This spring I started reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. It was phenomenal for where I was in that season, but for whatever reason, I put it down around May. It sat untouched on my dresser for months and in early September I picked it up again and finished reading. The copy of the book that we have in our home happens to have a "sequel" bound with it, Draw the Circle. Draw the Circle is a 40 day prayer challenge to follow The Circle Maker. At the time, I was planning a huge workshop for my essential oil team at the end of October and we were about 45 days out. I proposed to my team that we take this 40 day challenge together as we led up to the Live 320 event. I was floored at how many participated and was in awe of the work the Lord was doing in their lives in that season.
Nathan did the challenge with us. One day 1, Mark makes an interesting proposition. He says that often we enter a season of prayer with a list and we pray hard over our list, begging God for OUR miracles. He asks, What if we came to God with a blank piece of paper and allowed the Lord to write the list and then that is what we pray over? Nathan and I took him up on this idea and I must admit it is REALLY challenging to come to God with nothing. What do you say? How do you start that conversation? We started this season on a Monday, asking God to write our list. On Tuesday we did the same. On Wednesday, Nathan met up with his boss and randomly asked, "I know I've always said 'no', but are there opportunities available overseas?" And with that one question, the ball started rolling.
This is ironic for so many reasons. Over the last 10 years of Nathan's engineering career, these offers for overseas assignments have come up a few times a year - Shanghai, Singapore, Germany. We have entertained some of these options, mostly out of wishful dreaming, but always turn them down with it "not being the right time." A few years ago, our dreaming got a little bigger and we looked at houses online in Shanghai and investigated schools and such, but after a few days we put that idea away. Anna was 2 and it didn't feel right, but I remember the moment sitting in my living room and a knowing came over me...we will live overseas one day. I have no idea when or where or how, but one day, we will.
During that conversation with his boss, something in his heart shifted. Nathan called me from work and said, "Hey, what do you think about moving to Antwerp?" My first reaction was, "I have no idea where that is!" So I googled it while we were on the phone, and I too felt something shift. Over the next few days, conversations at work continued and a deep sense of confidence settled over both of us. The only way I know to describe it is that it was the same feeling I felt on February 5, 2010, the day the God told us to leave Tennessee and return to Mobile. By the time Nathan got home from work that night, there was nothing left to pray about. God said "go" so now we go. This same confidence settled in once again. There are more questions than answers, but we know this is the way.
Nathan said, "the Bible says to 'knock and it will be opened to you' so we're going to knock on this door. If it doesn't open, then we have our answer and we walk away, but we're at least going to knock." I added, "We will knock, but we're not going to ram-rod through the door." He agreed. So we knocked on the first door by Nathan asking questions and pursuing conversations...and the door opened and new ones presented themselves. We knocked on those and they opened, too. Through months of prayer, fasting, reading, and seeking wise counsel, we are both utterly convinced this is the next step the Lord has been preparing for us. The last 10 years have been a roller coaster with many of the big things documented in this blog. We'd love for you to read more of our story. (Start from the oldest post and work your way forward.) I've often said, "He continually asks us to do things that look scary and impossible, but every time He meets our needs bigger and better than we ever expected. With each step our faith has grown, allowing the next step to be a little bit bigger." We know there are mountains in front of us now and seasons of unknown, but we also know that He will go before us and He will blow our minds with what He has in store. The catch is, we can't have those mind-boggling miracles tomorrow unless we walk in obedience today.
At the beginning of this journey, I kept hearing the Lord ask, "When does 'someday' become 'today'?" He's right. Living overseas is a dream that has been in our hearts for a long time, but if we're not careful we will "someday" our whole life away.
I ran across a quote about a year ago and wrote it on my bathroom mirror. I've seen it every day and I know now that God was working on our hearts...
"Walking into the promise of what could be, means leaving the comfort of what is."
So, we're moving to Belgium! This summer we will leave everything we know and start at zero in a new place with a new language, a new culture and new people. We couldn't be more excited!
You can catch the big reveal here.
Nathan and I have talked for countless hours about what this move will mean for us, for our kids, for our families and those we love. There are still so many variables and unknowns, but we've already seen God prepare the way and crack the floodgates. Please join us on this journey and see all that He has to unfold over the next year. I know it will be amazing and we pray that He will use our story to strengthen your faith, to give you a greater measure of confidence in Him. He is trustworthy, He is good and He wants more for you than you can fathom.
"God
can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess
or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around
but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."
Ephesians 3:20
