I have intentionally neglected this blog. Although in my mind I am always thinking about it. It has been with good reason and I do feel that I owe an explanation. The reason is that
we moved. Not a small average move, I must say. We have moved to a different country. If you follow me on social media, you know by now that we moved to Louisiana.
My husband lived here in his teens and has always had a desire to return. When we first got married he mentioned wanting to move here and I was absolutely against it. I had made a promise to myself that I would never ever return to the States. Just the thought of even visiting would give me a knot in my stomach, and a nauseating unsettling feeling. So that's how we lived; never thinking about it again. Every now and then my husband would reminisce about his days in the south and state how much he loved it, and that's how far the conversation would ever go.
One day my husband received an invitation to preach at a youth event in Louisiana, which he accepted. In preparation for this event, he mentioned how nervous he was because he hadn't been there for so long. He made plans to visit his old church, which his uncle is the pastor of. The day approached fast and he left for the weekend. I stayed home praying for him, and in my Spirit, I knew that he would not come back the same. I was right. When he returned something had changed in him. He told me that they had invited him to preach at his old church, and when he preached something happened in his Spirit. He felt a connection with the people. They mentioned to him that they were in need of a youth pastor, and asked if he could stay. Of course, my husband rejected the idea. He had his family and church that he loved and was not willing to leave. He told me about how they prayed for him and he felt that something happened inside of him, but he could not explain it. We revisited the topic of moving once again, and after much discussion, we decided we could not leave our families and our church.
About a month later, he received another invitation to preach at his uncle church. He accepted. When he returned he told me that they invited him to leaders prayer. They prayed and prophesied over him and he received a word from God. He didn't tell anyone what he had received. It so happens that at the very last minute before his departure he was ambushed by the church leaders basically asking him to move. They had been intensely praying for quite some time for a youth leader, and the need was great. They expressed the concern they had for the youth group of their church. This was in accordance with the word God had given him. Even so, the only thing that my husband answered was that he would speak to his wife and pray about it. They said they would pray too. That was it. We spoke about it, and there were a lot of things that would be hard to leave unless God intervened. So we prayed and they prayed, and I could feel the pull of their prayers in my spirit.
Through prayer, I understood that my husband had a greater calling than what he was doing. I also understood that he needed mentorship, and to be moved from his comfort zone to be able to fulfill what God had planned for him. I told God that I believed in my husbands calling, that I knew that I was also part of the plan and that I would go but only if He placed everything in order. As I spoke these words in prayer that knot and the nauseating feeling was lifted. But oh, how heavy were those words in my heart. To leave all those you love, and all that you have worked hard for. IT WAS NOT EASY! My husband and I prayed, waited and set a date, to set a date. During this time we set signs that only God knew and only God could fulfill.
As time went by all the things that were happening were indicating that God was working in Lousiana's favor. I will not get into details of everything that suddenly changed, but signs were fulfilled. All I can say is that when you ask God to guide you, He does. And he does so in a way that you will clearly understand. YOU have to be realistic and accept God's guidance. Many times he speaks to us again and again and we choose not to understand because we prefer to be where we are comfortable. God spoke to us, as clear as day, and we understood.
A date for the move was set. We spoke to our loved ones, and although they were sad, they understood. This was the pattern with everyone we spoke. To our surprise, there was no opposition. I mean in our human-ness we thought no one cared, but now I know that was not the case. Well, I guess it is NO surprise because God does all things perfect. We bought our plane tickets, quit our jobs, sold all of our possessions and literally came with a suitcase of clothes each. Now, I do not recommend this unless you are 100% sure that God is calling you elsewhere. So like, don't try this at home type of thing. I still can't believe it, to be honest.
Everything happened so fast. (as seems to be the norm in my life) All of a sudden we were on a plane to our new life. I didn't even cry on the plane. I was so worried about the kids, who did amazing by the way, that I didn't have time to process my emotions until a few days after the move... and that story is for the next post.
October 30, 2017
