Thursday, November 04, 2004

Cowardly Lions in Transition



Tom and I feel we are supposed to move from this nearly-perfect town someday. And it's supposed to be a big move far, far away...

We love this old-fashioned town where we have spent the best eleven years of our lives. It's as if the plane which carried us here was actually a time travel machine that dropped us off in the 1940's. All during my teenage years I wanted to go back East and back in time...to live in an area with tree-lined streets and nostalgic people living in nostalgic houses. And God gave me the desire of my youth.

But now Tom and I believe our enchanted time here is nearing its end. A long story, but we feel God will be moving us back West within the next couple years.
And now we find ourselves in that incredibly uncomfortable land called Transition. Maybe you've visited there?

You want to move away one day. You long to stay forever the next.
One day you love your town. Next day, you're bored with it.
One day you want to make a career change. The next day you shudder to think of it.
One day you want big, exciting changes. The next day you just want the same old, familiar thing.

And on and on.

But I can't live this way anymore. I believe too passionately that God wants us to live in peace, and this ain't peaceful! I mean, it's been an obvious case of divine discontent, but there comes a time to awaken to the clues--and move onward.

So here's what came to me loud and clear this morning (and it's not like I hadn't heard it already). Instead of asking God to show us the completed blueprints of where and when and how we are going to move, we need to just get our house ready to sell. That is Step #1.

And only when we've completed Step #1 will God take us to Step #2.

Man, that gives me so much peace. I can't even tell you.

There's a saying which goes something like: You'll know it's time to make a change when staying the same hurts more than making the change. That's very paraphrased, but today I understand it. And I also understand this: Wherever God takes us, it will be good. Really good~~because He will be there.

And that gives me peace, too.


We can throw fits and cry about God's ways, or we can accept them--and find ourselves in a better place.


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