This week it’s been three years. Three years since we, as a family, took a leap of faith and moved two states away. We left the only home our kids ever knew. We left our family. We left our friends and our church home. We left everything we knew and loved and started over.
It has dawned on me that I never really took the time to explain our big move or what prompted it. If I’m being honest (and you know I will), it was big and brave and our emotions were raw at the time. It was the easiest and hardest decision we ever made. Easy because it was so clear that God was guiding every step, writing every minute detail to our story. But hard because…well, you heard what we left behind, right? It was hard enough processing it ourselves, let alone explaining it to the world.
We’ve all heard the term “too many cooks in the kitchen”, right? We had let nay-sayers talk us out of somethings our hearts truly wanted so many times, and we were afraid that by sharing it with the whole world that it might happen again. So instead we kept the details to ourselves until things were finalized, and by doing so…we were absolutely positive it was what our hearts truly wanted. But more importantly, what God wanted for us.
Now that some time has passed, we feel more than comfortable sharing how God turned our lives upside down and how our family is better for it. And I hope our story encourages you to take that leap of faith if and when God puts that prompting on your heart.
/ IN NEED OF CHANGE /
After 8 1/2 years in his “dream career”, my husband found himself in the midst of a deep depression. Looking back, we both could see it had built over the course of a few years, but we came to a point where we both knew that if he didn’t step out of this career and do something different, things were going to go downhill fast. When he came home and told me he wanted to quit his job the next day, I think my exact words were, “it’s about damn time!” and we came up with a plan for our next steps to guide our family through the transition.
When Plan B fell apart, we sought out friends for some temporary work until we could sort out a Plan C. Temporary work turned into a full-time job doing construction. My hubby knew this wasn’t what he wanted long term, but we were both so thankful for steady work with his best friend, who was more than supportive in helping him discover his new dream. And it was actually ON a job that God revealed his next steps.
/ A LONG TIME COMING /
During working hours, my hubby was able to talk things out and explore his options out loud with his best friend, who would offer up tangible, honest advice. While we explored the idea of almost every career imaginable, there was one thing my hubby kept coming back to…the medical field. But all of those careers involved going back to school for several years, an idea we just couldn’t wrap our mind around. How did a dad of two provide for his family while going to medical school? Would I need to go back to work?
While remodeling a local friend of a friend’s home, my hubby couldn’t help but notice the cheery demeanor of the owner of the home. He was almost 70 years old with a zest for life, still excited to head off to work in the morning. Letting his curiosity take over, my husband asked the man what he did for a living. He shared that he was a Chiropractor who specialized in an upper cervical technique that was both gentle and precise.
To this day, I’m still shocked that my husband asked for more information, given our not-so-wonderful experiences with Chiropractic in the past. But I see now that was just God’s hand in all of this. Because after this simple conversation, my husband (no joke) called me and told me he knew what he wanted to do with his life! I heard a joy and a passion in his voice I hadn’t heard in a loooooong time, so despite my reservations, I just listened and told him I couldn’t wait to hear more when he got home.
/ A GAME PLAN /
By the time my husband got home from work that day, he had already received a recommendation from this doctor on a school and was awaiting a call back from said school with a “roadmap” on how to make this happen.
Even after all the time we had spent making phone calls and looking into different careers in the medical field, this was the first time that a school had called back and specifically laid out everything he needed to do, how long it would take, and what it would cost (not to mention discuss financial aid and what that would look like for a family of 4). This was the first time that the idea of going back to school felt plausible. This was the first time both of us felt peace about the plan.
All of a sudden, all these small changes that had been happening over the course of a couple years all came together. From our dietary changes to essential oils…we could see that how all of these small lifestyle changes had been leading us to this big change and that God had been influencing every step.
/ BACK TO SCHOOL /
Before he could be accepted into the program, my husband had to do some pre-med classes. He had a year’s worth of classes to complete, which only by God’s grace was he able to finish in only four and a half months, on top of working full time in construction. During that time, we were also finishing construction on our house, prepping our house for sale (thankfully God had given us the wisdom to start long before we even had a clue of what was next), moving into a temporary apartment half it’s size, and preparing to move our family out of state.
It was a difficult and exhausting season, but also a bonding one for our family. Because of all the unknown in our circumstances, we had to really place a focus on our family and it strengthened our relationships unlike anything else.
/ THE BIG MOVE /
The December of 2015 was unreal. We spent the beginning of the month flying down to California to apartment hunt and take a tour of the school, while our kids enjoyed some time with their grandparents. We finished packing up our home while celebrating our anniversary and Cocoa’s birthday. We had the most wonderfully simplistic Christmas in our apartment and then spent the rest of the day disassembling bed frames and packing our belongings. The next day we drove north to stay with our family. We had two more Christmas celebrations, and then let the kids stay and play while my husband and I recruited some friends to help us pack all our belongings into three shipping cubes.
With a tear-streaked face, I said goodbye to my best friend before heading out for dinner at our favorite local restaurant one last time. Then we drove our vehicles, with every last square inch loaded, to our parents.
We enjoyed New Year’s Eve at their home (and our amazing friends drove their family of 5 over two hours just to spend it with us) and on January 1st, I hopped on a flight with the two kids to California while my husband and his father drove our stuff down to our new home.
/ SO HERE WE ARE /
Three years later, we find ourselves nearing the end of our journey. With only six months left until graduation, we once again are in the stage of dreaming and wondering what our life will look like when this phase is over. But God has shown us that the unknown doesn’t have to be scary. It can be a wonderful and exciting time…and that’s exactly where we find ourselves now. (Although I’m not going to lie, some serious senioritis has kicked in!)
When people hear our story, they tell us how brave we were. In retrospect, I can see that it was a brave choice. But we didn’t feel brave. We felt called. It didn’t feel like a choice. It felt like the choice.
Some people tell us they could never do something like that. To which we respond, “then you don’t want it bad enough.” That’s not a judgment or meant to be harsh in any way. It’s just a fact. When you want something bad enough, you find a way.
Is there a new dream God has been laying on your heart? Do you have some unease in your current situation? Maybe God is calling you to take a leap of faith. If that resonates with you, would you please comment or send me a message? I’d love to encourage you during this time. It’s not easy, but it’s WORTH IT. The opportunities it has presented for our future… The friendships we have formed… The sense of adventure we have all experienced… It was all 100% worth it!
