A story of faith, answered prayer, confusion, and pain
We had a secret plan.
My wife, Brenda, and I lived in South Carolina for five years. Then my job changed and we moved to Detroit. We were Midwest natives so Detroit felt normal, but we began to realize we loved the Southeast. So our secret plan was to move back south.
We started praying. We treated it as if God had asked, “So if you could live anywhere, where would it be?” We got very specific and picked the Carolinas. Our kids were now south, and we thought the climate was less challenging so we’d have more time and energy to focus on things important to us.
Plus, we wanted a place where we could put down roots and develop a support system of friends. We got even more specific and chose three cities in North Carolina: Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh.
We wrote it all down: the goals, the reasons, the specifics. It was a whole page of secret plans between the Lord and us. Then we prayed. We didn’t tell anybody.
God honors your faith and answers prayer
Then we learned my job in Detroit was ending.
Our consultant started looking for a radio station for my partner and I. Again, we never told anyone of our preference for the Carolinas. The consultant could have found a station anywhere in America.
The first place we talked to was in Charlotte. Didn’t work out.
The second place was Greensboro. We got the job and moved there. Pretty cool, eh? Total miracle.
But he doesn’t ask your permission, or always let you in on his plans
Three years later the boss called my partner and I to her office, told us they were making a change, and that a station in Austin, Texas wanted to talk to us and they were waiting for us to call them, right now. We did, and they wanted us to come for an interview. That meant they were serious. This was all within an hour.
That night I had a long walk and talk with the Lord. More ‘at’ than ‘with.’
“What about that miracle? What about how you supernaturally brought us here?”
“How am I supposed to think about this? Do you know how far away Texas is? Brenda hates to fly! It will take two days driving to come back and see our kids! Emily has just moved back in with us to go to college!”
“Should I honor the miracle and stay in Greensboro by faith? Is this a test?”
No magic answers. Just a small sense that someone was asking me, “Did I promise you I would keep you here?” I looked at our secret plans page. Nothing there on that.
So NOW where is God?
We drove to Texas. The passenger floor of the car was covered with tissues soaked with Brenda’s tears. It’s a long drive to Texas. Over the next four years she would miss those after-date talks with Emily in her bedroom, as Emily grew closer and closer to a wonderful young man she met before we moved. He eventually asked for permission to marry her—over the phone.
Three times a year for vacation we got in the car right after work and drove twenty hours east. I’d get back home to Texas just in time to go back to work.
This whole thing really could have sucked.
It didn’t.
No matter where you are or how it feels, good things can happen
Brenda’s life changed a few months after we arrived in Texas. This is a whole separate story, but she found a peace and intimacy with Jesus that she had never known before. Seriously—totally changed her life. The move to Texas was part of that. We never saw that coming.
We found a great church and for me it was the deepest, richest, most challenging church experience ever. Plus, Austin is awesome and except for far-away kids, I could stay there permanently. We never saw that coming.
We never bought a house in Austin. We knew we wouldn’t stay. Four years later we started praying again to live in the Southeast, same as before. I lost my job again, at the peak of success (Why does it always have to be that? Why can’t I get promoted into God’s will?). Never saw that coming, either.
Again, we didn’t force it when I looked for another job.
We ended up in…Charlotte. Been here over eight years. We’ve put down roots and have a support system of friends, just like we prayed for originally. Will it stay this way? Who knows.
Where are you right now?
Making the secret plans in Detroit? Living satisfied with a miracle? Doing the woe-is-me thing as if God has forgotten you and broken promises he never made?
Wherever you are, it’s an important, good place. Not because if feels good, but because it’s part of something bigger than what you feel, bigger than what’s going on right now. You’ll see.
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Stories are the track record of hope in time and space. To start at the beginning of 31 Days of Scary Hope : encouragement to go from IS to COULD BE, click HERE. To subscribe to automatically receive each day, click HERE.
Mmm-mmm-mmm... This is a powerful reminder. Wowza...be still my heart.
Posted by: Joy Manoleros | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:37 AM
This is EXACTLY where my husband and I are right now! His work is NOT good for him:( we have prayed constantly for over two years for it to change, and he looks all. the. time. for a different place to work. we are new EMPTY NESTERS with one of our daughters working here locally and one in college five hours away and one ten hours away....we just don't know what God wants us to do....so we just WAIT and TRUST! but TWO YEARS is a long time for him to endure this yuckky job :/ your post was very encouraging, thank you so much; i forwarded it to my hubby!
Posted by: julie | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 12:24 PM
Wow! What a great journey..such a reminder of the hand of God in our lives, how His purposes are different from what we imagined. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!
Posted by: Lindseyfoj | Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 11:48 AM