Musings from Graceland

TIME TO MOVE ON

Over the last five years, God has had our family on our spiritual journey. He's over and over again been showing us that it was time to let go of the comfortable, safe known and move into the often uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous, unknown for the sake of His call --- that of serving His beloved "least and lost" in more intentional and sacrificial ways.

Part of this journey means selling our home. We have lived here for thirteen years. I can honestly say that it has been an idyllic place to raise children. Our little farm is nestled in a very safe community where our children have had the freedom to splash in a nearby creek, explore the adjacent woods, ride their bikes to the neighborhood salon for haircuts, and even draw chalk murals in the middle of the road.

They've hunted for eggs so I could cook them up for breakfast, watched numerous litters of kittens be born, and flown their kites in our pasture. They've played their version of softball using feed bags as bases, camped out under the starry sky, and picked blueberries and blackberries out of our own yard.

God is making it very clear that it is now time to take a step further on this journey He is calling us on. In just over a year and a half we'll be leaving America behind and moving to Swaziland. We're not leaving with plans to retire one day and move back Stateside. We're not signing up for just a short-term stint. We're moving to stay. We're burning our bridges and letting go.

Part of that letting go and preparing for Swaziland is moving into a new area of ministry that will require us to leave our rural community and move into an inner-city neighborhood about 30 minutes away from here. To say that this is going to be an easy step to take would be a lie.

It is going to be very hard.

Almost every area of our life will be changed. From our morning routine to how we spend our Saturdays. Our kids won't be allowed to wander the neighborhood on their own and their pets have to find other homes. I'm going to have to discipline myself to keep a much cleaner house and get rid of a lot of stuff as we'll be often hosting people while living in a much smaller dwelling.

That said, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I know I'm going to cry when we close the door on our farm house for the very last time.

I'm probably going to cry when my kids cry over saying goodbye to their pets.

I might even cry when I have to let go of some of our possessions. We lost so much in our housefire that I really treasure the few things we had left.

But again, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Jesus is worth it. The amazing changes I'm seeing in my family are worth it. And the lives that He is allowing us to impact are worth it.

We've got challenges ahead. It is going to take a lot of dying to self. But He who has called us will be faithful to complete this good work in us.

So please keep praying for us. Pray as we prepare spiritually, emotionally, and mentally for what lies ahead. Pray for God to provide good homes for our cats and chickens and horses and dog. Pray that He'll send us a family who will buy our home and be blessed by it as much as we have. And pray that through it all, we'll fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus.

Thank you sincerely,

Elysa