a wilderness for the last four years, we are so grateful that God has called us to an area where He already has posted some of our very best friends. My college best friend lives less than two hours away in Mishawaka, IN, my first Ft. Myers friend lives in Bridgman MI- straight across Lake Michigan, and Bob's all time forever best friend lives in Crete, IL which is only 45 minutes from Joliet..............So even though our outside person will be FREEZING cold - our hearts will be toasty warm........and don't forget - we are heading south again one day :)


hope this helps you fill in the gap that was left since our last meeting......Janice