2017 Part Three - Affirmation

I believe that God has His ways of encouraging us when we're following his lead.  Whether it be with plans "falling into place", from overwhelming support from friends and strangers, or being filled with a calming sense of peace, He lovingly pulls us along the right path.  On the other hand, I've experienced a great deal of stress, frustration, and futility in trying to forge my own path, especially when I'm doing it for the wrong reasons.  I wanted to conclude this third and final part of our family's transition by sharing some of the things, both big and small, that assured us we were making the right decisions.

One of the first miracles was actually landing my new job.  Before I even applied though, it was amazing that my best friend had recently joined the same company and was able to give me his first-hand account of what it was like to work there.  Another miracle was the fact that we sold our home so quickly - in about a month.  We had a lot of "stuff" to get rid of before we moved, so we spent a lot of time selling things on Facebook, Craigslist, and one big yard sale.  I think some people wonder why you're selling your stuff, so we made it a point to note that we were moving and everything had to go.  Naturally, the folks we met during this time would ask us "Where are you moving to?".  When we said "Lancaster", every single person would respond with some encouraging story about how much they love the area or that they had friends who lived there and loved it.

When we were searching for our new house, every home we turned down was a clear "no" for us.  There really wasn't much uncertainty or debate.  We tried to purchase two homes, and both of those opportunities were abruptly taken out of our reach.  When we found the home we ultimately bought, there wasn't anything for us to say "no" to.  The neighborhood was bustling with children, the schools were great, and the neighbors were awesome.  When I looked at the house for the first time, I had the chance to meet a couple of our future neighbors.  They told me we had to buy the house and that, even though they hadn't met my wife yet, they said I seemed "okay" and if she married me, she must be "okay" too!  We hadn't even put in an offer on the house and we already had some cool new friends.  A week after we moved in, the neighborhood had their annual block party.  Our new friends introduced us to a LOT of other families in the neighborhood!  I also learned that there was a men's group that met every 2 weeks just a block away from our house.  It turned out to be a great way to meet some of the other guys in the neighborhood, have some fellowship, and discuss our day-to-day struggles with being a good father & husband.

Awesome stuff happened at my new job, too.  During my first week, I was in orientation with several people who shared that they didn't drink.  This was encouraging for me, since I was not looking forward to having to explain to my new coworkers that I didn't drink either.  It just kinda' came out quickly and painlessly.  Early-on, when I was still commuting and staying at my buddy's place during the week, I found an awesome Wednesday evening bible study.  I had asked my cube-neighbor where I should take some cardboard for recycling.  She said that she usually takes her cardboard to church for crafts and other projects.  I asked her where she went to church, which eventually led to an invitation for me to join them on Wednesday nights.  We hadn't even moved yet and I already had a lead on a great new church!  I was also very surprised by just how many of my new coworkers were Christians and/or actively involved in a local church.

Our actual move did not disappoint either.  A bunch of folks from our old church family had volunteered to help us pack and load the U-Haul.  Of course I didn't want to actually ask for help, so I nonchalantly agreed that we could use "a few extra hands with some of the heavy stuff".  Thank God a literal army of our church members and their families showed up on moving day.  I had seriously underestimated the amount of stuff that we still had to pack and get into the U-Haul, and we definitely needed their help.  One family took our children so that we could focus on packing.  Our pastor packed that truck like nothing I've ever seen before...and I've moved A LOT.  After we had everything loaded up, I'm not sure you could've found a hole big enough to fit a baseball.

Dara and I still ended up pulling an all-nighter to finish packing and cleaning.  Now, we had to drive our cars (separately) to Lancaster for our closing, come back for the U-Haul, drive it down and unload it, then make another round trip to get everything out of our storage units.  We could have taken an extra day to rest, but I had only reserved the U-Haul for 2 days.  We were exhausted, and my rough timeline estimate was telling me that we'd get less than 4 hours of sleep in the next 24 hours if we were going to get everything moved in time.  About 20 minutes into the drive, I really started feeling the sleep deprivation and  I began to panic that we'd never finish in time or that I'd end up in an accident.  Just then, I received a text from our pastor.  He wanted to make sure that we had help unloading in Lancaster.  Somehow, he knew that we needed help.  Not only did he have the U-Haul waiting for us at our new home after our closing, he also managed to recruit one of his buddies in Lancaster to stop over after work and help with the unloading.  We finished the first load in time to get a full night's sleep so that my buddy Scott and I could make the final round-trip in the morning.

We found out that our daughter's school had just been built that summer.  The idea of being one of the first 2nd graders to ever attend this new school seemed to take some of the "new kid" jitters off of her mind.  We had another incredible surprise when we learned that my best friend's wife also got a new job...as the Vice Principal of our daughter's new school!  Now she practically had a family member working at her school.

We knew this transition would be challenging.  In many ways, it definitely was.  We ended up having to dump a considerable amount of money into repairs at our old home, but we still tried our best to find a little joy in the fact that our sacrifice was a blessing to the new owners and their family.  We didn't let it drag us down.  So many other things were working out far beyond our expectations.  I have no doubt we're supposed to be exactly where we are, and I'm so grateful for the many people who have touched our lives and given so much to help our family.  I'm looking forward to discovering why God brought us here and what He has planned for us next.  Whatever it is, I hope and pray we can do it with the same amount of faith, ambition, energy, and support.  Through Him, all things truly are possible.  It is true for us, and I promise it is true for you too.