Telling the Girls

We found out on Tuesday that the transfer to Australia was official, but we kept it our own little secret for a few days. We didn't want to start telling friends and family until we had a chance to talk to the girls. And with our busy after-school activities, we waited a few days until it was a good time to sit down with them and talk. So, on Good Friday afternoon, we called a family meeting.

The girls could tell that we had some exciting news to share and they immediately started trying to guess what it was: "Are we going on a vacation?", "Are we getting a new pet?"

Brian said, "Well, we are sort of going on a vacation...a really long vacation. We are moving to Australia!" At first both girls were excited! In fact, Katie jumped up and screamed, and then ran outside so she could scream some more! Sarah jumped up with a look of elation on her face, but that quickly turned into sadness when she realized what was actually happening.

Then she looked outside and saw that Katie also had started crying. Katie came back inside and, through her tears, cried "I don't want to move!"

I knew it would be a hard pill for the girls to swallow. Everything they know is here: their home, their friends, their school, their family. Brian and I are very excited about this opportunity, but change is always hard. I know the girls will be just fine, and even better than fine, in the end, but I can't discount the challenging road it will be to get there.

We will have many more tears in the next several months, and much joy too I hope. We have already begun to cherish moments with friends and family, and we are making plans to fit in as much time with people as possible before we leave.

I know it will be difficult, but I plan to continue relationships with our friends here as well as we can while we are gone. Through skype and facetime, we will have monthly appointments with our firends and family to keep that connection. And I really hope that we will have some visitors. I hope I hope I hope!
We have already started praying for friends to be waiting for our arrival in Perth as well, people we don't know and haven't met yet, but who will be an immediate easy connection with our girls. We are praying for a like-minded family there to connect with and a church to attend and get plugged into.

Brian and I are confident that this is God's plan for our family and that he will provide everything we need to live an abundant life in Australia, including sweet friendships! 

John 10:10 "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Big News

Brian informed me back in November 2014 that he might have an opportunity to be transferred to Austrailia in 2015. I was very excited about the possibility, but told myself that I wouldn't really start diving into the idea until it became more certain. I started praying that we would get the opportunity to go, and that God's will would be done.

Then, in late February, Brian told me that it looked fairly certain that the transfer would occur in June or July. But again, I was not going to get overly excited until we knew more. Brian traveled to Perth in March to meet the management team and make more solid plans about the move. When he got back to Houston, I expected him to tell me that it was absolutely going to happen and we could start telling our friends and family that we would be moving to Austrailia.

But, he didn't.

He said, "It's not certain until I get an offer." He expected the offer to come sometime that next week.

Well, the week came and went, and no offer was made. Needless to say, I was on a roller coaster of emotions. On pins and needles waiting for an answer. I was praying constantly, everytime I thought about Austrailia. I would even wake up in the middle of the night and pray. Praying for an answer, for God's will to be done, and asking for patience in the waiting. But the longer the week went on, the more doubts crept up.  By the end of the week, I told Brian I didn't even care anymore if the answer was YES or NO, I just wanted an answer.

Early into the second week, when we still did not have an answer, I was beyond frustrated. I began to pray again, and this time it was not just me talking. I heard a question: "Would you rather wait for a YES or get a NO right now?" I don't know if this was God's voice or my own voice in my head, but I want to believe it was the Holy Spirit talking to me. I responded, "I would rather wait for a YES!" Then I asked God, "Why? Why are you doing this to us? Why are you making us wait so long for an answer?" And I heard the voice respond to my question: "Amy, you have not stopped talking to me since Brian came home from Austrailia." Then I realized that I had been praying nonstop for over a week. I had felt closer to God in the previous week than I had at any point in the previous year. So I went to bed that night knowing that God was with me in the waiting, and even though it was not fun for me to wait, it was good for my faith.

The next morning I felt Peace. I felt in my heart-of-hearts that we would get a YES, and I was committed to waiting for the YES. I shared these feelings with my dear friend Pam in an email and then also with my husband. It was about 30 minutes later that Brian called me and told me that they had accepted the transfer. The answer was YES!

I told Pam that I think God just wanted me to experience His peace before giving us His answer, and she said, "God is so faithful to give us the desires of our hearts when we truly seek Him." Amen! YES!