The funny thing about having a blog is that it is a sounding board for yourself…a place to share your thoughts and feelings and be able to pour that out in somewhat of an online journal, except it is not only for yourself, it is for the world to read, if they so choose.
The strange part of blogging, that I have found, is that it is not only therapeutic for me…but many times, my journey and words help others find hope and peace in their own journey. I didn’t set out 10 years ago knowing this would be the case, but it is something I am thankful has transpired over the years.
I feel like God has worked through this online journal of sorts to help heal, help inspire, help navigate and help curate a life worth living and celebrating, even when that journey was less than fun or desirable as it was taking place.
The journey I have been on in the last several months and even year, really, is one of those journeys that have left us thinking, “What the heck is going on here?” We were thinking, “WHY”… “What are you doing here, God”…”How does any of this make sense”?
And while I can’t answer all of that…or hardly any of it…I can say this. God is good. His ways are not our ways. His timing is not our timing…EVER hahaha. He DOES know best. He sees the entire big picture. He works all things for our good. Plain and simple. Even when not one thing makes a bit of sense…
So, 6 months ago…we officially moved to the Nashville area…Lebanon, TN to be exact. We felt a STRONG calling to go there, so we followed. Within a very very short time frame, we realized, because of reasons beyond our control…that we needed to be back in Kentucky. We had already gone through the process of listing our home in Mayfield, the one that you all have watched us build and love. We were committed to selling it and starting fresh and felt like that was truly what needed to happen. We cleaned it out, taking each room and removing each unwanted and unneeded piece and donating, selling and trashing. Each room got completely stripped of its old life. It was a blank canvas for the new owners…
The house went under contract within 1 week of putting it on the market, and we continued to clear it out…one room at a time. It was a long process. It was a happy and sad process, all at the same time. We felt like the future was bright, but it was so uncertain. We had no idea the path God would put us on from here. We got a rental property in the town over, as we had always thought it would be a great place to live…and it would be close to the kid’s school, which is in that town…close to all the places we eat, shop, etc… and this would give us a chance to start fresh and new in a place we already knew we loved.
So, we moved there.
Then, something totally unexpected happened.
The people backed out of the home sale. There was no reason for us to expect this would happen…everything had been going along fine. We were to close in less than 2 weeks. But, they decided they no longer wanted to go through with the purchase.
We got the call from our realtor while we were packing up the kitchen…and Brandon and I both just looked at each other when we hung up. I immediately said, “do you think God is trying to show us we are supposed to stay here?” He immediately said “I do.” That is not something we had talked about or expressed to each other. It was simply something that in that moment, we just knew.
Little did I know that the day before the call, Brandon had told God, “If you want us to stay here, please make that very known to us and make it happen, because I just don’t know…” He never told me that. We were just moving forward, making the changes and trusting the process.
When that call came through the very next day, he knew. It was God answering his prayer. And even though I had not prayed that same prayer or even felt that same way…in that moment, I knew too. I had peace too. God had created a full circle moment in our life.
The house that we had built on the land that we had curated for our dream property….it would be our home again.
The journey we had been on these last several months…well, I don’t know all the reasons, and I won’t pretend to. But I can tell you this. God doesn’t work in a straight line. He knew our family needed a BIG system reset. We needed to be shaken to our core and change our trajectory, in all areas of our life…in more ways than I will ever be able to share to a world that is watching, but in ways that I know on a deep and personal level. We had gotten in a place of routine and comfort and stress and overwhelm and were almost like robots in our own life. We needed to be reset to be made new and to start fresh in where God wanted us to be, even though where he wanted us to be was where we already were.
How beautiful is that? How beautiful is it that in our darkest times, God never leaves? How beautiful is it that God knows our innermost desires and struggles and He will MAKE something happen just to get us back to where He knows we need to be and where we WANT to be. He will make things happen that we never would. Never would I have done any of this on my own. He guided us. He guided us through each step. He allowed us to make decisions that made zero sense…to move locations 3 times…to change schools and communities, to realize a lot of things about our life and business that we needed to realize so we could make it better. He guided us.
One day, I hope to share the full story with everyone, when I am at a point I am able to look back and truly see more of the whys, when I am out of the midst of it all…but for now, I wanted to share that God created a full circle in our lives…and I am excited to be on this journey with you.
Last Updated on November 22, 2024
Carolyn mccollem says
Sometimes we also do things on our own, thinking this is what we want, but as you said, God never Leaves us, and is probably laughing at us thinking we know what’s best, but he does see the big picture , and he knows exactly what we want. So he saved the house, knowing you was coming back. god amazes me He’s such a good God. I’m glad you’re back, now we can see your beautiful home again
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Bridget Deville says
This is wonderful news. I don’t really know y’all, and was sad when y’all moved. I really enjoyed watching your lives, and seeing the pictures of your home decorated for Christmas! Welcome home!