Keep Moving

Surely, this can’t be God. It doesn't make any sense. We had a word from God years ago to move to Washington and set down roots here in our little spot in the Pacific Northwest and that’s exactly what we did. And it wasn't an easy process. at. all. 

I was incredulous when my husband randomly got a call for a job offer two years ago back at a church in our hometown in California where we’re from.

“But, Lord… “ I started, “We just finished building the house. I finally have a decent kitchen. Running water. Our kids finally have their own beds… and we all even have our own rooms. Privacy. No more living out of boxes. No more construction dust, late night Home Depot runs, sweat, hard work, and tears. And after all of this time and all of this hard work… you want us to leave it? We've waited so long to be able to just live here.”

Why would He want us to go back now?

We were finally finishing a very long chapter in our story and couldn’t wait to enjoy what we had hoped would be a happy ending… a season of rest and enjoyment in our new home, after all of the physical, spiritual, and emotional stress and strain of so many climactic years spent laboring so intensively. 

We’d waited years for this time to come. We’d camped in a fifth-wheel trailer with our two little kids for nearly four years and lived in an unfinished (cold, cement) basement for two more years while building. I was so ready to finally make this house we worked so hard to build our home. To just live in it. I would never have guessed God would ever have called us to leave it. Especially not now.

Why would He take it away from us?

While in shock and in the midst of many nagging questions, my husband flew out to California to see what God might be doing and what this job offer was all about. We responded with a simple, “We’ll pray about it.” 

In our hearts, we didn’t want to go. But we knew better than to just say, “No,” without even asking God about it.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” 

- Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

At first, we prayed begrudgingly, fearing what it would mean if God said, “Yes,” that moving was His will for us. However, as we prayed, everything around us began quickly changing, including our hearts. Crazy, timely confirmations kept coming our way that indicated we were to keep moving in this new direction we felt God was leading us that made absolutely. no. sense.

Other things started happening to almost push us in this new direction. My husband’s income at his current job began dwindling rapidly. As we wondered what we were going to do, with my part-time income working not being enough to provide for our family, God reminded us, “Trust me, I’m providing. In my way.” 

Details of the move began coming together and God showed us that everything we thought we’d need to justify this massive move for our family was going to be provided… and more. He’d already been opening divine doors of provision… He was just waiting on us to begin to walk through them, by faith.

Slowly, He began prying our hearts from the tight grip we didn't realize we’d developed around our home and way of life with homeschooling and country living on roughly five acres. Life was about to change drastically… and fast. 

In a matter of about a month, my husband had accepted the job, we’d packed up simple necessities, and left behind our home in the Pacific Northwest to live in a house that wasn't our own and take on the hustle and grind of city life again, with our kids attending the private school at the church instead of homeschooling. 

Shortly after arriving and before school started, a job also opened up for me at the same church and we began the hectic juggling act of trying to balance work life and home life with fuller schedules than we had ever known before as a family. But we were determined to make the most of it.

While we were having a hard enough time trying to adjust, the worst was when my almost eight-year-old son would often come to me and cry, telling me how much he just wanted to go home. As I would try to console him, I realized that we were all being tested through this season. We were no longer building a house, but we were building character. All of us. My husband, myself, my daughter, and my son. We were all given opportunities to grow. 

We were stretched beyond our limits. We discovered the depths of our beliefs and our potential. We struggled to keep up with the hustle of city life, of trying to balance new demands at work, school, and home. We longed so much for the comfort of home, for a season of rest. While we greatly enjoyed being near extended family and were able to spend precious time making memories with them, we still desperately craved our home and vastly different pace of life.

The lessons we were learning were not comfortable, but they were valuable. We learned so much about ourselves, about our identities, and about contentment. We learned to wait on the Lord. Really wait. To lean into Him to satisfy our every craving and longing. We were “enlarged in the waiting.” Enlarged in heart, in attitude, in character, and capacity. 

“…The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.” 

- Romans 8:22-25 (selections, MSG)

Never would we have guessed our season living in California would be so brief. After only a year, God opened a door for us to return home to Washington last summer and we carried many lessons home with us.

We learned to have hearts at rest in Him even in the midst of the hard things and hustle… to still our souls and focus on Him when the pace of life was faster than what we felt we could keep up with… to trust in His grace for our weaknesses and insufficiencies, rolling our burdens upon Him instead of trying to carry them ourselves... that no matter what different way of life He asked us to take on, we could still take up His yoke and it would be made easy… and His burden would be light.

More than anything, I personally brought home a determination that He is my God, and I will say, “Yes,” to Him and follow Him, no matter the cost, no matter where He leads. 

In this season, I learned that God wasn't after our house… He wasn't trying to take it from us. He was after our hearts and making sure we were content to make our home in Him alone. 

He wanted us to keep moving, to not get stuck in our story… not stuck in a comfort zone, a hard season, a way of life, a dead end, a way of thinking, or even a house. He wanted us to keep following Him, traveling light on the journey, holding things with a loose grip, trusting in and relying on Him in great faith and obedience. Each and every day. Because He is with us. For us. Leading and guiding us always. And faithful to build His character in us that is of greater value than anything else. No matter where our journey takes us.

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What About You? 

Have you ever felt stuck in your story, not understanding where it might be going? Is God calling you to move out of your comfort zone in some way? Has He ever asked you to step out in faith in a way that made no sense at the time? Have you learned any valuable lessons through hard seasons?