Thursday, August 29, 2013

Thoughts on Moving - Time To Do It

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Our major move was dictated by circumstance. Prior to the change in our circumstance, we had talked and thought about moving but at the time seemed to have no compelling reason to do so, until a much needed job offer materialized on the west coast. After months of thinking and praying about it, once the offer came everything was set in motion.

We had lived in our current community for more than 15 years. We initially moved there because of the schools and the upward mobility of the area.  Over the 15 years there had been a steady decline in both the schools and the area and unbeknownst to us, some of these negatives had started to seep in to our household. Besides the negatives, community is what we had and enjoyed at church, school and home. It was no big deal for friends to stop over unannounced or for someone to call randomly because they needed help. I knew teachers and leaders at the schools and volunteered and stayed in touch as often as I could. Church kept us busy yet grounded. It was a full life.

But it was time to move.

After being out of work for a year my husband had gotten a good offer on the west coast. As a wife, it's hard to see a husband not do one of the primary things he's called to do. so regardless of where the next opportunity was, I was willing to go so that our family could be whole again. (I did that Ruth Naomi thing!)

Moving was daunting and overwhelming. We had to pack up 15 years of living in 2 days - THANK GOD FOR MOVERS.  I tried but I could not do it.
We had to sell the house - which means finding an agent, listing the house, and preparing the house. Ultimately we decided to sell as is.
I sold a few things over craigslist but everything else came with me and I'm glad they did.
They were lots of goodbyes - to the point where I just wanted it to be done so I could move on.

My biggest initial take aways:

  • Make sure you have a reason to move - it may not be the wisest thing to pick up and move with no thought to where you are going.
  • Pray about it - often; don't try to rationalize your plans with what God has in store for you
  • Having a support system is vital - mine was family and friends.


I had a lot of time for reflection once I got to the west coast, which I will share in upcoming posts.

.....The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Acts 7:2-3

Have you ever moved? How long were you in your old location prior to moving? Was it easy or hard for you?

2 comments:

  1. Moving is my middle name but I think we will stay put for the foreseeable future. We were in our last location for 8 years. We knew long before we actually set a plan in motion that we wanted to move but God would have to make a way for us. We moved from NJ (2003) to OH from OH (2005) to MA and from MA (2013) back to NJ. I have my new job (which allowed us to move "back home") and my husband, the musician, is finding his former networks still in tact. Transitioning from one job to another, moving from one state to another, one home to another always has its challenges. But when God is in the middle of it . . . I believe He made it possible for us to make the move we did . . . despite the challenges, everything will work out just fine. This is a great post!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts; looking forward to seeing your thoughts as I do my brain dump on my observations on moving.

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