Faith and the Big Move

Faith is complete trust in something or someone, without needing to see proof. In the Bible, the story of Ruth shows her faith. Ruth was a Moab, but married a man from an Ephrathite family from Bethlehem. That family had fled their homeland because of a famine. During the marriage, we assume the family told Ruth many of the stories of God and his promises. Years later, when Ruth's husband as well as her father-in-law and brother-in-law died, Ruth had faith that she needed to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, as they traveled back to Bethlehem (a new place for Ruth), even though her own husband had died. She told Naomi, "Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! For wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, and your God will be my God." (Ruth 1:16) God is telling us the same thing! He won't abandon or forsake us, so we should not ask. Wherever we go, He will go. We just need to have faith that He is always there with us. Faith is a choice. It is not something we are born with. Ruth was not even born into a family that believed in God. But she chose to believe in the God of Naomi's family after hearing about the good deeds done. 

In 2016, Shawn was finishing up residency and doing his year of internship. We knew that after that, there was a possibility of moving to a new place for his job. There were a few places he had mentioned briefly of places to interview, Manhattan, KS being one. Kansas?? Who wants to move there?? I was strong against that at first. He had an interview in New Orleans, that I was super excited about. After 5 years of being 8 hours away from our family, it would be great to be closer to home. The interview went ok, but after a few weeks of discussion and learning about what they were (or rather, were not) offering, we both stepped away from that thought. I was really sad about it, because I had a friend I was working with at the time who was moving to the New Orleans area for a similar job, and I would have loved to continue working with her. But that wasn't "in the cards" for us. 

A month or so after the Nola interview (and at that time it seemed like an eternity when you are looking for a job), he again mentioned the Manhattan, KS, option. Again, I was hesitant, but I listened to him on it. Up front and on paper, all seemed ok. The hardest part for me was that I knew it would be a 14 hour drive from south Louisiana, and with kids in school, we would hardly get to see family. Then the company offered to fly me out with him for the interview. Ok, that was a shot in the right direction. They cared enough to know that though the head may make the move, the neck turns the head go in direction. On the flight, I was ready to see the flat lands of Kansas, so plain and boring in my mind. Then we flew over some hills before landing, and I was like "What is that and where are we??" Funny enough, MHK is in an area called the Flint Hills (https://www.manhattancvb.org/210/Flint-Hills , which was beautiful and brown in October. Apparently this was after burning season, we learned in the interview. I fell in love with the little town during the interview. We were toured around, but were also allowed plenty of time to drive by ourselves. It was a small town, maybe 20 square miles from end to end, around a college campus, which was a beautiful site in itself. Once the interview was over, and we returned to Arkansas, I was on pins and needles waiting to hear back. This seemed like a great opportunity for the family, though far. The town had a really good school system and lots of activities for us to do in the summer. 


While waiting to hear back, Shawn had another potential offer from Arkansas itself, so we would be able to stay in Little Rock. That's when I started praying, and praying hard. I said rosaries every day driving to work, praying that if God intended us to move, that He would open the door and open it wide. I put my faith in God for the answer, knowing He would always be with me. Finally, Arkansas gave Shawn a time limit, that he had to give them an answer in 2 weeks. Stay or go? Be further from family or in a town we are already familiar? I be a stay-at-home mom or continue working at the Crime Lab? Those were tough things to consider, especially since we hadn't heard from Kansas. Shawn called them to see if they had made a choice or not (at the time of the interview, they mentioned they had another candidate to interview before they decided). They said they would get back to him soon. I continued my daily rosaries, and we heard really soon from MHK, and they offered the job. After long back and forth, Shawn chose the MHK over staying. He chose the road untraveled instead of the familiar. He thought it best for our family. So I followed him. Luckily enough, we visited again in March (Drove this time) and found a house the same weekend. A few weeks later, I was ready to become a substitute teacher, the kids were in daycare, Jeanne signed up for school and church. Everything had fallen in place. I hadn't stopped praying my rosary. I knew it was going to be ok because God was leading us. I kept my faith in God's choice. 


The move was hard and fun. The kids hadn't seen the house at all until we moved them in a week after Shawn and I actually moved all the furniture in. They were at my moms during that time. It is still hard being so far from family, and we only get to do down twice a year, but this job is taking care of our needs, helping us pay off our debt he accrued from medical school, and it's allowing us to live in a safe town with great people. We love it here. I am so glad I put my faith in God (and my husband), and prayed daily. This is our place for now.