I got a text from my son telling me he is moving and asked when my apartment lease was up (which is December). He wants me to move. Actually, it was last discussed about a couple of years ago, but I decided not to do it. This time may be the right time to take the plunge. But…

As I usually do, I keep thinking and thinking and thinking if it is a good idea. This is a big change, pulling up roots and moving to a place I have only visited a few times. Nice place to visit, but would I really want to live there? Then I thought of why I wanted to move versus why I want to stay in Philadelphia. The reason to stay was to be the caregiver for my mother who was in advanced stages of dementia. But she passed away, and as of this month (June) it will be three years. It was a very challenging time caring for her, and during those seven or eight years, my life felt stuck, wishing I could move. There is no reason for me to now continue to live in Philadelphia. I have the freedom to bust a move. But the buts keep mentally getting in my way. Which brings me to this past Sunday.

If I am honest, I admit I did not want to go to church. I had been in a rut lately, and I just wanted to stay home and mope around. But I decided to go, asking God to give me something I could sink my mental teeth into…please God! Well, when you ask, look forward to receiving!

Pastor Andre Jones of Discover Church gave me the words I needed, talking about

• calling (the work or purpose a person feels uniquely drawn to pursue and contribute to the world),
• that God is the one doing the calling and you can arm wrestle all you want, He will win
• your calling is the assignment God gives you, and your gift is the grace God gives you to carry it out, so walk worthy of the calling (Ephesians 4:1)

And this was the one that I needed to hear and put my fears at ease:

God will bring you into new boundaries as he brings new relationships.

He will equip you for the assignment.

Calling begins when God names what He has placed in you, separates it for His purpose, and assigns it to serve the world.

And so I will look at apartment complexes, get rid of a lot of stuff, talk to moving companies and so on and so on, to see what new boundaries and new relationships will be presented. No more arm wrestling, no more fearful thinking. Just do it and see what God has in store in a new environment. When you look at it that way, a new perspective is created.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:19 NIV