The Exact Places (Hands Lifted High)

 “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’”

Acts 17:26-28

As many of you already know, our family has a big change on the horizon.  In March, we are moving to Atlanta.  Even as I type these words, the impact of this transition has not begun to hit me.  We are incredibly grateful for our time in Virginia Beach and how the Lord has grown and shaped us over the past 6.5 years. 

Although we are excited about the next step God has revealed to us with such abundant peace and resolve, we will surely miss our beloved friends and family here who have truly carried us through the trials… lending faith when ours was weak, bringing meals when even a small trip to the grocery store seemed an enormous task, patterning and volunteering countless hours with John’s therapy, missing Warren with us, celebrating Warren with us, believing in John’s healing, praying with and for us, believing in our family, having confidence that our family was not broken but a beautiful unit in which to bring another child… all in all, just standing in the gap for us.  Thank you, dear friends, for your devotion.

We will leave Virginia with a deeper knowledge of the Lord, having experienced Him to be the One in whom we live and move and have our being through the love and grace shown by our many “neighbors.”  As these verses in Acts 17 indicate, God is sovereign.  With our times in His hands, He has determined our courses and the exact places we are meant to live.  Why?  So that we might reach out for Him and, in that reaching risk, realize He is near.  Learning with widened eyes that the risk would yield the safest footing we could ever encounter.  What a gift.

We cherish your prayers during this transition.  Specific prayer requests include:

-for the remaining time we have in Virginia Beach to be filled with sweet moments with those we love

-for all the logistics with packing, moving, unpacking, and so forth

-for a safe and smooth journey to Atlanta

-for John and Daniel as they leave the only home they’ve ever known and adjust to their new home…for them to feel secure and loved

-for the right helper(s) for John in our new home (We don’t know what we will do without Miss Jess! She is the definition of a God-send.)

-for the transitions we will face in Atlanta: Meade’s business, getting things in place to start up again with John’s home therapy program, connecting with friends and family, finding a church home, etc.

-for our family and friends in Virginia… that they will know how much we love and appreciate them, both during the time we’ve been blessed with here and also as we take this next step