In my previous post on how to be a catalyst, I mentioned that God had revealed a word to me for the year 2014. Well, he also revealed a second word a few weeks later - the word "ROOTS". This was an interesting one, and I should probably start the story on its significance about 7 months back - in July 2013.
In July 2013, my husband and I had just made the decision to move churches from our local church in Gainsborough where Rob had been on placement throughout his two years at bible college, to a large growing church in the centre of Doncaster. Part of the reason for moving was to do with him being offered a job there, but we had also felt God calling us to move on long before any talk of jobs was in the air. This was a massive blessing to us and our family, as finances were pretty tight with Rob being a student, me working part time and a newborn baby to provide for! But it was also a big sacrifice.
Our church in Gainsborough had well and truly become our family. It was a small church of around 50/60 members, and we knew everyone. We had served alongside them and they had been so amazing in the months after Sam's birth that I honestly don't think I would have coped without them. So making the decision to move was a hard one. We were leaving sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers behind.
Another sacrifice was the travelling - although not impossible to get to, the Doncaster church was a good 45-50 minutes drive away, and with only one car this meant that I could not get involved in anything at church during the week. It was a pretty long day on a Sunday too with all the travelling with a small baby. It was not ideal, but we decided that in 6 months time we would start thinking about moving over there if we definitely felt it was right.
A few months after this was when it all started happening. I was quite happily going about my normal routine in Gainsborough - volunteering where I had volunteered for the last two years, going along to my old church's mother and toddler group, meeting up with friends there - and then things started shutting down. First it was the contact centre that I volunteered at on Saturdays. It lost funding so was having to close down. Then the mother and toddler group stopped. It felt as though God was picking me up like a plant and ripping my roots out from where they had been quite nicely planted for the last two years. He was shaking me off ready to plant me somewhere else.
God didn't want us sat in Gainsborough, not able to be a proper part of our new church, clinging on to the past rather than moving forward into our amazing future. And although we will keep in touch with the family that we leave behind in Gainsborough, we are both now excited for 2014 and the promise that God has given us, that we will be putting down new roots.
For those that know us, we are currently in the process of moving house, which we believe is the first step in us putting down our new roots over in Doncaster. It has been a rocky road so far, with houses being reserved then taken away, with many viewings on our house not going well, and with our faith in God and his provision being tested. But I firmly believe that He has the best house waiting for us, an amazing house that will become our family home and that we can put our roots down in for the next ten years (at least!!!). So watch out Doncaster, here we come! (p.s. this is Part 1 of the moving saga, and I am pretty sure that as we approach moving day there will be even more stories to tell, so watch this space!)