I was born and raised in the same two mile by two mile town in central Montana for my entire
life up until we moved here to Pennsylvania. I met Thomas and Jesus there in 2009, which was also the
year we got married. Most of our family still lives in Montana. In 2011, Zeke was born in this same town
and would regularly walk three blocks to his best friend’s house to spend the day there.
To say that we love Montana and love our hometown is a bit of an understatement. Who
wouldn’t enjoy being able to walk 5 minutes to get to church? Or 5 minutes to get to your favorite
coffee shop? I never had to map where I was going. I knew all my neighbors, and I knew what activities I
would and could take Zeke to, because they were the same ones I did growing up and they hadn’t
changed in 30 years.
Despite loving the quietness and comfortability of Lewistown, there was always a desire in my
heart to do or try something new, in a new place. Anytime we would bring moving to God though, He
quickly showed us that Lewistown was where He wanted us. God’s revelation to our hearts always
brought us the contentment we needed in that season.
In 2018 I was at a prayer meeting at our church that I had attended since 2009. I don’t
remember coming to God with an agenda, I think I was just trying to listen to what the He had for me.
As I was sitting there in the silence, I remember Him giving me the word “go.”
I wrote this in my prayer journal that night:
“‘Go’ action, verb, motion, doing, active,
Opposite: Immobile, stationary, lazy, stable, broken, still, down.”
With this word “go,” I felt God telling my heart that someday we would move for ministry. I
didn’t know how, when or where. I didn’t even know what position God would call us to, but I knew
someday we would no longer call Lewistown our home.
A few years came and went as we continued to “man our posts” in Lewistown. We worked,
parented, and I started my small business. We did all the things God called us to do and we tried to do
them faithfully and diligently. We lead youth group, Thomas lead worship, and we continued to grow in
relationship with our church family.
In those years, we experienced some wins, but if I’m going to be honest, we experienced a lot
more losses than I’d care to count. Still, we pushed into the heart of the Father, and tried to trust that
His plans for us were for good and not for evil, plans to give us a hope and a future.
Nearing the end of 2021, Thomas came home from church sharing with me that he felt like God
was telling him to apply for a full-time worship position. As I had just shared, we led ministries at our
church, but it was never from a full-time position. Thomas worked full-time for a steel bumper
manufacturing company, called Move Bumpers, so transitioning to ministry full-time would be a change
for sure!
He asked me what I thought and I said, “let’s do it!“. He said, “We will most likely have to
move.” I again I responded, “let’s do it!” I had been waiting for the fulfillment of the promise God had
given me almost 4 years before, and I was excited to see where He would take us!
To make a long story a little bit shorter, we Googled “Assembly of God worship pastor
positions,” and applied for any that seemed to fit our family well. Abundant Life was one of these
Churches that we applied to and Pastor Devin reached out to us shortly after we submitted our
application. By the end of February 2022, we were visiting Pennsylvania for the first time! I remember
being afraid to get my hopes up for a “yes” from God, because it felt like we had been hit with so many
“no’s” the last few years. But just a few days after we got home from Pennsylvania, Thomas was offered
the position of worship pastor at ALC!
By June 2022, we had sold our home of 11 years and arrived here in Pennsylvania, at a home
that God miraculously gave us a week before (but that’s another testimony for another time). We came
with a car full of plants and animals, a U-Haul full of what was left of our earthly possessions, and
expectation for the things that God had planned for our family of three.
The last 2 1/2 years have given us more trials and more wins. At times, it has been so
uncomfortable, but God has grown us in ways that never would have happened if we had chosen to stay
in our lives of stillness and stability; by ignoring His “go.” I’m so humbled that our little family gets to be
part of God’s big plans.
Sometimes it can be hard to trust in God‘s promises when we don’t see anything in the physical
realm; sometimes for years. But His word says that He is faithful, that He is trustworthy, and that He is
always right on time.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23
Sometimes it can be daunting to leave behind a life you love and the people you love to follow
what seems like an uncertain future, but God will never call us into an uncertain plan. He’s always
before us, behind us and on each side. We must always remember too, that our lives are temporary, but
they have the most eternal kind of impact. When we look at life through God‘s glorious lens of eternity,
it makes everything else a little less heavy.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen
are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Where is God calling you to “go” today? How is He calling you to get out of your stability and
comfort zone to do eternal things for the Kingdom of God? Is it time to take action on something He
called you to years ago? Or are you still in a season of “being still,” waiting to see His promise fulfilled?
