If you haven’t yet, you might want to read part 1 to this, that way it will make more sense.🙂

After we established that moving to California Is something that we are going to do, we started making plans.

Me, I’m a list maker. My brain works better when everything is organized and planned. Things make more sense that way.

So, I made a couple lists. Things to do before our house is ready to sell. Things that need to happen to start a life in CA.

This list consisted of:

1. Find a job for Checkers.
2. Find a house.
3. Find a school for Kenzie.
4. Plan a trip to CA to iron out the details of the first 3.
5. There was more, like setting up a bank account, switching over our drivers’ license, vehicle registration etc. but those first 3 looked the most daunting.

How does one find a job, a house or a school when you know no one and nothing about the area?😳

A quote I love: ‘When God brings you to it, he will also bring you through it.’

We decided to start with a house, because if we don’t have a house, the job and school are pointless right?

Guys, there is lots of online resources to finding a house. Plus, there’s this thing called realtors.

Finding a house should be a breeze, even if it’s on the other side of the country. Right?

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Here’s the thing: We still don’t have a house!!!🤦‍♀️

I read a couple of Dave Ramsey’s books a couple years ago, so I knew that he has ELPS (Endorsed local providers.) Basically if a realtor meets certain standards they can become an ELP and you know they’re seasoned, experienced realtors or they wouldn’t be on the list.

So, we went to Dave Ramsey’s website and filled out the form requesting a real estate agent in Redding CA.

Not much later, Checkers’ phone rang and he ended up talking with this realtor for 25 minutes. He learned that this guy and his family attend Bethel church. He also said he would text Checkers some numbers of construction people that might be hiring.

Guys, these things don’t just happen. This was one of those moments when God showed us that if we follow him, he will always make the impossible, possible.

Our realtor supplied Checkers with three numbers to call for job opportunities.

Construction guy one said, “Not hiring right now.’

Construction guy two said, “We’ll, I am hiring BUT I’m kinda looking for someone with experience.”

Checkers, “Oh, well I have 16 years experience in construction.”

Construction guy two with great excitement, “You’re hired!”

He did end up getting some references to call from Checkers but he pretty much had the job at that point.

Side note: Checkers’ boss also goes to Bethel. (Not that everyone we associate needs to go to Bethel church but like I said 👆 thes things don’t just happen.)

Find a job.✅

Enrollment for Bethel school opened March 1st, (I think) we got Kenzie’s application and submitted it ASAP. However Bethel fills up fast and she did not get in.

Bethel administration was extremely helpful though and recommended a couple of schools for us to look into.

Their first recommendation was Redding Christian School, so we found their website and were excited to learn that they have elementary and high school, unlike Bethel who just has elementary. They also offer a variety of sports, music etc. options that Bethel does not. So in many ways this was actually a step up!

Again, God brought us exactly what we were looking for before we even knew what we were looking for.

Finding a school for Kenzie.✅

If you want to read the story on selling our house and finding a house out here to buy, read my blog ‘California Bound.’

Long story short… we put our house on the market and it sold less then a week later for over asking price.

After this, a lady from our church came up to us and said: “I was praying for you guys and God said to tell you that you are on the right track! No matter what happens, your plans are not to change! You are on the right track!”

I’m thinking, ‘oh shoot, what is going to go wrong? I mean everything has nicely fallen into place so far and I haven’t doubted even once that this might not be the right move… so…”😳

Well guys, Covid happened.

Need I say more?🤨

Our house sale fell through, because the lady could no longer get her financing.

However, God was one step ahead of it all and I can honestly say we never doubted our decision. Because when God so clearly makes a way and has a hand in the tiniest of details it’s pretty easy to keep your eyes on the end goal even if the road there, takes a few unexpected detours.

I’m not saying it was easy though. I am a planner, therefore I like to make plans and then execute them perfectly.😎

But when God tells you that this is going to be a journey of faith in ways that you have never yet experienced…

Well, let’s just say, you probably should not take it lightly because he will teach you how to follow him even when it doesn’t make sense and you don’t know why he’s taking you in seemingly the wrong direction.

Through our journey this summer, God moved a lot of my head knowledge to heart knowledge.

If you know something with your head you might not fully believe it, but if you experience something, you will know it with your heart and this is the information that no person, no words and no circumstance can take away from you.

One thing that became heart knowledge for me was this: ‘If God closes one door, it’s because he’s opening a better door.’

Not an easier door, a nicer door or more fun door but a better one. A door that will prune away your rough edges, a door that will mold you more perfectly for the path he has set for you, a door that will lead you in the direction he has called you to and a door that will meet your needs better then you could have planned for yourself.

I have faith like never before that he knows what I want and need better then I do. So why fight it when he changes my plans?

He has challenged me so often this summer with these words: “You can go after what you want and you can have it, it’s your choice, or you can wait for what I have and know that it will fit your needs even better.”

It isn’t always easy but there is peace in knowing that I don’t have to figure everything out perfectly because if I let it in his hands he will set the perfect plan before us.

Summer 2020 was not an easy one for us. It often felt like we got stuck in the transition phase. When churches shut down we followed Bethel online (our future) then Threshold opened back up in a different building (we were in a school before) and it didn’t feel right or normal anymore plus it was hard to get started there again since we were leaving soon anyway. Yet, we hadn’t left yet and didn’t even know when we would for sure…

It wasn’t all that much fun to be honest but every time my frustration threatened to take over God would remind me that he has something for me to learn in every season. So, I have the option of pressing into him and letting this season refine me or I can simply endure it and miss so much of what God has for me.

And if we press into him he is there and he sends these little bits of encouragement along the way.

We had so many people speak life into our journey as they shared words of what they felt God saying about our journey here.

Most times it isn’t that God is silent, it’s that we aren’t listening.

There you have it. The story of how God made a way for us to move to CA.

The closing of one chapter, however, is also the start of a new one and we are excited to see what God has for us in this next season of life.

Moving across the country, Covid-19 and all the other things this crazy year of 2020 has thrown at us is not the end but the beginning of new things.

I read this meme recently: ‘Anyone else nervous about the 2020 finality?’🙃