Two weeks ago my husband and I packed everything we own into a Penske truck and 3 vehicles and left our home in Florida. We had help of course, both in manpower and in the many graces that kept us taped into vaguely human shape as we made our preparations.
Two weeks before that, we packed a week’s worth of necessities into the Outback and took our baby and went on “vacation.” We jokingly referred to it as vacation because it was our first we have ever taken, since our honeymoon. But it was really a mission, and it was successful. We left on a Friday and by the following Wednesday, my husband had a new job in a new city and state. By the following Friday, we also had a new apartment and a new bank account (since we were with a local FL credit union.) By the following Monday, my husband had submitted his 2 week notice, and we were feverishly packing and purging.
About 4 months before this, we had already been looking to move, and had decided on where we wanted to be. The plandemic had put a wrench in all our plans, but it wasn’t until July that we had the time and resources to “go on vacation” and take one final stab at our goal.
What was out goal, and why did we move 3+ states away from anyone we know?
In short, we moved for our faith, for the Catholic Church in the truest form we know, for the formation of our children, for the good of our souls, and, well, to get out of Florida if you ask me!
We are beginning to settle in, but not too permanently. We are in a little 1 bedroom apartment and half our things are in storage. We hope to move again before January, into our own home. We have been setting aside a little down payment so that we can buy a house. And we truly hope and pray that we can be settled in before January most importantly, because our second daughter is penciled in to be born on the 11th.
The community we have found here in just 2 short weeks is new and breathtaking to us. My husband has made many good Catholic friends, mostly husbands and fathers and hard workers. Our daughter has made little baby friends, just in time to have them help us celebrate her first birthday in less than a month. And I have met more Catholic moms than I even know what to do with. We have access to daily mass, with several to choose from on Sundays. We have room to breathe and grow in a beautiful place. We have everything we could hope for from moving here. In many ways it is clear that God is present not only in these people and places, but also in the long preparation and planning it took us to get here. We would never have come if he hadn’t set it all up for us.
And now, even as I can speak and say that we moved here for our faith, it is faith that is so difficult to submerge ourselves in. It is easy to be stressed and nervous for our future. Will we find a house we can afford? How will we make do on a smaller budget with more expenses? How will we afford the care and birth of our new daughter? Will we be able to move in time? What if we don’t get approved for enough of a mortgage? There are so many hows and buts and what ifs. Even in our joy and gratitude it is hard to find peace and relief. But God has gotten us this far, and he isn’t about to let us fail in any important way. And that is what we most need to remember as we navigate these coming beautiful months of autumn.
God is good, and he is most generously, lovingly, and meticulously taking care of us. And of you too.