Update: Are We On the Move?

Six months into our quest to downsize (click HERE) and other than taking some boxes to Goodwill, life is moving along at it’s usual pace and in its usual space.  After announcing this spring that we had hoped to downsize, we have walked through many homes this summer, most with a smaller footprint, and have dreamed  of what could be.  A few times we came close to putting in an offer but every time, after conversations that went round and round, we didn’t feel quite right about any home. 

As I was running this summer, often through neighborhoods we had our eye on, my prayers turned from “God provide” to “God protect.”   It was easy to get caught up in this house hunting game pretending we could handle renovations (We are SO not Chip and Joanna) and crunching numbers with great expectations.  We didn’t want to compromise and force something that wasn’t. 

Fall is here and along with pumpkin spice lattes and the brief beauty of the changing leaves, we are still in the same space we were when spring was ripe with the promise of new growth.  It’s not what we expected or thought might be next, but it simply is.  We want to move with clarity when the time is right but it can be oh-so-easy to push and make things happen just because we can. 

And so, we continue to simply trust.  We believe that this desire to downsize isn’t just a meaningless side road.  We still believe it is part of what God is doing next in our story.  Maybe it wasn’t the timing we had hoped for or the process we had envisioned, but we still look ahead with great anticipation knowing that the stirring in our hearts wasn’t for nothing.

God provides and God protects and God moves.  His timing is with great care and we choose to view that as truth.  

Between our kids starting school, Paul’s job entering the “busy season,”  and some big travel adventures just around the corner, we have  decided to put our quest for a smaller house on pause momentarily. Our desire to live simply still remains central but we are trusting and waiting in the midst of the process as the pieces to our puzzle slowly come together. 

With Great Anticipation,
The Behnke's