We had a turning point last spring when we had the opportunity to go away to the mountains for the weekend sans toddler. We had some undivided time to really pray and listen for God's still small voice in our lives. It felt like God cleared away some of the clutter and simply brought things back into focus. That is when we felt very strongly that the next step for us was to put our home on the market and sell it in the fall after our baby had arrived. Nothing more, nothing less. He simply gave us the light we needed to see that step in front of us and give us great confidence about it. He also gave us Luke's name that weekend. I promise to share that soon too. :) Between March and September we were able to enjoy the anticiaption of meeting Luke. He came along with fireworks on July 4th! He's our freedom baby! We settled into being a family of four for a few months, and then at the beginning of September we were ready to take that plunge and put our house on the market. This was our "Lord, we're serious about following you. Please confirm if this is your leading" step. Kind of like when Gideon put out a fleece in Judges 6. Tyson walked out to the front yard with our realtor to put the sign in the yard and felt God's presence as that stake went into the ground. This was our first big step on this journey. Our realtor warned us that our asking price may be too high given the number of days most of the homes were on the market in our neighborhood. Even though the homes were sitting on the market for 100+ days we decided to stick with our price. Five days, I repeat- Five days! after we listed our house we received an offer. Um...what??? We agreed on an offer and closed about five weeks later. To put it mildly, our heads have been spinning. It's been a whirlwind of negotiating, packing, looking for a place to live, and moving all with a toddler and an infant. It has been a bitter sweet experienc. This was our first home. We put so much TLC into it. We have wonderful memories of great times there with each other and friends. Both of our babies were born while living there, and we really bonded with many of the neighbors. I've had a growing experience as a parent because Samuel has had a particularly hard time leaving. He cried and asked to go home every day for the first two weeks. I felt so helpless! Our decision had caused our little boy to have a hurt in his heart. To realize we can't protect them from sadness at times was new territory. I'm reminded that he's on his own journey with the Lord and this is all part of it. All I can say is GRACE - God's GRACE! As I write this, we are currently living with close friends who opened their home to us during this transition period. At first we were planning to rent a townhome or something but it never felt quite right. In the mean time our friends offered, and this has been a huge blessing for our family in many ways. So there you have it, we're on the move. We said goodbye to our first home and hello to a journey of faith towards what we feel God is calling us into. We do not have a date set yet, but we are preparing to go full time to Africa in the coming months. For so long this reality of really selling our home and taking that plunge to move our family overseas, specifically Africa has seemed so far off. It's all quite hard to believe at times. Here we are, moving along as God directs our steps. In the mean time, I'll leave you with this photo I found yesterday while looking back through our Africa pics. Whatever works, right? Can you imagine the looks we'd get if we tried this here in the states?? Don't try this at home people!!
