How To Survive Relocation, Especially A Stressful One

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:23-25

In general, moving is exciting for me.  More so before I had children than now, but exciting none the less!  Since leaving home for college, I’ve moved 8 times.  The first 4 of those were before I married my military officer.   Relocating as a single lady was easy breezy, but adding in the military and three kids certainly kicks it up a notch!

When I first started this blog, I posted about my role as a military wife and mother in our family’s relocation.  I researched the new area, explored it with the kids, and set up home base as quickly as possible.  There were the countless talks with the kids before we moved and after we moved about expectations and feelings.  On top of all that, each move pushed me out of my introvert shell to help my kids make connections in our new area.

Now that “we” retired from the military, we’ve relocated to the area we’ll call home for years to come.  We are so excited to set down roots!  BUT, this move was something else.  I didn’t think it could be worse than the last one when the moving company lost half my fall/winter wardrobe.  Somehow, this moved topped that one.  Between a ridiculous delay in our household goods delivery and the auto transporters “missing in action” for several days (being polite on that one), it was all too much for me!  Along with great friends and much faith, there was another piece that helped us recover after the goods were finally delivered and the cars showed up.

God quickly led us to our new church home!  This is major for us because, those who know us know, we take finding a church home seriously.  Joining a church where our entire family’s taught God’s gracious gospel and the people encourage each other in God’s goodness is very important to us.  Before the move, we prayed the Lord would lead us to the church He had for us, sooner rather than later.  The possibility of visiting countless churches again nearly drained the anticipation of finally settling down.  Well, within one month of moving into our home we found the church home where we’ll grow in grace!

There’s nothing like assembling with a body of believers centered on worshiping Jesus and believing His Word to ground you, especially as you relocate to a new area.  The local church is such an important part of our lives that “solving” that piece of the puzzle has made all the other adjustments much smoother.  My family and I look forward to seeing all God has in store for us here!