Though until now my writing has been quite sarcastic, I want to take a moment to pause and be a little more serious.
I think it's easy to vent when things are hard, and it's familiar to ask for prayer and support when I have concerns or needs. But it's sometimes just as easy and familiar to forget to express gratitude when blessings come, when needs are met, and when concerns are taken care of. So let me share the UNENDING list of ways God has blessed us in the moving process. And interestingly, things almost always seem to happen within one week or less. Coincidence? You decide.
1. We began seriously considering a move to the Pacific Northwest around the time our son was born in December 2011. My husband started feeling out the job market, and a little after the New Year, he began applying for jobs. He applied for every job he found for which he seemed qualified, but to no avail - not a single bite for months. Finally, one morning, I became very frustrated and just prayed for God to give him some help and jumped on the computer for the first time to help him look for positions. I did a quick google search, and within minutes (and only the second posting I clicked on) I found the job for which he has now been hired.
2. We were originally trying to move to the Seattle or Olympia area of Washington state. Due to some circumstances that happened a few months into the job hunt, however, we started feeling our hearts changing and decided that maybe we were actually supposed to move to Portland, Oregon, the same city as my sister and brother-in-law. Within a week of our change of heart - after six years of being sure we wanted to move back to WA, I found the above Portland job posting.
3. My husband interviewed for the job in June via telephone and was notified within days that he was in the running for the job. An in-person interview was arranged, and he flew out. Within less than a week of interviewing in person for the Portland job, he was their top pick. The only drawback was that the background check could take up to two months. We were fine waiting, however.
4. Two months after being told my husband was wanted for the job, we were told that the background check process had been delayed, and though they still wanted him, we would need to just continue waiting. We were given no idea of how long that wait might be. At the three month mark of waiting to hear back from the job, we were losing hope. That Sunday, the message at church was about the Holy Spirit. During that message, I felt very distinctly the Holy Spirit speaking to me. A particular personal relationship of mine had been heavy on my heart, and that morning I heard God saying that I needed to take action in that relationship. Beyond that, I heard God telling me that He would not release us to leave Lynchburg until I took this particular act of faith. That week I obeyed, and the experience went better than I hoped, with every point of prayer involved being answered. Then, as if on cue, that very night, the Portland employer contacted us to begin the background check. The official job offer was made 7 days later, and we were given an official start date.
5. From the time we decided to move to the PNW, we have been praying about the financial factor. Moving across the nation is indescribably expensive: Selling house at a loss in this market or fixing up the house for rental condition. Moving truck, gas, food and lodging during drive. First/last months' rent, plus security and pet deposits at a new rental. Utility start-up fees and random associated costs. Missed paycheck or two because of lag between jobs. The list goes on. And along with it, the answers to prayer.
-Despite the housing market and people either being unable to sell or having to go into debt to get rid of their homes, within 5 weeks of setting the move date, our house will close for sale. We have been praying all along for it to sell for a particular amount. Even though it appraised for less, exactly one week from the day it appraised, negotiations were made and preliminary paperwork signed to sell at the exact amount we prayed for.
-When we took a short trip to Pennsylvania in the summer, we realized our son would not do well on a 3,000 mile road trip, going 10-15 hours a days in a car seat. We began praying at that time for God to provide funding for my son and myself to fly home while my husband drove the moving truck with a family member or friend. We didn't make this need public, just kept praying privately over the matter. The same week that we were contacted about the background check, I received an email - completely out of the blue - from family friends. Unaware of how close we were to a move, they wanted to help us fly home for a visit to see our families who were really struggling with missing us and our son. We explained to these friends about the possibility of a move instead of just a visit, and they eagerly agreed to take care of our tickets as soon as the move date was set.
-We determined what we would need in a rental home for the first year or two before buying in the Portland area: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a yard (preferably with a fence), a landlord who would accept our 110 lbs. beast of a dog, a safe area for children, and somewhere within a 10-15 minute drive of my sister and brother-in-law's home. (As an added cherry on top, we prayed for a dishwasher...just makes life so much easier with a baby.) We also determined a cap for what we could afford for rent.
After talking with my sister, however, we realized that only 3% of Portland housing is ever vacant at one time, and competition for houses is stiff. Often it takes weeks to find something that will work, so we started feeling concerned that we would have to temporarily store our household items and find other temporary housing until we could find a rental that was suitable. Also, to get everything we wanted in a house would likely cost us $100-150 over our budget, so we would need to figure out how to swing that much more a month. Or we would have to sacrifice a bedroom. We kept praying, however.
The second day of looking, I found an ad on Craigslist for a rental, but it had no pictures and not a lot of information. It was an ad I would normally skip, but I just felt a feeling in my gut that it was worth pursuing. The third day, my sister drove past the home to get a feel for the area. The fourth day she and her husband viewed the interior with the landlord. It included every single thing we prayed for, including the dishwasher. And it was only a 10-15 minute drive from my sister's home. The landlord agreed to accept our lovable beast of a dog, and beyond all our belief, he was charging exactly our original goal amount for rent, $100-150 less than other similar rentals. He said he preferred good renters over a little bit extra a month. The sixth day, the deposit was made, and the rental is waiting for us. Again, everything answered within a week.
-A couple other unexpected funding sources have come in to cover the rest of the uncovered one-time moving expenses, and we truly are amazed at God's provision. And again, those have come within a week or less of when they were needed.
6. We prayed that God would allow us to be home before our son's first birthday in December, and if at all possible, before Thanksgiving. It has been ten years since I have spent Thanksgiving with my family, and six years for my husband. What a blessing it would be to celebrate with our families all these miraculous answers to prayer. And, in His goodness, God is allowing us to move a full month before Thanksgiving!
We have other things we are currently praying for, but by this point, we know worrying for even a minute about things would be complete foolishness given the incredible ways God has answered prayer and proven faithful. Does that mean we won't worry? Probably not. We seem to have very weak faith when it comes to certain things. But we know that even though we'll fail in our faith, God will just show us how foolish our worry is and what a loving Father He is.
I leave you with two verses."And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" - Matthew 7:7-11
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