Our Leap of Faith

Little be known, to us, but about 5 years ago God began planting the seeds for us to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. We joined a small group with our church and made some wonderful friends. These were the seeds first planted in what is now our biggest leap of faith yet.

Over the course of the next 4 years, God had been molding us for his big plan. Just over 1 year ago, Nelson and I felt that it was time for us to move. We began looking at the possibility of moving to Columbia, SC to be near my grandfather. We put our house on the market, Nelson began looking for a job in Columbia, even making a trip down there for interviews, and we waited.... and waited.... and waited. God seemed to be closing every door that we tried to open. The house wouldn't sell, no jobs were to be found, and the idea of moving seemed to be closing in on us. During this same year, many of those very friends we had made in our small group 4 years earlier were being called to Wilmington, NC to start up a new church.

By the end of 2008, we were tired of trying to make something happen, that just didn't seem to be working out. We had been concentrating so hard on surviving and dreaming, that we forgot to put time into the most important things in our life - our spiritual walk, our relationship, and our family. With this realization, we began to put effort in the right places. We began to pray for God to reveal his will for our lives. Forget what we wanted to do, what did God have in store for us?

I'm not even sure where to begin... Let's see... I was on my way home from work one day, praying fervently about our move. God gave me great peace about moving, and about financial matters; but I was heavily burdened by the fact that Columbia was not the right place for us. Could it have been possible that God had closed all the doors to moving, until we realized what that right place was? I immediately called Nelson, and told him about my thoughts. He laughed, and informed me that he too had that feeling earlier in the day. When I got home, I found him buried in information about North Carolina. God had confirmed to us both in separate ways that South Carolina was not the place.

We began to concentrate on the Charlotte, NC area, because it was the most economically stable area in North Carolina. We were finding jobs and rentals plentiful; the possibilities seemed endless. Quickly into our search, I asked Nelson if he knew where our friends had moved to start up the new church? He laughed again! Earlier in the day, he wondered the same thing, and had looked them up. He had found that they moved to Wilmington, and thought nothing of it. Again, God was giving us confirmation in separate ways. We tossed this idea back and forth for a bit, because Wilmington didn't have near as many jobs as Charlotte. By the next Sunday at church, Nelson and I both had been burdened with the idea that we needed to be there for the launch of the new Church. But that launch was only 4 weeks away. That seemed impossible!

With this burdening feeling, we realized that God was answering our prayer to know his will for our lives. We made the decision that Wilmington was the place to be. When we contacted the Vernon's, who are the Lead Pastor and family starting the church in Leland, NC (next to Wilmington). They were so excited to hear that we would be joining them. And they informed us that the launch date of the new church had been delayed until March 29 - 10 weeks away! Now, that was enough time to move! God is gracious and his timing is so perfect.

As we neared our projected move date of March 1st, we had to tell Abigail of the impending move, before she figured it out herself. Nelson and I sat down with her one night before bed, and let her know our thoughts. We told her about how we had been called by God to do something bigger and more important that ever. Well, let me just tell you that my little girl about cried herself to sleep. She had known all along that we were thinking of moving, but now it seemed so real. We went to bed that night praying for God to give our children peace about this move if it was really his will for us, because it just broke our hearts. The very next morning, we were awoken to Abigail standing next to our bed. She said, "Mommy, I have something to tell you." She went on to say, "If you are willing, I'm willing." I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and Thank God for his faithfulness.

As we began to spread the word to our family and friends, we've had several other confirmations of this move. When I told my father, his response was enormous. We spoke of risk taking faith and he repeated to me, "If you are called, you must go". While speaking with a family friend, we were discussing the lack of job opportunities in the Wilmington area. She looked at me with a smile on her face and said, "You don't need a ton of jobs, you only need one". And she was so right. We don't need every possibility available, we need the right possibility. The right house. The right job. And that is what God will provide to us, if we take this risk in our faith.

So here we are now, about 4.5 weeks from move day, and things are slowly falling into place. We are currently looking for a house or townhouse to rent and applying for jobs as they come up. We are praying for the housing situation to fall into place soon, as we will need this address to do much else. But we are waiting for God's perfect timing, as he has a house prepared for us to do his work. Meanwhile, we are wrapping up the details, living life, and enjoying time with our extended family. We are so thankful that God has given us this opportunity and that we didn't miss the boat, because we never asked.

Please pray for Crosswinds Church, all 6 other families on their launch team, for our family with the move/transition, and for the lives this church will touch in the Leland area. Check out the website: http://www.crosswindslive.com/ and the blog http://www.crosswindschurchlive.blogspot.com/