Sometimes God calls you out of your comfort zone and into the unknown and takes you on a journey of blind faith. Even though you know the Lord is in it, the journey can still be hard. This has been our journey to Idaho.
We left California just barely over a year ago, though if feels more like years! Three hours into our fifteen hour trip the transmission and motor mount in Jeff and Shyloh's van goes out. That began what would be our forty plus hour journey to our new home.
We arrived in the wee hours of the night and piled into the house. The darkness outside was one we weren't used to coming from living in the middle of the city. We all took our pillows and blankets and found a spot on the floor.
We woke the next morning to a huge rainstorm and cold with a high of 54°. We left 100° weather so the kids had nothing but shorts and sandals. To say we were miserable would be an understatement. The combination of cold, hunger and homesickness was almost more than we could handle. There was serious contemplation of loading up and heading back to our home and all the people we left behind.
Our trailers with all of our belongings ended up being five days late. When we thought things could not get any worse the stomach flu hit. There were 18 people crammed into a house with only one bathroom. I will leave how bad this was to your imagination. It was bad.
Things were bad on a physical level but on an emotional level they were even worse. We were totally unprepared for how hard this transition was. We really thought that since the Lord opened every door to bring us here that there wouldn't be hardship or pain. And there was lots of both.
Our first five months were miserable. There was nothing we could do to pull ourselves out of the sadness and depression that Duane and I felt. The loneliness was suffocating. We prayed that the Lord would just open the door for us to go home, but He didn't. If felt like He had turned a deaf ear to us. Our kids all seemed to settle in good. The little ones loved being able to run and explore outside and the older kids enjoyed the slower pace and friendliness of the sweet city we lived in. For Duane and I it was a completely different story. We were every kind of miserable there was.
At the end of December the Lord gave me a revelation. He showed me that just because He calls us to something and paves the way doesn't mean it will be a cake walk. He called the children of Israel to the promise land and their story was nothing easy. It was a long, hard journey. Likewise with us we knew He called us but that didn't mean that it would be easy. Duane and I had a long talk and decided to do what we always tell our children to do when they didn't have a very good attitude: fake it! Put on a happy face and choose to smile. You don't have to feel happy on the inside but you still need to choose your attitude wisely so you aren't bringing others down with you.
Somewhere over the next couple of months we went from faking it to really meaning it. I can't even tell you the day that I truly felt joy. It just crept in. It was almost as if the Lord was waiting on our attitude to change so He could bless us. Once we chose to find joy and be grateful even in the hard times the Lord led us to a church, brought friends into our lives, and then life started feeling normal again.
We just passed our one year anniversary in Idaho a few days ago. This has been a whirlwind of a year. If the Lord would have showed me where we would be today, even without knowing how the journey to get here would be I would have had a very different attitude in those first hard months. I have learned so much this year about God's grace and what it means to trust Him. We are called to trust Him without knowing the outcome. Just because He calls you to something doesn't mean it will always be easy. He wants to refine us and mold us into His image even if we must endure some pain and discomfort in the process. When you get to the other side you can see the Lord's fingerprints all over.
This year was full of growth and so many graces. We are loving Idaho, the people, the land, and the seasons. Our house isn't quite fitted for a family of our size so that is definitely still a challenge, but overall we are thriving. We are so grateful for where the Lord brought us this year! As we start our second year here in Idaho I find myself excited to see what the Lord does in our life and where we are next year at this time.
Somewhere over the next couple of months we went from faking it to really meaning it. I can't even tell you the day that I truly felt joy. It just crept in. It was almost as if the Lord was waiting on our attitude to change so He could bless us. Once we chose to find joy and be grateful even in the hard times the Lord led us to a church, brought friends into our lives, and then life started feeling normal again.
We just passed our one year anniversary in Idaho a few days ago. This has been a whirlwind of a year. If the Lord would have showed me where we would be today, even without knowing how the journey to get here would be I would have had a very different attitude in those first hard months. I have learned so much this year about God's grace and what it means to trust Him. We are called to trust Him without knowing the outcome. Just because He calls you to something doesn't mean it will always be easy. He wants to refine us and mold us into His image even if we must endure some pain and discomfort in the process. When you get to the other side you can see the Lord's fingerprints all over.
This year was full of growth and so many graces. We are loving Idaho, the people, the land, and the seasons. Our house isn't quite fitted for a family of our size so that is definitely still a challenge, but overall we are thriving. We are so grateful for where the Lord brought us this year! As we start our second year here in Idaho I find myself excited to see what the Lord does in our life and where we are next year at this time.
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