"Go South, Young Man."

In the Spring of 2009, we shared our dream of moving west with our congregation and told them that we would be leaving Traverse City, MI.  The people of our church were so very gracious.  They were saddened by our news, but they were also very excited for us to pursue God’s dream for us.  They also allowed me to stay on as their pastor until I had clear direction on how to proceed.

In August of that year, we were visiting my family in South Carolina (my childhood home) when God told me something that I totally was not expecting.  Actually, it kind of felt like a punch in the stomach.  We were staying in a lodge at a local church camp, and I took a walk around the pond to clear my head and have a conversation with God.  I was actually a little frustrated because the entire summer had passed, and I had no more clarity than I did in April, when I told our church we were moving.

So there I was, on the other side of the pond, griping, complaining, and asking God how He was going to do this whole “moving out west” thing.  And so God said, “What you want to do out west, I want you to do it here first.”  

“Here?  What do you mean by ‘here’?”

“Here in South Carolina.  There are some people here who need what you have.”

I was not excited about what I had just heard, nor was I eager to tell my wife what God had said.  You see, we had already set our hearts on going west.  I actually said, “God, South Carolina is not west.”  I am sure that he already knew that, for He is much wiser than I am.

When I returned to the lodge, Crystal asked me how my walk was, and I told her.  She felt about it the same way I did, and we decided to spend more time praying about it, and time and time again, God confirmed it in our hearts that we were indeed supposed to move to South Carolina. He told us that we would have opportunities to help others, but he also said that he would use this place as a time of healing and growth for us, and that he would use this time to prepare us financially to move out west.

So in October of 2009, we moved south.  Honestly, we were not excited about it.  I had thought that if God were to ever take me away from Traverse City, MI, that he would lead me to a place that I would love even more.  Instead, I was leaving a place of life, freedom, and authenticity, and I was returning to a place that I did not want to be, a place that held much pain for me.  A place where the “old Andy” dwelled.  Why couldn’t God just let us go where our hearts were? I mean if God takes away something good, He always replaces it with something better, right?  We did not feel like we were getting something better.

So God put a dream in our hearts, told us that we would have a ranch out west, and then sends us the opposite direction.  Well that doesn’t make any sense, does it?  Oh, but how wise our God is!!!  I have learned and continue to learn that God’s purposes are eternal and that His promises are not fulfilled on our time frame.

I mean, God gave Joseph a dream.  And then before the dream was accomplished, Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, and then thrown into prison for doing the right thing.  Moses had a dream to help his afflicted brothers and sisters in Egypt.  And so God sends him to the desert for forty years before the dream is fulfilled.  David is anointed to be King as a teenager, but several years pass before he sits on the throne. Time after time, it seems as though God decided to lead men and women the long way around to their dream. 

I heard someone say one time that the journey is the destination.  I agree.  It is the journey that makes us who we are.  It is the journey, with all of its successes and failures, that grows us into the people who are strong enough to actually accomplish the dream.  It is the journey that makes our stories worth telling.  The best stories are the ones with danger and uncertainty, the ones where someone has to step up and play a larger role than he knew he could play, a role that changes the world.  We like those stories.  Frankly, I believe those are the stories God calls us into.  So why would it be easy?  That would not make a good story. 

How boring would it be to read this, “So Samuel anointed David King of Israel, put him in his chariot, and took him to the palace to replace King Saul.”  There would be no David versus Goliath, no friendship with Jonathon, no hiding in caves, no band of brothers.  And many of the beautiful Psalms that we read for strength and comfort would not even be in the Bible.

So we came, reluctantly.  But, oh, what God has done on the journey.  Some things have been exciting, some things have been hard, but all things have been good…because the Lord has orchestrated it all to help us, grow us, prepare us, and frankly, to make our story even better. 

(In my next post, I will share some of the wonderful things God has done.)