Hello there!

I’m glad you accepted the invitation to journey through the last 11 months of my life with me.

If you’re just joining me, welcome!  Before you get started, make sure you read part one.

We’re here!
Now what?!

I wish I could say upon our arrival, our soon to be church family excitedly awaited us with arms wide open.

Quite the opposite.

It was as though we had showed up to a party uninvited.

Had we made the wrong decision?

Doubt stood in the shadows.

Finally, one Sunday at service we spotted him.  It was our contact person. There was no explanation of why we had not  heard from him, or seen him, however,  he was quite cordial and gave us some next steps to take.

Next Steps:
We were to get connected with a nearby small group and in the interim, my husband would continue to complete the online training and attend the on site bi-weekly discussions.

We began attending small group… awkward.

Here’s that statement again, however this time it was a bit more specific… “Y’all left Florida to come to (church name)?”

Maybe they knew something we didn’t… maybe not?  However at this point my antennas began to rise. I secretly whispered under my breath, “Lord, please let this have not been a mistake.”

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

Honestly, I wanted to pack up our townhouse, which would not have been hard to do, considering most of our things were still in boxes, but deep in my heart I knew God was doing something.

I trusted God would not have allowed us to come all this way, if He didn’t have something for us. I was sure of it.  Though we were experiencing discouragement, we fought through it.

Weeks passed with no sign or communication with our contact person but we kept showing up.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Then it happened, one night in small group, the leaders announced he had stepped down.

Not expecting that huh, neither were we.

Regroup:
Apparently, there was no one else in the church that could walk alongside us and we were advised to contact the lead organization, who should be able to point us in the right direction.

“I’m sorry… what?” 😳

We contacted the organization, they were very apologetic, however didn’t have a new course of action for us.

Resting in the Lord and his sovereignty, we continued to pray.

What I didn’t tell you in part one… is my husband’s employer agreed to allow him to work as a independent contractor temporarily while he continue his search for employment in Georgia.

The water levels were slowly rising higher and higher –– had we gotten in over our heads?

The pastor had stepped down, Jason’s contract would soon be ending, and he still had not received a call from any of the jobs he had applied for.

We needed direction and frankly it was as though we were traveling down a dark foggy highway without headlights.

The Call:
Out of nowhere, my husband received a call from an old colleague from Florida about a job offer in Indiana (Mike and his family had moved to “Indy” almost a year to date from the time he called).

Funny thing is, Mike wasn’t aware our family had left Florida or that Jason was looking for a job.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

Would we have left Florida to move to Indiana –– probably not!

This seems like a good place to stop for now or else you and I both will have to make a quick Starbucks run to refuel on a hot chai tea latte.

Meantime,  what is something you’re seeking direction for?  I would love to hear from you, please comment below or send me a message.

Hope you’ll join me for part 3 😀

Blessings,

Chrystal