What Are We Doing Here?
This past Monday I was sitting by a pool in an apartment
complex in Summerville, South Carolina, watching my kids swimming. They were
having a great time, the only ones in the pool. I was sitting under an umbrella
in the 90 degree heat wondering to myself, “What are we doing here!!!???””
Of course, I knew what we were doing here. Zack had received
an amazing career opportunity that we both felt God leading him to take (short
answer). That is why I was sitting by the pool this past Monday in Summerville,
South Carolina. We had moved to South Carolina. We moved to South
Carolina???!!!! What??!!!! Moved from our wonderful, small town of London,
Kentucky, a place that I had lived my entire 32 years of life, and a place that
Zack and our kiddos had come to love. We moved from London to a place that
neither of us had ever even set foot in until about a month ago. A place with
really hot, humid weather( I love fall and winter and SNOW) , no hills or
mountains (I love the mountains), no one that we really know, no family, no emotional connection to the
state, or anything affiliated with it (i.e. the Gamecocks ), no Kroger( I love
my Kroger and especially my Kroger pharmacist J
) . You get the picture…I could have gone on and on that day. Reality had set
in. This was our new home. But it sure didn’t feel like home that day (still
doesn’t, of course….it’s only been a week!).
So how did we actually end up here? Well the long answer
makes more sense. The long answer is what I have to keep reminding
myself of. You see, at the beginning of this year, I felt God leading me to
pray Psalm 90:17 “May the favor of the
Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes,
establish the work of our hands”. I wasn’t sure in what way God
was going to do this, all I knew what that I desperately wanted Him, and Him
alone to be the one to lead our family.
As the year went on, Zack and I decided to try and sell our
home….just test the waters. As with almost all the homes we have owned, this
home was bought as a foreclosure, and we had done some updates to the home in
hopes of one day selling it to make a profit. We listed our house the first
week of June, and just asked God to be in control. We in no way imagined that
we would be moving to a new town, just a new house! I have to be honest, I was
doubtful we would be able to sell our home and make the profit we wanted, but
23 days after being on the market, we had an acceptable offer and contract. We
had looked at many houses in London, just in case our home did sell, and after
about a month had found a home we loved. It was for sale by owner, in a great
neighborhood, had just about everything we wanted and in our price range!
Seemed perfect. We met with the owner the first time, and made an offer. The owner countered back in a couple days
with an offer we were willing to accept. We met to sign the contract, but after
an hour of meeting, the owner just “wasn’t sure” if they could sign it. We said
we understood, and that we would happily give them more time. We even offered
to pay full asking price, even a little more, because we liked the house that
much. To make a long story short, over the next couple weeks we met two more
times in an attempt to sign the contract, but the owner never was able to sign!
Didn’t have peace about it, wasn’t sure, etc. We couldn’t figure it out. In all our
experience with buying and selling homes, we had never experienced anything
like it.
Then came a call to Zack a few days before we were set to
close on the home we were selling. From out of nowhere he received a call from
a recruiter wanting to know if he was interested in a position with an
Electrical Distributor in Charleston, South Carolina. Zack thought the timing
was pretty interesting, and wanted to know my thoughts. I encouraged him to at
least check it out, as the timing of everything going on in our lives was
definitely very interesting. He called the recruiter and told him he would be
interested in at least finding out more, and in a couple days they had set up a
phone interview for Zack and the manager of the office in Charleston. The phone
interview took place on the same day that we closed on our house. Zack sat in
the driveway in his car and talked to the guy for almost an hour. The next day
the recruiter called Zack and asked him if he would be interested in coming
down for a face to face interview. They wanted to fly Zack down to Charleston,
but Zack, being the smart guy he is, knew I would want to come too J So, we drove. Zack’s
interview lasted about 4 hours, and soon as he got in the car, I could tell by
looking at t\his face that he was pretty excited. The opportunity he had been
presented was simply amazing. On the ride home we talked about our options, and
I remember the moment that I knew we were moving. We had been quiet for a
while, and then Zack said, “Rebecca, this opportunity could help our family by
leaps and bounds…..” I knew he was right. We spent the weekend praying about it, and
when the final offer came to Zack the following week, we both felt a peace in
saying “yes”.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of trips to
Charleston to look for homes, packing, scheduling last minute appointments, and
the toughest part, lots of hard good-byes.
Leaving our family and friends and our church family has
been a very tough thing. Very tough. Like lots of tears and crying tough. It’s
like the lyrics from one of Toby Mac’s songs, “You never know what you got ‘till
it’s gone”. Of course, we knew how awesome our friends and family and church were,
but I guess not having them physically in our lives has made us appreciate them
all the more. They will always be a huge part of us, and their influence will
always be felt. Our last Sunday at church was such a special time that it
brings me to tears to even think about it. We have been incredibly blessed by
the relationships that God gave us while in London (and I am secretly, well,
okay, I guess not so secretly now J
praying that God will eventually lead us back, if He so wills).
Leaving London meant leaving everything that was
comfortable. And, in the big picture, that probably isn’t such a bad thing, but
it sure doesn’t feel that good right now. I have had multiple times when the
Lord has told me that this life isn’t about being comfortable and feeling safe.
I guess this is what that feels like. I
know in the long run it will produce a close family bond, grow our faith and
trust, in the Lord and his leading, and teach us resilience and perseverance.
Even though I am quite homesick, we know God is up to
something by moving us here, and I am very interested in seeing just what that
might be…..I will keep you posted!
For now, some pictures from our first week in Charleston.
More to come soon. 
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