Our move to Yorkshire hasn't happened as quickly as we expected it to. Our first sale fell through, and at the time, it caused us to ask God what was happening. We then had a second buyer within days of putting our house back on the market. Completing our second house sale still isn't happening very quickly, and we have found this very frustrating.
This morning, God put scripture in my heart that I believe is so appropriate for this season:
"A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away." (Ecclesiastes 3:4 - 6)
Certain studies have proved that moving house is one of the most stressful experiences in somebody's life. My family and I have moved house many times over the years, and the older I get, the more I understand the process of selling a house and the barriers that can get in the way sometimes. More than ever, I have walked through the experience with my parents of selling this house because it feels like we have been through every emotion.
"A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance..."
In some versions of the Bible, the subtitle of this section of scripture is "A Time For Everything". It reminds me of every emotion we have felt over the past few months. We have cried, we have laughed, we have grieved and we have danced. In June, we thought we had lost the house we wanted to buy when our first sale fell through, and yes, we cried. More than just crying, we grieved for the house that we believed God said was ours. We grieved for the memories we had dreamed of making this brand-new house of ours.
The time between the first offer falling through and getting that second offer was difficult because it brought about a lot of uncertainty. We didn't know what our future held. We didn't know how long our house would be on the market. We couldn't plan because there was a possibility we could get an offer the first week our house was on the market, or we could still be waiting for an offer on the house two years later.
Thanks to an awesome God who heard our cries and responded to our prayers, someone else viewed our house within the first week of it being on the market and put an offer in the next morning. As a result, we could laugh again and we danced as we were overjoyed at the news. It was a reminder that even when life doesn't turn out the way we expect it to and even when it seems like we are on our way, God is there at work in our lives. We may not have all the answers and our path may not always be straightforward. However, the God who is all-knowing is with us every step of the way. He has written our story, and He holds our future in His hands.
"A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away..."
Growing up, I was always afraid of what the future may hold. I was nervous about stepping into the unknown. I have lived in Mid Wales since the age of nine. The life I have here is all I have ever known for such a long time. Yet I have seen the people I was in school with either settle here with partners; get engaged, married and have children, or move away to go to university or pursue a career elsewhere. I feel ready to take that step into the next chapter God has for me.
One of the things I will miss most about Llandrindod is the people I have done life with here. Many of my friends I have known since I moved here. They have seen me grow from a child into a teenager and from a teenager into an adult. Many of them have been through the good times with me, but also, many of them have been through the bad times with me as well. Thanks to technology, we will still be able to keep in contact and can keep updated with each other's lives through social media. I feel like the friendships that are close to me will become even stronger because we will make that extra effort to communicate and the times when we do see each other will be extra special.
The word that sticks out to me here is the word "time". Time is such a valuable thing and it runs away before we know it. As I have grown older, the quicker time seems to go. There are times we will gather, times we will scatter, times to embrace and times to turn away. I feel like the lockdown showed who the people were which meant a lot to me because they were the people who kept in contact while we could not meet. As soon as we could meet again, they did everything they could to catch up with me. Although we are about to scatter, that won't matter because we will do whatever it takes to keep in contact. I am embracing the time I have felt with those people as we wait to move. When I think of the concept of turning away, I do think of turning my back on people. My future is in Christ and I want people who will build me up. People will love, support, pray for and encourage me. They are the kind of people I want to be in my tribe, so the other people I won't turn my back on, but I want to turn away from the things that do not please God. I want the people in my tribe to be people who are walking the same journey as me.
"A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away."
Through this season of waiting, I have been searching for what God wants me to do during this time. I have been searching for the answers to why the moving process is taking so long. I have been searching as to whether this season would ever end and whether we would ever make it to Barnsley. Most of all, I have searching for the lessons that God has been teaching me during this prolonged season. While I have been searching, I have found two things: patience and trust. I am not a very patient person but God has taught me that we have to be willing to wait for God's best. The second thing is believing that Barnsley is where God wants us during this next season, that God has a plan for our lives and His plan is perfect. We need to trust Him and trust in His Word, and the rest of the plan will fall into place.
You know some things are to keep and some things are to throw away. Some people will be in our lives for a while and others for a long time. Life is full of adventures. It is also full of twists and turns. The question is: "Are we willing to give God complete control?" There are times when we will laugh and times when we will cry. There are times when we will live and times when will die. God is okay with us being happy, and He is okay with us being angry. Life is full of many different seasons. Throughout these seasons, God remains faithful and His promises are true. We need to respond with ears that are willing to listen and a heart that is willing to surrender to Him.
By Lizzy Price
Comments