Change is something our children have become far too familiar with.
Life in ministry means you never quite know when God will call you to your next assignment. Every time we've unpacked boxes somewhere new, I've prayed that this would be the place we'd stay for ten years or more.
It hasn't happened yet.
One thing we have learned, though, is that God doesn't just speak to adults. He speaks to children too. Time and time again, He's confirmed what He was doing in our hearts through the hearts of our girls.
As I shared last week in Florida on Our Hearts, this move didn't happen overnight. Honestly, God has been preparing us for almost a year.
Last summer something shifted. Wyoming slowly stopped feeling like home. Our hearts began longing to be closer to family again. Goodbyes became harder than they had ever been before. Relationships felt different. Nothing seemed wrong exactly … we just felt unsettled. Like God was gently loosening our grip on a place we loved.
We prayed through all of it.
By January, we believed we knew where God was leading us. At the time, though, our timeline looked very different. We thought we'd stay another two to five years. Our oldest would begin high school, we'd continue learning everything we could, become more fluent in ASL, and simply keep serving where God had planted us.
But as we all know...
God's timing rarely matches our timeline.
At the beginning of June, we unexpectedly traveled to Florida to visit my in-laws. While we were there, we took our girls to the area where we believe God is calling us next. Standing together at a national monument, we shared what we believed God had been speaking to us.
There were tears.
There was some foot stomping.
There were lots of questions.
But then something beautiful happened.
As we talked through it, explored the area, and shared the vision God had given us, I watched their eyes begin to light up.
Do you know what they're most excited about?
Planting a church.
Sharing the Gospel.
My kingdom-minded little girls saw the need before they saw the sacrifice. They heard God's call for our family, and little by little, fear began giving way to excitement.
That doesn't mean the tears have stopped.
Over the last month there have been more tears, more questions, and more conversations.
Preparing the hearts of your 8, 10, and 13 year old to leave the only home they've really known for the last five years isn't easy. So we talk. We answer questions. We research the area together. We dream together.
The very first question my 10 year old asked was, "How far will we be from Nana?"
"About 14 hours."
To most people, fourteen hours sounds incredibly far away.
To my sweet girl who has spent most of her life making 28 plus hour road trips ….. 14 hours sounded amazing.
Then came, "How far from Uncle Sarah and Mimi?"
"Three to four hours."
Her face lit up.
For the past seven months, she had been praying that we'd somehow be closer to family. In that moment, she realized God had heard every single one of those prayers.
Are they nervous about new schools? Absolutely.
New friends? Of course.
A new town? Definitely.
But they're also children who have spent most of their lives living far away from family. They've sacrificed right alongside us. They've trusted God alongside us. And now they're beginning to see something I've prayed they would learn at a young age:
God hears us.
God cares about us.
And sometimes, in His perfect timing…not ours….He graciously allows us to experience the desires He's placed within our hearts.
One of the most important things we've done during this season, though, is give our kids permission to grieve.
On Monday, we drove to the next town over before our 10 year old's softball game. We spent the drive talking about all the things we were excited for in Florida, but I felt God gently prompting me to ask a different question.
"What are you going to miss?"
The answers were immediate.
My girls grew up here.
My husband and I grew here.
My husband experienced healing here.
This place holds stories that shaped our family.
Beyond the friends we've made…friends who have become family…there are countless little places and memories we'll carry with us forever.
So we're letting our kids mourn that.
And we're letting ourselves mourn too.
We're spending this summer seeing the people we love, soaking in the places that matter, saying intentional goodbyes, and making one last season of memories.
Because saying goodbye well is part of loving well.
Sometimes God asks us to loosen our grip on what has been so He can lead us into what will be. And while we're incredibly excited about what's ahead, we're also grateful for everything He gave us here.
The beautiful thing about following Jesus is that every ending is also the beginning of another story He's writing.
And if we're going to teach our children to trust Him with new beginnings, we also have to teach them it's okay to grieve the endings.
XOXO Whitney