move

We arrived in Richmond in July of 2013 full of excitement and awe at how God had orchestrated this move for our family. Kyle was working a dream job, with a dream organization, in a dream location. 

We immediately fell in love with Richmond and the surrounding area. We felt at home, and the kids had no problems adjusting to our new life. 

Just a few short months after our move, we found ourselves in the home of dear friends in Atlanta signing our name on their calendar with a Sharpie stating that we would never move again. (evidently 6 houses in 3 states in 14 years isn't the norm) We had found exactly where God wanted us to be. This was our sweet spot, and we could not have been happier. 

Over the next 2.5 years, we fell even more in love with our city, our neighborhood, our church, and the community of people we had found. Kyle loved his job and knew this was exactly where God wanted him. We planned to be here forever. Our grandchildren would come to this house to visit. Lucas was picking out surrounding colleges to start looking into. Life was good.

But our plans were interrupted in January of this year. With no warning, Kyle's entire communications department of 30 people was eliminated. In the span of an hour, our plans came to a screeching halt.

Suddenly, Kyle was cast into the job search market. Sure, he had done this before. But every other time had been his (our) decision. While we looked desperately for job opportunities in Richmond, we soon realized that all of his active job possibilities were out of the area. Far out of the area. As in "too Many hours away to commute" out of the area.  It became clear that we would most likely have to move. Again, we're no strangers to moving. But, again, every other time this had been our decision. This time it felt forced upon us, and that didn't seem fair or right.

The last several months have been filled with times of anger, grief, anxiety, and confusion. Why did this happen? Why was this decision made? We questioned leadership's wisdom. We fought against bitterness. We have cried. We have screamed. We have sat by our kids' beds many hours trying to console them while they grieved leaving a church, school, and close friends they love. I would love to say this season has been handled with much grace, but if I'm honest, I have to say that although there have been moments we were filled with much grace, there have also been moments that were handled straight out of the flesh and broken places in our hearts. Yet, God has been faithful to meet us in those moments.

Kyle was blessed with many interviews at a variety of places. We were thankful for the options but prayed constantly that God would take every job opportunity away except one, so that it would be clear that was the way we should go. And He answered. In April, Kyle accepted a job with Lifeway Christian Resources in Nashville, TN. 

Initially, there was not a whole lot of excitement from me. While I was incredibly grateful to see God provide for us (it had been 4 very long months of job searching), I was still reeling from MY plans and MY dreams being shaken. I fought against this move with every fiber of my being.

Until I picked up the book Girl Meets Change and read this:

"....and even though I didn't feel ready to accept this change, I could acknowledge that God's hand was in this move. Oh, I could also still acknowledge that this move was incredibly hard. ...... I told the kids it was okay and normal to be sad for a while. But it was also okay to keep biblical truth tucked inside our hearts as well, truth that said God directed the next place we were to live, not Uncle Sam. Truth that said if God wants our family somewhere else, it's for our ultimate best. Truth that said while I felt miserable today because of this move, his promise held hope I wouldn't feel miserable forever."

I read that with tears streaming down my face and knew God was speaking those words directly to me. He had everything under control, and though I didn't - and still don't - understand, I could trust Him.

The light at the end of the tunnel is just now beginning to peek through. God is working in our family, and hope is starting to take root. In two weeks, our family will load up and drive the long drive to Hendersonville, TN to start a new season of our life. There will probably be tears, and a little bit of feeling miserable. BUT, we will hold on tightly to the truth that God is sovereign and works everything for our good and His glory.

There are good things in store. Look out Nashville, here we come!