Dear Tina,

May this remind you that you are never alone 🫂.

Would you believe me if I told you my husband and I are considering moving back to my hometown?

To the surprise of many, I’m expecting—and the thought of being close to family does the heart good, especially raising children. But if you had asked me a year ago if I’d ever move back, I would’ve given you a twisted face and the nicest version of a “heck no.”

Somehow, God has a sense of humor when it comes to our “heck no’s,” because He already knows. He knew before you moved what situations you’d face. And that, to me, is so reassuring.

There’s no shame here.

God isn’t surprised.

He’s not standing off in the distance, arms crossed, ready to condemn you for needing to pause, rest, or even take a step back to reevaluate.

What a blessing it is to have a place to return to after hardship. It’s in that return that I’m learning to park in the space of gratitude. You have a home to go back to.

You’re hearing this from someone who has moved in faith more than once, only to learn that the lesson was simply to obey.

Nothing more.

I moved to Charlotte three months before the bigger move to Texas. I lasted one week.
I remember being on the phone with my mom, and she reminded me: “You have permission to change your mind. Come home.”

That’s the beauty of free will—being honest with ourselves about ourselves.
I got it wrong. And going back home? There was peace there. Joy, even.

I stayed those remaining months in rest before making the biggest move yet—halfway across the country, the farthest I’ve ever been from my family—because God said so.

And in that obedience, He brought the promise: my husband.
But it didn’t come without patient endurance.

When I moved here, I thought I was coming to attend law school at UT. That didn’t happen. And now I find myself standing in the hallway of transition once again—yielding to what God says, with a husband and child on the way.

Oh—and I haven’t had a job since September 2023.
But God is sustaining us.
There’s no other way to explain it.

I’ve had moments of sorrow, despair, and confusion.
I’ve found old journals and was reminded of what God has already done.

I’ve been here before.
So have you.

You can believe the lie that you’ve wasted time—or you can park beside me in the gratitude space and witness what God is doing to gently course-correct and guide you through the valley.

He promises that if we trust Him and don’t lean on our own understanding…
If we acknowledge Him in all our ways—even in the steps we took in faith that turned out differently than we expected—He will make our paths straight.

Only God knows why you had to go back home.
Same for me.

I’m learning that surrender and expectation can’t coexist in the same space.

There is no “backwards” with God—only redirection.

I am nowhere near where I thought I’d be.
Change is never easy.
Transitions stretch and prepare us.

But if God is for us, who can be against us?

So, no—we will no longer believe the lies of “behind” or “wasted.” We’ll trust what God is doing in the midst of our unmet expectations and lay them down at His feet…to carry what He desires for us instead.

Sending you all the virtual hugs I can.
Because I’ve been there.

For the One Like Me,

Janae

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