Since we had committed to believing we were moving, it was time to make some changes. We had to do something with the animals. We had three outdoor cats, three pigs (one we would butcher), two chickens, and a rooster.
A man had contacted J a few months earlier asking about the pigs. The breed we had was somewhat rare around our area, so he was interested in buying piglets. We didn’t have any piglets yet, but J planned on contacting him once we did. At this point, he remembered this man, and contacted him, asking if he was interested in taking the pigs, because the female would be ready to have piglets very soon. He was interested, and we received $550 for them. Again, this seems like a small thing, but we kept thinking of how the Lord orchestrated this months ago. He made the man contact us earlier, when we had no idea that we would be moving, so we would have someone to sell them to now.
That very day, we received a medical bill for $555. So, we sold the pigs for $5 less than the medical bill. Jarrod had agreed on the price for the pigs before we got the mail. Coincidence? I think not. God was taking care of us.
J had also applied for a different job in a town near our house, and decided to withdraw that application. If we believed we were going to Texarkana
I had moments of feeling anxious, and other times I would feel calm. I wasn’t worried about things working out, but I was worried about the moving process, and how my stomach would handle the stress of it all. We kept that in our prayers as well. Sometimes my mind can be calm, but my body doesn’t get the memo, and does its own thing. I did NOT want this to happen. J kept encouraging me to view the move as an exciting thing, rather than a scary thing. He was right; I needed to change the way I viewed it. I was afraid of leaving my “safe zone” and becoming uncomfortable for a while. Fear is NOT from the Lord. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
There were also moments when I would begin to doubt if we were doing the right thing, but I would immediately try to shut those doubts out. The Lord had given us peace about it days before, and I tried to focus on those verses that He had brought to our minds. There was even one day that I was wavering in my faith, and I opened my Bible. I opened it to a page where the passage title said “Encouragement to be faithful”. And some people think the Lord doesn’t speak to us anymore. ;)
We still had not heard anything about the job. I wondered if maybe the Lord was delaying it so it would cool off a little bit. After all, we had temperatures above 100 degrees several weeks without rain! Plus, ironically, we have moved EVERY time in the summer. It would be nice to move when it was a bit cooler! I also think he was giving us time to prepare. You see, we had plans to fix up our house over time. When the Lord started telling our hearts we would be leaving, we decided we better get to work! We painted walls, installed new floors, took down border wallpaper, etc. It doesn’t sound like a lot of work, but we were busy!
It was so difficult to wait for a call from J, telling me that he had gotten an interview. My heart started beating quickly every time he called. I even got annoyed with him a few times, because he would call extra times in the day to tell me something else. ;) It was especially discouraging once we reached the weekend and had not heard anything. It was definitely a time to trust in the Lord and learn to not be anxious. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” – Philippians 4:6
One day Jarrod received a daily devotional email talking about Joshua and Jericho, and how Joshua had the faith follow what sounded like a crazy plan to do the Lord’s will, (Joshua 6). Of course, the Lord calling us to go to a new town wasn’t exactly as crazy as walking around a city, expecting it to fall down on the seventh day, but to outsiders, doesn’t this sound a little crazy? If you had talked to us around this time, here is what our conversation may have sounded like:
Us: “Oh, by the way, we’re moving to ‘Auburn
You: “Oh yeah? Did you get a new job?”
Us: “No, but we’re waiting to get one.”
You: “Did you find a house there or something?”
Us: “No, but the Lord will find us a place to live.”
You: “Do you know somebody or have connections up there?”
Us: “No, the Lord has just given us this desire to move up there.”
You: "Are y'all crazy??"
Us: "Maybe a little." ;)
It seemed crazy. We didn’t tell anybody, because we knew that it only made sense to us. We knew that the Lord would provide for every detail, if we trusted Him to do it. And He did.
To be continued... (told you it was long!) ;)
Part one here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love comments, even if you're just a 'blog stalker'. It's cool, we are too. :)