Wednesday, August 14, 2013

On the Road Again


Have you ever waited a long time for something? If so, then you know the anticipation, anxiety, and wonder that belong to a long wait.

For ten years prophets told my husband that God would give him full-time employment. He would become a company man. We would see increase. We would want for nothing.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... Vic worked union construction those ten years. It was a roller-coaster of a life. Just as we'd dig out of an unemployment hole, he would get laid off again (as the job came to an end - not because he didn't do his job well). We'd get right back into debt while we waited for the next call from the union hall.

I hated waiting.

Life was stressful, to say the least. We were getting used to being a step-family. Our finances were rarely stable. We bought our first house. And I stayed home with the kids, doing anything I could think of to make a little extra money for the family. {I wish I'd thought of writing back then.}

BUT GOD...

Had promised.

It was May 2008, Memorial Day Weekend. Thursday, to be exact. We had $400 in our bank account when Vic got antsy and decided to make some phone calls. I'll spare the details, but I'll tell you this: The call was nothing short of a miracle.

Vic had worked for this guy once, four or five years prior. He asked if the company had any local work. "No, but you're like an angel calling. I am in need of guys. Can you be in Alabama on Tuesday?"

We lived in Upstate NY. Alabama was 21 hours away by car. We had $400. And God saw us through.

I never wanted to raise our kids on my own, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I packed my husband's things and sent him on his way, praying for the day I'd be able to join him.

July 4th weekend the kids and I moved to be with him in Mobile, AL.

Jeff has a line in his book that says, "One evening, though, everything started to slow down."

When you're used to living the fast-paced life of a New Yorker and you pull into the South, you notice pretty quickly that everything (except the highway) slows down. It's culture shock but in an awesome way. I fell in love with the South and its slower pace of life.

I love that people take the time to enjoy their relationships. There's nothing like a cold glass of sweet tea on the back porch with a group of your friends. There's nothing like King's Cake and coffee over a game of Phase 10 with your buds. There's nothing like Southern Boil strewn across newspapers on the table and fellowship with the Pastor's family. And coming from New York, there's nothing like someone coming to a near stop to let you into the lane so you can turn off at the right moment. That rarely (never) happens in New York. It didn't take me long to figure out that these in-between times are what make life abundant. I loved slowing down.

God has blessed my husband and me with incredible careers. We love our work. He's currently a Construction Engineer, and I am a writer and an editor {and I'm not afraid to claim it}. Vic is a company man. We haven't wanted for anything in a long time. We've definitely seen increase.

But life on the road is full of in-betweens. When you move once every 6 - 18 months, you live in the in-between.

In between job sites.

In between packing.

In between road trips to move.

In between schools and teachers and friends.

In between cities and states.

And you learn yet again that it's there ... in the in-between ... that life happens. It's there that you grow. It's there that you become. It's there that you discover exactly who God has made you to be and what He has in store for you.

So what does one do in the in-between? I wrote a series of posts on that very thing even before I heard of Jeff's book:

A Gift in the Waiting ... Time
In the Midst of It {Praying Through the Wait}
In the Meantime ... What to Do While Waiting
Work the Wait

Join me again tomorrow to read my testimony of God's calling and what He's done as I have been obedient to follow His lead.

This week, I will be preparing for another journey ... to a new season of life for our family. A new in-between. A new season of waiting and discovering and savoring the ordinary moments in life that lead to the extraordinary events of life. I will leave a post each day, Monday through Friday, for you to enjoy and think upon as I prepare for and make my trip. These posts will lead up to where I find myself today, and I hope that they encourage you to enjoy the wait.
Monday's Post: Get Me Out of Here!

For more info about Jeff's book, please visit: http://goinswriter.com/ Jeff has some great giveaways for ordering The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing. You won't want to miss out! (He's also written several posts to give you a taste of the material in his book and what others are saying about it.)
On Saturday, enjoy my review of The In-Between.


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