My Big Move to California

My husband and I decided to move to California within a matter of four weeks. We made the decision to move so I could start graduate school, and so my husband could pursue his passion and dream of being a pilot. I had already been accepted to an online graduate school where I lived, but my heart's desire was to go to a school that taught face-to-face, and also a school that was Christ-centered. My husband actually did the research and found the school for me, but I will get to that in just a bit.

Why California? My husband has always wanted to live in California, but I wasn't quite on board. I had everything I needed where I was. We had just purchased our first home, I had a rewarding job, and my kids were in good schools. We had balanced schedules and life was good. So, why mess that up? Because my husband was not happy at his job, he wanted to do something else, and I had to admit, my spirit was starting to feel a little restless, repetitive, and routine. I know I was making a small impact in my community, had my weekly prayer group, but it was starting to feel empty and purposeless. I was comfortable, but something was missing. There had to be something more to what we were doing, God must have a bigger plan in store for us! I often thought.

My husband was always pestering me about moving to California, but he had a new approach this time. He kept looking at different graduate schools for me to attend, and then bombarding me to look at the one I'd be attending “if we moved”. One random day, I finally gave in. My persistent husband had finally worn me down, and I decided to look at the Marriage and Family Therapy Program he kept talking about. I looked at it just to get him off my back, but to my surprise, it was a program that taught face-to-face and was significantly cheaper than the online program I was enrolled in. The best part was that the program incorporated psychology and theology! I couldn't believe what I was reading, and I was suddenly filled with excitement. I still had my doubts, but what would it hurt to put in my application? Once that was out of the way, I playfully started looking for housing. Then I found a house that was just blocks from my school, within the price range that I wanted! It was as if God was waiting for me to get on board, because as soon as I did, everything started falling into place!

I continued to pray about it, asking God to close the door if He didn't want us to move. I still had reservations, but God gave me no signs that He was against it. Instead, I had a peace about the move. One night, my husband and I were discussing when we'd put in our two weeks notice. Then he asked, Do you really want to do this? I mean, we have everything here. Life is easy and we're comfortable. He was right. We were comfortable, but something about that word repulsed me. I abruptly said, "Yes, we're doing it!" I didn't tell him at the time, but I was disgusted with the thought of staying just because we were "comfortable". God didn't call us to be comfortable. We weren't created to just be comfortable, I silently shouted! We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), called to serve, give, love, and help! And we weren't doing much of that there. Whatever assignment we had living there, we had completed, and God was calling us to something different and new! That was it, that was what pushed me over the edge to move. I had decided! We were really moving because there was no way I was going to stay in my little, familiar box-of-a-life just so I could stay comfortable!

So, in July, we packed up our home and started our three day journey to the West Coast. We left two days earlier than we had planned, and drove West in our moving truck.

Our first challenge was in the Colorado Mountains when we felt our moving truck begin vibrating uncontrollably. We stopped the truck and looked at it. There were no signs of damage or a problem, so we continued. We slept in Vegas our last night before driving into California. The next morning, we noticed one of our back tires had a flat. Both of the back tires had dual tires, and the outer tire on the passenger side was flat. I immediately recalled the moment it happened. It was when our truck started acting crazy wobbly in the mountains! I felt so thankful and relieved that we made it to Vegas! Imagine if we had been stranded? How long would it have taken for someone to get to us? In the hot summer heat? Thank You Lord, I said, knowing that it could have definitely gone worse.

Luckily, since we were in Vegas, it only took two hours to get our tire fixed. Then, we continued our trip to California. We made it there without any issues, but it turned out our town home was not ready. We were actually deceived in coming early, and they said it'd be another 3 weeks before they would have something. I was crabby because we had already left two days earlier than we had planned, and thought, “If we only left when we were supposed to, or planned better, maybe we could have avoided this?”

However, the location of the town home also wasn't the greatest, and the service was extremely poor and unprofessional. It wasn’t as nice as I had expected it to be. But golly, we were in a pinch because we had to return our moving truck by the end of the week, or we'd have to pay $100/day, and we would also have to get a few nights in the hotel until we found something! I didn't want to do any of that, or cram all of our stuff in a storage unit, just to move it out again. Sigh! I was stressed, anxious, and panicking! How would we find a place in such little time? We prayed a lot those few days.

I called around and no places would be vacant in time, and others were out of our price range. We even had people back home contacting their friends and family looking for a rental unit for us, but to no avail. Thankfully, we were able to find a place, in a good location and just the right price range. It was homey, spacious, and met all of our needs. God came through for us again. My husband called the truck company and told them we would be a day late returning the truck. Now, we were waiting for our rental application to be approved. It would be hard because my husband didn't have a local job yet. They required first month's rent, last month's rent, and a security deposit! Yikes! We also had to get our own refrigerator and make a $150 start-service deposit for our utilities. We only had four weeks to save, since our move was so abrupt, and a big chunk of our funds was quickly being taken. If my husband didn't get a job soon, we would only have enough to last us just a few more months! My heart sank into my stomach many times due to anxiety and fear, but we had to trust God. After all, He was the one who led us there. We had no other options.

Finally, we got the phone call that we were approved for the house. When we returned the truck, they saw the notes that stated we had a flat and told us that was a justifiable reason for returning the truck late, so we didn't have to pay the additional $100/day! Praise God! Things were starting to look up for us, and my nerves were finally on their way down.

We've been in California six months now, and God has continued to provide for us. My husband found a job, and my first semester of school went well. My kids are adjusting, and I even got a gig where I can work from home! We've met a few nice people, and even a found a nice church. Although we still don't know what our assignment is here or what God's plan is, we are putting all of our faith, hope, and trust in God. May all the glory be His!

You may be in a place of uncertainty, panic, or need. Whatever it is, I pray that God will use this post to minister to you. I realize now that the flat tire was God's grace, so that we wouldn't have to pay $100/day for returning the truck late. Also, God knew that town home wouldn't be ready, and it was a blessing in disguise that we didn't move there because we haven't heard any good things about that rental unit. Our home is only a short-distance from my school, my husband's job, and shopping. It's beautiful here and we love the sunshine!

Sometimes we don't understand God's ways, but we still have to trust Him. Like many people in the Bible, God just gives us the first step. We don't always know what's ahead or what is coming, but God does. If God has called you to do something or to move somewhere, be obedient. He has many great things in store for you. They may seem hard, and you'll want to run back to your comfort zone (like the Israelites leaving Egypt), but take it from me: You won't be living up to your fullest potential, life is so much more fulfilling and rewarding when you let God lead! May you take comfort knowing God is in control. Take the first step, one step at a time, and fulfill the plan God has for you.

Let us pray.

Father God,

We bless You and thank You for a New Year, and for everything You did last year. You are so great and mighty! All knowing, all powerful, and always present, there is truly no one like You! Right now Father, I lift up the readers to You and pray that they will experience You in a brand new way this year. Answer their prayers like never before and stretch their faith. Show Yourself to them. You always outdo Yourself Lord, You are so magnificent! May they taste You and see that You are GOOD! Thank you for the readers, minister to them. Heal them, love them, free them, protect them, relieve them, and as they put their hope and trust in You, meet their needs, provide for them, and care for them. In the same way that You have been with me this past year, I pray that You will be just as present in their lives. Oh, bless them Lord, bless them. I pray this all in Jesus' name, amen.

Prayerfully,

Pam