On this day in 2014, we arrived in Florida to our new dwelling place.
It is hard to admit, but it is true: I did not want to come to Florida.
Texas was home.
When I think about that season, I can still feel the tension in my heart. I can still remember the ache of leaving behind everything familiar. Houston was all I knew. It was where my friendships were rooted, where my doctors were, where so many of my memories had been made. It was where I had served, worshiped, led, given, and built a life that felt safe. It was where I felt in control.
Florida did not feel like a dream come true. It did not feel like paradise. It did not feel like the comfortable place I wanted to settle into during my Senior’s last year at home with us in our final year as a family of six, all under one roof.
It was not where I had friends....
It was not where I felt safe....
It was hard.
Surrender Did Not Come Easily
When people talk about surrender, it can sound so peaceful and polished. But for me, surrender looked more like wrestling first.
I wrestled with God about this relocation. I questioned. I resisted. I grieved. I held tightly to what felt known and secure. I wanted my plan, my place, my timing. I wanted the comfort of home and the confidence that comes with familiar rhythms.
But in the middle of that struggle, God was patient with me.
He did not shame me for my fear. He did not rush my anxious heart. He met me there.
And slowly, in His kindness, I leaned into trusting His will, His protection, and His provision. That trust did not mean I suddenly felt brave. It meant I chose to believe that even if I was afraid, He was still faithful.
So I packed up the house with joyful anticipation, not because it was easy, but because I knew God was asking me to trust Him once again, one step at a time.
God Knew I Needed Baby Steps
What I love when I look back on that season is seeing how compassionate God was with me.
He knew I needed baby steps.
He knew the thought of forever in a new place would have been too much for me to carry at the time. In His grace, He only gave me what I could barely manage in that moment, which was one year. It would be more than a year, but He did not ask me to hold all of that at once.
That is so often how He works in our faith life.
He does not always hand us the full map. He gives us enough light for the next step. Enough grace for today. Enough strength for what is right in front of us.
And for an anxious heart, that matters deeply.
Sometimes surrender is not saying yes to the next ten years. Sometimes it is simply saying yes to today. Yes to packing the box. Yes to getting in the car. Yes to showing up in the new place. Yes to trusting that God will meet you there too.
Leaving What Was Familiar
There was real grief in leaving Texas for Florida.
I was leaving behind more than a house. I was leaving people I loved, places that held memories, routines that grounded me, and the version of life that felt manageable. I was leaving the place where my friendships were established and where I knew how to function with confidence.
Relocation has a way of exposing what we cling to for stability.
For me, it revealed just how much of my peace was tied to what felt familiar. It showed me how much I equated safety with sameness. And it reminded me that even good things like home, friendships, community, meaningful service, can never be the truest source of our security.
Only God can be that.
But God. He Knew Where I Needed to Be
Even though Florida was not the place I would have chosen, God knew where I needed to be.
Close to Him is that place.
That was the deeper invitation in this new season. Not just to move to a different state, but to move closer in dependence. To remember the embrace of His arms. To rest near Him. To lay low before Him and know that He was my covering, my comfort, and my peace.
When everything around me felt unfamiliar, He remained familiar.
When I felt uprooted, He remained steady.
When I felt like I had lost control, He reminded me that I had never been out of His care.
I knew He would go before me as He always had.
He has been faithful all my life.
Abba Daddy.
Living Water.
Daily Bread.
My very Breath.
He always was.
He always will be.
Faithful He is.
What Surrender Taught Me
Looking back, I can see that surrender was not about losing everything. It was about loosening my grip so I could receive what God had for me in that new season.
Surrender taught me:
- That obedience can be painful and still be holy.
- That faith life is often built in the places we did not choose.
- That God’s provision is not limited by geography.
- That new places can become sacred when God meets us there.
- That even when friendships and familiar comforts are far away, we are never alone.
If you are standing on the edge of relocation, transition, or a new season you did not ask for, I want to encourage you: your fear does not disqualify you from faith. You can tremble and trust at the same time. You can grieve what you are leaving and still obey God with your next step.
Surrender may not look glamorous. It may look like tears while packing boxes. It may look like praying through disappointment. It may look like choosing trust before your feelings catch up.
But God is faithful there too.
And if He is calling you into a new place, He will not abandon you in it.
He will go before you.
He will sustain you.
He will be your peace.
Because in every season, whether in Texas or Florida, whether surrounded by friendships or starting over from scratch, home has always been—and will always be—where He is.
0 Comments