Had I been asked a couple years ago if I would be writing this, I might have given a nice eye roll along with a “um, yeah ooookay!”
In fact, I have to state that while we were prayerfully considering moving our family to Florida, some friends of ours were about to embark on mission to Detroit. I still remember our conversation as our boys were playing and my sweet friend said, “You should totally come with!” and I (in all sweet sincerty) chuckeled and said “yeah, I don’t think so!”.
Our boys were total buds and they made sure to keep in touch while we were in Florida and they were in Detroit. I remember being a bit bummed that we had just started to get to know each other when both of our families moved out of Oregon. Thankfully, FB helps with keeping in touch and Aaron and I were able to keep in touch that way.
Flash forward a bit to our time closing in Florida, Aaron had mentioned to me that he really felt like we needed to visit our friends in Detroit and see what they were doing there. I, quite honestly did not want to go, a lot of it was fear that if we visited, we might move and who wants to move to Detroit, right? I was reluctant but ended up agreeing to visit and even told Aaron if God says “go”, I’ll go, even though my heart was pretty closed to it.
Colorado called out of the blue and offered Aaron a job and I leterally JUMPED out of my seat “THIS IS IT!! wahoo! Closer to family, a job, people we knew, everything pointed to yes and I still remember Aaron had apprehension about it but this gal was ready to GO! Pack up, let’s get this show on the road!
So we solidified our plans to move to Colorado and visit Detroit on the way to Colorado.
Oh my word, that road trip was the loooongest ever and if you all remember the wonderful ride across America in our car that kept dying every hour or so!! Well, with the car trouble we were having, we decided it would not be smart to stop in Detroit first, so we skipped it, visited family in TX, and then headed up to CO to start a job. A month after moving, we found a house that was rent to own and put the paperwork in to buy the house and set some roots. All the while, there was still some aprehension with Aaron and while I loved the house , there was a part of me that didn’t feel right about it either and I had mentioned to a couple friends of mine but chose to ignore that feeling cause we were not going to move again. nope, nope, nope.
Well, about a month ago, we were sitting in church and worship began to play and it was a.w.e.s.o.m.e. God was moving in my heart and I was loving every minute of it, tears were streaming down and throughout the sermon, the tears continued and I couldn’t stop. I remember looking at Aaron and whispering, we gotta visit Detroit. We both prayed, we both felt at the very least, we needed to visit.
We had no money to make a trip across country and when the day came for us to “supposedly” go, we were still like …ummm how is this gonna work? No joke, the money came in almost immediately and we were floored. Two hours later, we were on the road to visit Detroit, MI and that is the most spontaneous we have been since like we were kids!
30 hours later from being in the car and one sweet stop having some real Chicago pizza, we were finally there and wow, let me say, I was not prepared for it.
I was not prepared to see so many abandoned homes, businesses, and schools. I was not prepared to see people hanging out on the street at all hours of the day, grafitti everywhere, and simply a place that has been worn out to the core.
And while all I was seeing was crazy, I wasn’t prepared to have my heart to be stirred to come live there. I fell in love with our friends at a greater depth and lemme say a family of 6 and family of 7 under the same roof for 9/10 days and not going crazy says a lot ha!
There was one night as we were talking with one of the guys who had come alongside our friends to learn and he was explaining how him and his wife got there and how he absolutely thought that was the last place he ever wanted to be and how God began to work in his wife and him and lead them there. I was listening in awe, in excitement, and in fear. I have struggled with fear a lot in my lifetime and while God has peeled some layers off, this would require me trusting Him a bit more than I am used to and my mind and spirit began to wrestle.
After 5 days of being there, Aaron and I were getting ready to go on a date. I was in the bathroom and got on my knees and began to pray and pray hard. I just begged God that no matter what, if He wanted us there, I’d go and continued to pray that Aaron and I would be on the same page and continue to stay on the same page as we hadn’t really had a chance to talk during our visit. We went on our date and began to share our hearts with each other and where we were at with everything and we were completely on the same page. We both were being stirred and agreed that we would continue to pray and see what happens.
There has been a fire that has ignited in me since being there and a greater urgency to share the gospel for sure and as the weeks have passed and we have continued to pray, it is more evident this is where we are supposed to go. The other night we were praying and I began to read Isaiah 41:8-20. Awesome passage and it really struck me especially with this transition. Please take the time to read it!
This is a big change, requiring a big step of faith and I am asking for your prayer and support.
Please, please read this letter to see more of our heart and the mission that we will be a part of.
I love you all!
Perhaps you wonder how you could ever have an impact if you moved to the city. Check out this encouraging video!
