Walking Into the Unknown Future

When Carissa and I made the move from Texas to Iowa back in 2014, we knew it would be temporary. She had just finished PA school and needed to find a job and I was starting work on my doctorate remotely at Regent University. We had one little guy, Aiden, who was only 8 months old, and 2 small cats.

When we moved into the house, it seemed so big for the three of us and we were excited to start our family in our new home, new community, and new adventures.

Fast forward 7 years, and our wonderful new home full of space and promise had become far too small for our family of now 5 plus our black lab Addy (Adeline actually). Carissa’s contract with her current PA position was coming to an end and we had known a move was in our future, most likely going East.

Carissa had grown up in New Hampshire and graduated high school in Pennsylvania, plus I have always loved history and visiting historic locations. Moving East seemed like a good fit for us both. Plus, there was the possibility of living near the ocean or the mountains, which was very appealing for us and our developing outdoorsy lifestyle with three energetic boys.

In August of 2020, we actually went on a scouting trip of locations seeking where we may want to move come 2021. We visited large and small cities along the East Coast trying to find a place that fit us and the lifestyle we were wanting to build for our boys.

One of the requirements for my doctoral program was to come to Regent in Virginia Beach to spend a week in class each fall. Even though the weeks were packed with classes and activities, I always found an hour or so to make the trip to the coast, walk along the beach, and enjoy the atmosphere.

I had grown up in Iowa, a world of cornfields, cattle, and good down-home living. For fun, we went hunting, boating on the lake, playing baseball, and having pig roasts in the backyard. I had visited the coasts, east and west, only a couple of times in my life, and so when I would visit Regent and spend that little time on the beach, it was so refreshing, relaxing, and new. I often would have the thought that I would be okay living near the ocean to watch the waves, listen to sounds, and see the big ships in the distance on the water.

With all of that, you would think making a decision to move our families to Virginia Beach would have been a simple decision. But, as I am sure it is in your life and family, few things are simple. Even though in hindsight it all seemed obvious, as we walked through the process of deciding where to go, nothing seemed obvious or clear and we kept asking God to just show us where he wanted us.

If you are a Christ-follower and seek God’s will for your life, you know that most often it is God whispering to us his plan for our lives and us being loud and stressed and overwhelmed and failing to be calm and quiet enough to hear his voice.

Well, the months leading up to our adventure were a little bit of an adventure in themselves. Needless to say, we spent more time stressed and anxious than we did calm and quiet, which is partially why it took so long for us to make the decisions we needed to and make the move to Virginia Beach.

But, I will save that for another day. For now…we are figuring it out and learning new things in our new place…living in an RV.