"The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9
As with most stories there are layers upon layers of moving parts, well this is very much the truth behind what God has been continuing to do in our lives. Most of you know, Lindsey and I have been following God into a new season of life, (if you don't know, check out my previous post with all the details here) and that new season has come with a lot of twists and changes. It has left us feeling a range of emotions, but one thing has been made obvious, God is so good to us, through the good, bad, and difficult.
Just a few weeks after we made the announcement on March 1st, Lindsey and I began to really focus our prayer in a few areas, the biggest of which, was seeking how God would continue to provide for us financially. The loss of secure income and jumping into the world of self-employment brought about many concerns to say the least. We were primarily focused on praying for work for me through speaking and writing engagements, never thinking that God may have a larger plan involving Lindsey AND I's career steps. A few days after our focused prayer efforts, Lindsey's boss approached her encouraging her to apply for a promotion to Senior Clinical Manager (a big promotion and an honor to even be considered for the position), the only catch was this position was located in Burlingame. For those unfamiliar with Burlingame, it is located about 15-20 minutes south of San Francisco on the Peninsula and also about 20 minutes from Fuller's Menlo Park campus (something of note as we both love the City and were wondering how I was going to commute almost 2 hours to classes from Napa). Within Lindsey's company there are only 7 of these positions available, and it is a rarity for this position to come available. The timing of it all was a bit overwhelming...God calling us out of ministry at FCC and to attend Fuller Seminary in Menlo Park, our planning on selling our house even if we were staying in Napa, and then this promotion coming available. It was hard to ignore God opening opportunities, even if it challenged what we had envisioned. Originally we believed we were going to be able to stay in Napa, but this would present a much different situation.
As we discussed the possibilities, we realized this would mean a lot more changes would be taking place, we wouldn't be able to continue living in Napa, it would mean moving further from our families, and our FCC family. These thoughts pulled at our hearts, but we decided applying doesn't mean we are committing, so Lindsey applied.
God has a strange way of working in our prayer lives. The weeks between when Lindsey applied and when we found out, we prayed and prayed and prayed. Uncertainty drives us to prayer, our need to control and be in charge has a definite effect on our spirituality. I think God uses that, he uses our circumstances to draw our hearts closer to him. In those weeks as we waited to hear about Lindsey's promotion, our hearts were moved many different ways, toward excitement, sadness, expectation, discontent, hope, fear. It was the process that shaped our hearts, it was in the uncertainty, that we learned God is for us, regardless of outcome. We all have a tendency to equate the goodness of God with our expectations of circumstances. If we're not careful this allows our circumstances to dictate our faith. But joy is found regardless of circumstances. Joy is found in God, he is the fulfillment of our hearts deepest longings, and we have to remind ourselves of this. As the days went on God shaped our hearts toward contentment in either staying in Napa or moving to the South Bay. Our plans were changing but we were growing comfortable with wherever God would have us. Not long after, our prayers began to shift from desiring clarity, to thanking God for contentment. And shortly after that we got word about the promotion.
As I expected (because I married WAY UP) Lindsey was offered the position, and we accepted!
So with excitement and trust in "the Lord establishing our steps" we will be moving to the South Bay! Currently, we are looking to move to Pacifica, a small rural beach town about 10 minutes south of the City. We will be selling our house, hoping to close the sale around mid-July and moving thereafter. There are a lot of moving pieces to it all so we are praying for us to continue to rest in God for the details. There is much to be prayed for, our house needs to sell, we have to find an available apartment (which is no easy task in the Bay Area), new school for Madison, more free-lance preaching and writing work for myself, seminary classes starting at the end of June, Lindsey's new office, but for now we continue to step in faith.
We would love to have you join us in prayer for the continuing strength of our faith, for the transition for Madison (that she will connect with new friends at her new school), for the many challenges of Lindsey's new job, for our house sell and that we can find a new affordable place in the South Bay.
God is so good my friends! If there is anything we have learned on this journey it is that God is more for us than we could ever imagine! Thank you all for following along and for the continued support. The love and grace you all have shown us is inspiring. Thank you!
- The Sneed's