free to move

There are many definitions of the word "move." According to dictionary.com, it can mean "to proceed," "to take action," "to change from one place to another," "to affect one's emotions," etc. Moving has been a big part of my life this year. At the beginning of this year, my family moved to Shanghai, China, where my dad has been working for the past 2 1/2 years. Right after they moved, I moved back to Samford. This year at Samford, God has moved in my life in many ways. After beach project, I came to Samford on fire for the Lord and with the desire to be intentional in every aspect of my life. I had become a more content, confident but less prideful person, and I was ready for God to help me take even bigger steps in my faith. Fortunately, He helped me to do that through the good and the bad. No matter how hard you try for it not to happen, there is always going to be some bad, but the good thing is, God works through everything. Nothing can separate us from Him. Romans 8:38-39 says, "neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And when we are with Christ, we will always be moving--physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, etc. This August, my family will be moving to Jupiter, Fla. After living in Peachtree City, Ga. for the past 20 years (almost my entire life), it was a huge shock to find out that we would have to sell our house and move to a city over 11 hours from Birmingham. The move to China was a huge one, but I still had a house to go back to in Peachtree City, and now that would be gone. When I first found out, I was initially shocked and sad-- I would be leaving my hometown, where I grew up! Most people would react the same way. However, there is also a positive way to look at it, and when I realized that, it made reality so much easier to grasp. The reality of it is that God is in control, and He has blessed my dad with another job! Going to Florida is going to be a great opportunity, and with today's economy, it is such a blessing just to be employed. Also, they could stay in China and have to sell the house, and then it would be worse! Or they could move all the way to the West coast! Who knows what could have happened. What matters is what did happen, and what's going to happen, and that we don't worry about it. After all, God says we shouldn't worry about tomorrow b/c today has enough troubles of it's own, and it's so true. And, worrying about anything is simply a waste of time and energy. Instead of worrying about life, whether it be work, school, a guy, money or what you're going to wear tomorrow, let God move in  you by letting Him into your daily life. I encourage you to read the Bible and to soak it in and use it as a model for your daily life-- don't just let the Word flow out of you. Instead, let it flow through you and move you to become more like Christ and ultimately, help you to be more content, to bear fruit and to enjoy life. :)