For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

When my husband and I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska three years ago, we felt strongly that God had plans for us in the far north – we just couldn’t know what those plans would be. When we drove away from Greenwood in June of 2012 we didn’t know where we would be living once we got to Alaska, I didn’t yet have a job, and we didn’t know a soul in the state.

Oh, did God have plans.

We found a place to live on the drive up to Alaska, so we were no longer homeless. Our home was a cabin without running water that challenged us to do without a “necessity” that we had taken for granted for many years. We are now more grateful for indoor plumbing and clean running water than we ever dreamed we could be.

I found a job at a fantastic nonprofit dedicated to supporting kids experiencing emotional and behavioral problems, so I was no longer jobless. By God’s grace I was offered the job only after a few fruitless months of searching, a series of failed interviews, and a serious wake-up call about just how much I had been grounding my identity in the sinking sand of work and achievements. Those three months felt like three years at the time, and I’m better for it.

It took us much less time to meet quite a few special souls in Fairbanks, so we were no longer friendless. The men and women of faith and the friends who aren’t yet believers that we spent time with in Fairbanks are all gifts, and we miss them.

It is humbling to reflect on God’s plans throughout our time in Alaska, and in no way is that more clear than in the biggest plan he had for us there: the plan to become parents. When we first moved to Alaska, parenthood was the last thing on our personal agendas. After making a way for us to become licensed therapeutic foster care parents and blessing us with the opportunity to care for two teenagers, God changed our agendas and blessed us even further with the birth of our daughter last December.

After a season of growth and change in Alaska, we felt strongly once again that God had plans for us somewhere else – this time back in Greenwood. No matter where we live, each of us is called to a life that glorifies Christ and points to His truth and righteousness. Our prayer is that this season in our life and all the seasons to come will be lived to the greater glory of God.

It’s good to be home.