Recently at church our pastor challenged us to share our why. Why are we where we are today? What has God called us to do and have we responded to his call?
In 2017 we had just built a beautiful brand new home. We lived 15 minutes away from my parents and 15 minutes away from my in-laws. I had the perfect teaching job that allowed me to teach at the same school our daughter went to and my husband had a job that allowed him to be present 90% of the time. Our babysitter for our son lived right down the road and our next door neighbors were our best friends. We were members of a nearby church and LOVED serving and giving our time. We also led a marriage small group that was on fire for Jesus.
Sounds like life was perfect, right?
Then we started praying differently. We started praying for God to show His purpose for us. See, we are all put on this earth for a reason. Sometimes the reason is made extremely clear early on and sometimes it takes us longer to unravel God's plan. A common misconception is that you were put on this earth to find your happiness. See, that's not true. You're not on this planet to fulfill your desires. You're not on this planet to make yourself happy and achieve your dreams. Don't get me wrong, those things are nice and would be amazing to accomplish. However, if you are a Christ follower you are on this world to fulfill God's purpose for you. God's purpose may make you uncomfortable. God's purpose may require you to step out of your comfort zone. God's purpose may not be one you like. Nevertheless, it is God's purpose.
As we began we to pray for God to reveal His purpose for us our eyes began to see life differently. We no longer wanted the big fancy house that we had just built. We no longer felt it was important to make a lot of money. We no longer thought it was important that we drove the nicest cars or wore the nicest clothes. God opened our eyes and slowly began to show us the plan He has for us.
I can remember praying with my husband and getting this overwhelming feeling that God was telling us to go. It's no lie that we didn't exactly love the state we lived in. However, that's all we had known our entire lives. We had family all around us so how could we possibly leave everything?
Through relentless prayer it was made clear to us that we were in fact being called to go. We got out our map, closed our eyes, and landed on Texas.
We had never been to Texas before and thought we should visit!
We visited Texas in July--I know Texas in July=HOT--but we loved it! We loved everything about the towns that we visited. After the visit we prayed some more deep prayers. We prayed for God to reveal to us if this was the place we were supposed to go. A few months later Bob applied for one job. After going through the entire process he finally was ready for the face-to-face interview. It was October by then and all the while we had prayed deeply for God to reveal his purpose for us.
On the way down for his interview Bob received a phone call from a young couple.
** Keep in mind we hadn't officially listed our house for sale as we just weren't sure where God was calling us.**
This couple had heard from a school secretary that we would be selling our house. They had walked through the house a few weeks ago but we hadn't heard anything from them so we didn't think it was meant to be.
Fast forward to Bob's car ride to Texas for his interview--about half way there he receives a phone call from this couple saying they wanted to buy our house and would give us whatever we wanted for it.
Wow. Did you catch that?
Our house was sold before it officially entered the market.
After Bob got there he went to his interview which ended up being a four hour interview and ended up with Bob being hired on the spot.
No, I'm not kidding.
On the way there our house that wasn't for sale sold and my husband got hired on the spot.
To us, that was a clear sign from God that He was calling us to Texas.
So we packed up our stuff and we left.
We left our friends, family, house, jobs, everything we'd ever known to leave and follow God's calling.
We have officially lived in Texas for almost a year now and we love it! Don't get me wrong it is extremely hard being all alone with no family support. However, we've developed great friendships, found a supportive church, and have amazing careers. Our kids have made several friends and adjusted very well.
We still have no idea why God has called us to Texas at all. But we pray daily that He will slowly begin to show us His purpose.
All we know is that God is faithful and we are faithful followers.
When God calls you to go, you go.
Yes it's hard, it's uncomfortable, and it's scary. However, we, as Christians are called to step out of our comfort zone to follow God's plan.
What are you waiting for? Is God calling you to go but your terrified of taking a leap of faith? Pray deeply and purposefully for God to open your heart and your ears to hear His calling.
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