The Call To Go

From the very day that I surrendered my life to Jesus, it was almost as if He said “hang on tight because here we go!” My life is ever changing with many unexpected twists and turns, and I’m just along for the ride it seems. I love that about trusting God. Having faith to follow Him is not always easy, but life is never dull walking alongside the author of life!

This season has come with its own struggles, no doubt, but it has also been a season of being refreshed in my faith as God has been at work around me, putting pieces into place that I would have never expected.

If you didn’t know, Walker and I welcomed a sweet baby girl into the world in June (a story for another time)! As you can imagine, the past year has been full of change and adventure, but we found ourselves making our own plans. We finally felt settled in the town we lived in. Walker was establishing his teaching career in a great school district. We were serving at a local church and seeing God move there. We had made wonderful friends that were a big part of our lives. We honestly felt like we could make a home there! Little did we know, God had other things in store.

If we’re truly following God in faith, there are going to be steps that we will be led to take that don’t make sense to us at first. If we’ve got everything nailed down, figured out, and planned to a T before we make every decision, then maybe we’re missing out on a chance to experience God.

He often gives us opportunities to simply listen to His voice and follow, and even though following will often lead us somewhere unexpected, once we take that step, we see God’s faithful plan unfolding so perfectly.

Most recently, God called us to serve Him in youth ministry at my home church in my hometown. For a lot of people, that probably seems like the goal, to go back home. But it wasn’t my goal, and in fact, it wasn’t something I ever thought I’d do. Especially with a baby on the way, I was looking to settle, not uproot!

When I was in high school, all I had ever known was my hometown. Looking around, it seemed as if you’re supposed to go to college, come back home, and then settle down with a family.

I had that kind of mindset until God spoke to me. He promised me that if I would surrender my plans to Him, He would do so much more with my life than I could have ever thought possible. I believed that promise, so from then on, every decision I made was made with that in mind.

Walker and I knew that my home church was looking for a youth pastor, but it wasn’t even something we considered for ourselves. We were content right where we were at. Months went by and someone told us that we should think about applying for the position. I honestly had turned my nose up at even the thought of moving back home. I said out loud that I would never move back home. The Spirit convicted me and spoke so clearly to me saying, “you wouldn’t be willing if it were My will?” At that point, I said “okay God” with an open mind, but even still, I didn’t think that this door was for us.

Another couple of months went by without another thought about the position. One particular week though, I began to feel God pressing it on my heart. I wrestled with it so much so that I didn’t even want to pray because I felt like I knew what God was going to say. It didn’t make any sense to me because God had promised to do more with my life, right? I just kept asking, “could this be God’s ‘more’ for my life?” At first, I didn’t even want to bring it up to Walker because I just knew…but when Walker brought it up on his own, I saw confirmation in that and just surrendered all that I was holding onto.

Soon thereafter, we applied, and though we didn’t know if we’d even be chosen, we just gave our best “yes” to God and trusted that He would put the pieces together that He saw fit. We didn’t know exactly what God was doing on the other side of things, but the church seemingly felt led to us just as we had felt led to them.

With any act of faith comes spiritual warfare, and the transition was not always easy, despite being confident in the call. During the waiting, Walker received his teaching contract for the next year. Even though we truly felt led to move, the “what ifs” crept in when we started looking at the reality of the situation around us. What if the church decided to go a different way? What if we didn’t sign the contract and were left without a job? What if it’s harder than we expect? But every time, God reminded us of His hand over us. All He was asking us to do was trust Him.

We felt all of the emotions. We were nesting to bring home our first baby, yet we were packing up to leave our first home. We were excited to see what God has in store, but we were also sad to leave behind what we've known these past two years. We were looking forward to being in fellowship with the people here, but we were heartbroken to say goodbye to friends, family, and a community that has meant so much to us there. We’ve clung to Romans 12:15 which says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” I think the hardest part was having all of our friends and family coming by those last few weeks to both meet the baby and to say goodbye all at the same time.

So, we packed up our home and moved to a new place and into a new season.

Even though I felt so hesitant to move back home at first, God has given me such great excitement and a deep desire to be here in this moment. We have such a deep burden to minister to this generation, and knowing without a doubt that God has led us here, we can’t wait to watch God be God and move in and through the students that He has placed in front of us.

I’m believing that this is the “more” that God has in store for us and praying that He will use us in this place!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:45