We started this family journey in winter 2022.
The last three years have been a difficult period – a time when we were isolated and felt rejected. We had to deal with bitterness and all kinds of emotions. But God used this period to show us behaviors that need to change, hurts that need to be forgiven, and to learn to depend on Him.
No more heartbeats.
After these trials, God restored most of the friendships that we had lost and even gave us new ones. But after a while, we felt that we had stopped growing spiritually. Preaching the Kingdom had become secondary. We both felt dry, and I started to lose focus by investing my time in work and leisure. We had lost motivation and our purpose. We needed to do something, but what?
Revelation
One day, we saw a video of a family that was struggling like we were – not being able to speak about the Kingdom at work or being effective in their immediate surroundings. They took a radical decision, left everything behind to focus only on the Kingdom. They started by attending a Luke 10 school, and a couple of months later, ended up in Spain, living by faith, preaching the gospel, and baptizing whoever wanted to turn away from their sins. For us, we knew we needed to be radical as well. God did not speak to us, nor did He give us a vision, but we knew in our hearts it was the right thing to do. We had to take a step of faith.
On the move.
We got rid of all our possessions and only kept the basics, including the house.
We had five visits in the first 24 hours our house was listed, and three offers. A lot of pressure was being put on us to make a quick decision, and at the same time, I wanted to get the most out of the sale. We decided to take the first offer. We felt like God was showing us that we needed to keep our focus on the goal and that money was secondary. We calculated that if we sold the property inside of four weeks, we could use the money of the sale to travel to California.
Speed bumps.
Two weeks into the selling process, the buyer decided, after the inspection, to back out of the selling process.We were confused and didn’t know what to do.We wanted to live for God and learn to trust Him in our most basic needs. Were we doing the right thing? How are we supposed to go to the Luke 10? We decided to believe in God’s promises and hoped that things would work out. We felt at peace.
Ta-da!
While searching for a solution, a thought came to my mind. We had a little bit of money from RSP. We calculated the average cost for gas and food, and decided that we could contact people on the TLR map to host us on the way since we had barely enough to make it. I also checked with a realtor, and we could leave the house on the market and do the papers via the internet.
Broken heart
One of the hardest parts was announcing this news to my dad and stepmother, as they had the habit of seeing my kids almost every weekend and were very close to them. I know they think it was a selfish decision and they cannot understand why we are doing what we are doing. In this crazy world, we rather put all our chips in Jesus’ promises instead of living our best life now.
The 3rd of March was the last day we spent in our bed and in our house. I have to confess that thinking about it now, I feel a small pinch in my heart. We had a lot of good memories in that house, but our true desire is to learn to trust Him, serve Him, and for our children to know Him in a personal way.
Therefore, from that day, we have set our eyes on a new beginning.
Philippe
