As the evening breeze blows gently through the windows of our temporary apartment, I’m reminded of the movement God has done in our lives this past month.

We packed up our belongings, closed on the sale of our home, loaded a trailer and our vehicles, left everything familiar to us, made the 1,966 mile trek across 9 states, arrived Palm Sunday in our new hometown, set up our makeshift temporary home with minimal belongings, and got plugged into a new church family.

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind when I sit back and look at it all, but what I remember most is the incredible peace from God we have felt this past month!

The journey of this move began a little over two years ago. Stepping out in faith, God showed us what was next and led us accordingly. The wait for God’s perfect timing was often excruciating, but the uncertainties began to slowly fade in the background as we saw God’s clear orchestration before us. Without a doubt, God was in control and He knew the work needed to be done to prepare us for this move.

After just two weeks in our new state, the blessings of God’s orchestration and leading He began in us so long ago, is gradually being realized. All the growth, learning, and preparation God did in us brought us to where we are today and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Waiting on God’s perfect timing was no easy task, but I’m so glad we didn’t jump ahead of His plan for us. We are privileged to stand back now and be amazed at God’s goodness and how intricately He knows our every need before even we do!

There are still unknowns ahead of us, but isn’t that part of life? One thing I’ve learned is living a planned, predictable life isn’t what God desires. I’ve also learned that God is stirring up a movement in people … but we choose if we will join Him.

I’ve spent half my life in this town of Colorado—nearly all my adult life. I came to visit family in this town as a child and never cared for it because of the desert brown surroundings that was a far cry from the many green trees I was used to. Now that I’m getting ready to leave this town and move to the lush green area God has for us, I find myself reflecting back on the past 22 years that I’ve called this town home.

I drove into town with my belongings, a fearful and pain-filled young adult. The brown desert view reflected how I felt inside. Running, scared, and confused, I tried to create a new life for myself. Pain was the roommate I could never kick out the first 22 years, no matter how hard I tried. I remember telling my mentor, When will this pain ever end?

Looking back, my time in this town has felt like a rebuilding process–a time of assessing the damage, cleaning out the mess, and rebuilding. To be quite honest, every step of the way felt torturous, but I was relentless to keep on. God never dropped me but held me close to His side. I see now His constant presence was what kept me going.

Slowly, trials and obstacles turned into one step of obedience to God at a time out of the darkness. Pain and chaos vanished and joy and peace arrived. Fear melted away while trust in God emerged.

The frail but spitfire of a young woman I was first driving into town that day in May of 1990, feels like a distant memory. It’s hard to imagine myself where I used to be … but what is crystal clear is the reality of my life that God transformed.

I leave this town not feeling remodeled, but rebuilt. God didn’t just throw on a coat of paint in my life to cover up imperfections. He stripped me down to the bare dirt ground—not to inflict pain—but so he could begin to rebuild my foundation and framework to create the woman He desired me to be.

As I move forward to the next phase of this journey called life that God has for me, I’m energized, hopeful, excited, and can’t wait to see what God has next. It’s a start in a new chapter of my life’s story.

Take time today to reflect back on your life. It may be you’d rather forget segments, but don’t skip over. God was there in those times … lovingly waiting for you. Don’t miss an opportunity to remember what God has done in your life.

Stepping out in faith. Take a leap of faith. We’ve all heard of the phrases, but what do they really mean? It’s having no understanding or inkling of how God is going to do something, but stepping out in obedience anyway believing He will come through and do what He said He will do regardless of how it looks from our view. What a scary thing to do!

When I think of faith, I think of the Israelites. They wandered for 40 years and finally the time came to enter the Promised Land. The only problem—the Jordan River lay between them and the Promised Land and on top of that, it was spring time when the waters were at flood-level. Their minds were no doubt racing to the inconvenient timing and lack of boats to help them across. But thankfully God wasn’t limited to their understanding.

I just love what God asked the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to do – step into the water and stop. I’m not sure how steep the river bank was, but regardless … that’s active faith! God requires we take the steps into the unknown without knowing how it’s going to play out. Once we do, he then tells us the next step. What an adventure. What a leap of faith!

With our upcoming move cross-country nearing, we have found ourselves in that same spot – in obedience we’ve stepped into the flood-level waters and stopped. There were and still are many unknowns before us, but at the same time God only asks us to focus on what He says to do next. We’ve learned that each unknown is an opportunity to see the incredible power of God at work. That alone makes me excited to wake up each morning and see what God is going to do next!

We may not know what is up ahead, but we can find comfort in knowing that God has already gone before us and is leading the way. That’s what faith is all about.

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.  ~Corrie Ten Boom