In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.—Proverbs 3:6, KJV
When I retired in 2008, Walter, my husband, promised that we could move closer to our family, so I immediately started decluttering our home. By 2009, he had totally changed his mind. The thought of physically and emotionally moving was too stressful, and he proclaimed to everybody that he would not move—ever! He loved our home, his retired employment, friends, church, mechanic, barber, grocery store, and the Kansas City Chiefs’ football games.
In 2010, when visiting our son and daughter-in-law in Atlanta, Georgia, we saw a subdivision that we loved, but the prices of the condominiums were way out of our price range. That trip excited me so much that I called a real-estate agent when we returned home. It certainly wouldn't hurt to get information, I thought. Eventually, we invited the real-estate agent to our home. While there, he asked Walter why he wanted to move. He looked up from his newspaper and said, “I don't.” I was more than devastated and promised the Lord that if moving was not His will, I would be content living in our clutter-free home. Family and friends joined me in praying for our future as I claimed Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (NLT). In 2011, miracles started happening. Walter got so disgusted with going to the Chiefs’ football games that he sold our two season tickets that we’d had for forty years (thank You, Jesus). For sixteen seasons he’d absolutely loved his retired seasonal IRS job until he was put on a special assignment that he hated. At the end of that season, he quit (thank You, Jesus). After living in our cozy home for thirty-three years, the neighborhood started changing and the property value started going down. Besides, there was too much grass to cut and too much snow to shovel.
The “for sale” sign went up in July 2012, and we visited Atlanta in September. This time, a subdivision condo we’d loved in 2010 had been drastically reduced because of the recession and a foreclosure. The price was just right, and our offer was accepted. After living in Kanas City, Missouri, for forty-eight years, we moved to Atlanta just two days before our darling twin granddaughters were born. We are still praising God, from whom all blessings flow!
Lord, in every situation, may I let go and wait on You because Your timing is always perfect!
Shirley Sain Fordham
First published in Carolyn Rathbun Sutton, ed., In His Presence (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference Women’s Ministries Department, 2018), 320.
