We have been married almost 9 years and we have moved 8 times! The longest we've ever lived in one house was in the Youth parsonage while John was youth pastor at Tye Baptist Church. We were there almost 3 years. W have been in a mission house since January and will need to move out in May. This moving process has been the most difficult to date. I thought moving out of a house with a 2 month old was difficult, and it was, but this has been even more so. I have had so many mixed emotions. I've been excited about all the amazing things I know God has in store for us, but it has also closed several chapters in our journey, some good some not so good. John resigned from the church in October and they allowed us to stay in the house until January. So for 3 months I knew we were moving, and for almost 3 months I had no clue where we were going to end up. We were just trusting the Lord for his provision. Some times maybe not trusting so well and having more anxiety than I should have, but God was faithful. And it seemed He allowed John and I to never be weak at the same time. Anytime I was down he would encourage me and anytime John was down I would encourage him. I love how God works like that!
This move has been an incredible blessing in so many ways. Like I said we didn't know for nearly 3 months where we were going to move, and we had lots of people asking. We honestly did not know. We were constantly praying and trusting the Lord to work it out. Also we were just trying to make it through the holidays. The first week of January John made two phone calls, and one person answered at First Baptist Church. He asked if they had any mission houses and if they were available and the answer was YES. The secretary asked John when we wanted to move in! This was the first day John decided to start asking around for a place for us to move. GOD IS SO GOOD!!! Even when we doubted.
So for 3 months we debated on how we were going to pack up our things and what we would pack. You see moving to a foreign country is not easy. I tried getting quotes on how much in would cost for us to ship a crate of all our belongings we wanted to move but no one would giving me a price because I couldn't tell them how much everything weighted! And I wasn't going to pack everything up and weigh it. It's not like I was ready to move. So we ultimately decided the best way to move our things was in foot lockers/trunks. They are not very big, 31 x 17 x 13, but it meets all the requirements for taking on a plane. But the size really limits what we can take with us. No furniture, not big items, and they can't weigh more than 70 lbs or the airline won't allow it.
It was very difficult going through everything we owned deciding what to move and what to give away or sell. I did shed a tear or two or a thousand! It's not that I was attached to everything we got rid of, I think the act of trusting the Lord to provide for future and current needs in the midst of chaos was the hardest part. I take pleasure in throwing things away and cleaning out stuff, but this was bigger than any spring cleaning event. It was reminding myself that material things and possessions are not the most important thing in life. My love and obedience to the Lord is more important than anything. And yes that includes my family. Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his own son....and he was obedient and blessed because of his obedience to God (Genesis 22.) It was not easy trying to explain to Hannah (3) that we would not be keeping all of our things as she watched us pack and have a yard sale. We did however do our best to keep her things/room as normal as possible during this transition. At least until we move again. Did I mention the mission house is fully furnished. This is a huge blessing because we were able to sell/give away all of our furniture. And we were able to really purge what we are not going to move to Ecuador.
We are not done moving. We are not done packing. But we have started moving. We were able to send 6 trunks down with John's parents when they went back home after the holidays. You might be thinking, but you're not ready to move yet...and you would be right. But we are humbly trusting this is God's will for our lives. I now ask that you pray for us as we are in this continuous state of packing and moving, and that God will guide and direct our next move in May as we are uncertain where we will go.
Blessings,
Becky
