Canaan

     When I posted my last post here https://canaanboundbrigade.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/2013-one-year-later/ I truly felt that our trial was coming to an end and we were living our new normal.  What I NEVER in my wildest dreams imagined, happened instead. Eight months later our new normal included moving to Texas. 

     How did we go from saving our home to winding up in Texas? Purely God’s plan and not ours.  We planned on living in our home for a very long time. We loved our home, our church, our neighborhood, our community, the closeness of the beach, etc etc.  We truly had it all…..except we were still struggling financially.  I started looking for a 2nd job to no avail, the doors were slamming shut in all directions.  After weeks of praying and searching I knew God was calling us to take a leap of faith and leave California. I had to laugh as I realized my blog is called “Canaan Bound” and I was ending all my posts with “continuing on to Canaan” yet I wasn’t really going anywhere.  Until now…

     I went to Jeff and asked him if there was any way he could transfer with his job outside of California.  After looking at the list of states with openings, we then narrowed them down to which state not only had a more affordable cost of living, but a lifestyle we were used to.  Texas! No state income tax, GREAT schools and about as conservative as they come. We then talked with our boys to see how they felt and amazingly enough they were on board. We continued to pray to make sure this was indeed God’s will for us and not us trying to get ahead of God.  We knew 3 things had to come together: 1) Jeff’s salary had to stay the same 2) His company would move us and 3) I could keep my job even though I’d be working in a new state.

     When Jeff spoke with his company about relocating, their first response was that they would adjust his salary to Texas’ pay scale & we’d have to move ourselves since it was a lateral transfer.  Jeff told them if that was the case then he would stay put.  His company then came back a month later and said they would honor Jeff’s request and let him keep his salary as well as paying to move us here.  Next I called my boss to inquire about working from Texas instead of California.  She mentioned that she just so happened to be switching payroll companies.  As a result. she could transfer my payroll from California to Texas.  Had she not been in the process of switching companies, I would not have been able to keep my job.  Coincidence? Not in God’s plan.

    We were 3 for 3 and the last hurdle was going to be selling our home.  God was faithful in that too…..it sold! Here’s where our complete faith in God kicked in. We have NEVER been to Texas, yet picked our home and where we’d live solely through trusting God and prayer. We found a realtor online, who just happened to be a Christian, and found our city and home online and sealed it all with our realtor over the phone.  We saw our house and city for the first time when the moving van pulled up to unload our stuff.  And guess what?  We love it! We have settled in and feel like we’ve been here forever.  The boys have adjusted wonderfully and really like their schools.  After all that we’ve been through with this trial, we truly feel like we’ve made it to “Canaan”.  Of course, whether God keeps us here in Texas is in His hands, but for now, we’re enjoying our stay 🙂

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