Going Where He Sends Me

An interstate move during a pandemic became a lesson in trust for Courtney Vallejo and her family.

In a world that is focused on these “unprecedented times,” it’s often hard to remember that regular life is still continuing. That while the world seems like it’s on pause, decisions are still being made daily, in our own families, for our futures.

In a time period I like to refer to as pre-pandemic, my husband and I had made plans for our family to move from California to Arizona so he could pursue his doctoral degree. Our family has been on a journey of waiting since the fall of 2018: waiting to see where he would want to go, waiting to get in, and waiting to decide how and where we’d be moving our family. Being almost 40, it seemed a little crazy to uproot my family to a place neither of us had lived before but God has given us peace to venture into the unknown. Our move was planned for the end of this summer, but with the drastic changes happening in the world, we decided to sell our home in California before anything happened with the housing market.

Selling a home is always stressful. Keeping the house clean for showings, with kids at home is quite the Olympic sport, but add to that the fear of Covid-19 and suddenly we were wiping everything down before and after each showing. Thanks be to God there were only seven showings and the house sold within ten days.

Once we accepted the offer in the middle of April, we realized our long-awaited plans were quite quickly becoming reality. The hunt for a new home had already began though online searches but now suddenly we were doing FaceTime walkthroughs of homes in Arizona. We bought a house through pictures and FaceTime, and although we felt like we knew it, we were truly buying it sight unseen. Unprecedented times were causing us to make unprecedented decisions.

God has given us this new home and we instantly saw the fruits of the move but along side those fruits, we saw the work that lay ahead of us. The second day we were here, we had a huge leak from the upstairs bathroom, not to mention much of the home needs updating. Moments have come when we have wondered why God has sent us to this house. He has shown me the ways this home is perfect for us, and in the midst of that it got me thinking. If we had actually seen the house in person, we may have rejected it because of all the work. Since we were already homeowners when we turned the key for the first time, we had no choice but to make it our own.

I wonder, how often must God show my only what I need to see to convince me to move forward? How many times have I gotten in my own way, not choosing what’s best for me because I spent too much time looking too hard at the small details of the plan?

How many times have I gotten in my own way, not choosing what’s best for me because I spent too much time looking too hard at the small details of the plan? #catholicmom

Many of us are struggling during these times. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the world around you and only seeing all the work that lies ahead, please don’t lose hope. Perhaps God is allowing you a moment to choose strength, to choose perseverance and most importantly to choose to trust in His Divine Providence.

My son was cleaning up his army guy toys recently and was so overwhelmed. I told him that while the mess looked overwhelming now, for every guy he picked up, he was one step closer to being done. He didn’t quite believe me until suddenly they were all picked up.

Someday the painting and remodeling and leaks in my home will be fixed. I don’t know if I can say the same for the health of our nation, but I know that the health of our souls can always be improved by learning to trust God more. Think of it like the army guys. Every little time we choose to trust, we are one more step closer to trusting fully in Him.