A Year Ago We Moved to Atlanta...

It was a year ago today that my husband and I packed all our belongings into boxes, shoved them into a moving truck, and drove 1,000 miles to our new home in Atlanta. Even when we were strategically piling wedding presents and parcels onto the truck, we had no idea what really would await us down South. We had no idea what this new life would look like; it all was pretty much in the air. It was our first real leap of faith together as a couple.

As most of you know, my husband and I met and dated long-distance for the first 10 months of our courtship. He had long-intended to spend his summer in Grand Rapids with me, but when we got engaged and decided to get married over the summer, we had a decision to make: Stay in Michigan or move to Atlanta?

There were benefits and drawbacks to each option:

In Michigan, I had a well-paying, full-time job with good benefits. In this economy, that is not to be taken lightly. 

However, it would mean having to figure out an alternative for Michael finishing up college. Ultimately, our goal is that when we start our family, he will be the breadwinner so that I can stay home and raise our kids (which is the way both of us were raised and has been my heart’s desire for raising my own family). So it was very important that we not delay him finishing up his degree and getting a job, plus he was studying to be a teacher and the teaching market is pretty nonexistent in Michigan, so we guessed that eventually we’d have to move anyway for him to find a job. (Turns out the teaching market in Georgia is no better!)

Moving to Atlanta, though, was full of question marks. Michael would be able to finish up his last year in college, uninterrupted. He had a scholarship that would cover his entire tuition, which we both consider a great perk because we want to keep our debt to a minimum--even if it is “good debt.” However, it would mean me leaving my job and us not knowing what we would do for income or how we would get by.

Once Michael moved to Grand Rapids, we spent the first month praying about this decision until we ultimately decided to make the decision in favor of our future rather than our current circumstances: We would move to Atlanta.

Now, at the time, as I was praying through it, I didn’t feel that we had to move to Atlanta. I really felt like God impressed upon me that both decisions were good decisions and either one would be OK. 

However, the Atlanta decision was a greater leap of faith while staying in Grand Rapids would mostly be made out of fear of the unknown. And I don't want to live based on fear. With that on my heart, we decided in favor of moving to Atlanta.

And I have to say it was a great decision. 

Time after time, God has awed me with his provision and blessing during this move, from a surprisingly steady income to enough wedding money to pay for our entire move down here, and then some. 

We continue to thank God for each day he has given us, our manna that provides us with our daily bread. Leaping into the fog of question marks has been an incredible lesson for us, and a great way to start off our marriage, if you ask me. We're still walking through those question marks, but each time we do, God always comes to the rescue and, in doing so, builds my faith more and more.


Though we still don’t know what awaits us or how this will all work out, we continue to trust that he will be faithful to his Word and his name: Jehovah Jireh, God our Provider.

Related Posts
Discerning God's Will for Your Life
Decision-Making: Out of Fear or Faith?

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