New Beginnings

I hate moving, but that’s probably because I’ve done it a lot. My husband and I have moved ten times since our first apartment at the beginning of our marriage nearly 44 years ago; and I moved four times before that during my childhood. Most of these moves were short distances and not very impactful – only one (during my childhood) constituted changing states and traveling hundreds of miles. I remember that move from a 9-year-old’s perspective as a great family adventure! But moving is a lot of work even if it’s a short distance.

As I write this, one of my sons and his family are traveling across five states and over 1700 miles to their new home in a completely different part of our country. With four children under the age of ten and five pets, I’m not sure if their description at the end of it all will be “a great family adventure”! The process of buying and selling homes has already been stressful, as well as sorting and packing up the lives they have been accumulating in the thirteen years they have lived in the state they are leaving. My son has already made three trips by himself to their new state over the past few months. And then there is the plethora of emotions involved in leaving friends and jobs they have loved. Indeed, moving can be hard.

But moving can be exciting, too, because moving involves a new beginning. When I was a child, my family left behind a standard-sized city lot in a metropolitan area in California and moved onto five acres on the outskirts of a small rural town in Washington. We got horses and a boat, and my parents eventually bought lake property and built their dream home there. Ultimately, three generations ended up spending many hours swimming and enjoying water sports together as well as ministering and leading together in our small-town church. Most of these things would not have happened if we hadn’t moved.

And that’s where faith comes into the equation. My parents took a leap of faith and moved their family to a completely different environment and lifestyle during a time of great turbulence in our nation. They were looking for a better place to finish raising their kids. They trusted God to provide for all of their needs and to guide their decisions. And although my Dad had landed a job six weeks earlier while we vacationed in our new state, we even rolled into our new town in a U-Haul full of our belongings with no housing yet secured. God was faithful, and we only stayed in a motel for one night – transitioning to our amazing waterfront rental house on thirteen acres the day after we arrived in town! (Here’s a mind-blower: the rent was only $150/month!) A few months later, we moved onto our own five acres of heaven.

Our son and daughter-in-law have been putting faith to work for their move as well - and under similar circumstances in some ways. Looking for a more conservative and family-friendly place to raise their kids, they prayed over many months and trusted God to lead them to the right place. And God has answered with a job, housing, and a school for the kids that exceeds their expectations – all in an inviting small rural town. Yes, it’s been hard work; but everything has fallen into place in ways that could only come from God’s hand. Now they get to start their exciting new beginning and see what God does next!

New friends, new experiences, new ministries, new place. And new opportunities to watch God’s faithfulness in action. Another great family adventure brought to you by faith . . .