The Bible is full of moving stories. You know, the ones where someone actually moves from here to there.
We’ve seen Abraham being told to leave everything behind and “go to a place I will show you.” There’s Ruth who follows Naomi to a new place and a new life. Of course there’s the amazing exodus of the Jews from Egypt, and the great commission that sent the disciples all over the known world. Suffice it to say there’s a bunch of moving in the Bible.
We may be told to “Bloom where we are planted,” but sometimes life pulls you up by the roots and plants you somewhere else—a new job, a new city, a new life. it’s just a fact.
When I was the publisher of the the Indianapolis Business Journal, a time came when my job there seemed finished. I loved being editor and then publisher, but all of a sudden it became tedious. The fun was gone. I talked to people older and wiser than myself, and one of them likened the feeling to having a chair that you love. It is so comfortable. It fits your body perfectly. Then all of a sudden you’re just tired of it. It doesn’t fit anymore and eventually, you have to start looking around for a new chair.
Looking back now, I can see it was part of God’s plan. Everything I have done in the past has prepared me to work with Jim to build bridges between racial and economic divides in our city. But I would never have gotten here if I hadn’t moved when God led me to move…if I hadn’t started looking around for the new chair He had for me.
Jim went through the same transition. Having worked for National Christian Foundation, raising millions for great causes around the world, he started looking for that new chair when his heart was convicted to do something about poverty and the racial divide evident in Indianapolis.
UNITE INDY was the answer for us both. Early on, we knew we needed a place where people could meet, and rented a space in the Stutz Building—formerly a manufacturing plant for automobiles. It’s a cool place, with high ceilings and big windows. But, the building is a maze, with little parking for visitors, making meetings there difficult.
So Jim started trolling urban neighborhoods looking for a new place. For months he searched, but like Goldilocks, we found they were either too small, too big or too expensive and he’d start the search again. All this time there was this little forlorn brown double sitting on 38th Street with no For Sale sign that kept nagging him. Who knows why he finally decided to track down the owner, but he felt a strong nudge to just find out.
Fast forward to Tuesday, when we moved into 241 W. 38th Street—that place that we know God has shown us. In all of this, we have learned that when He calls us to “Go” He usually doesn’t provide an itinerary for the trip. He waits until we respond in faith to supply the rest of the information. It is always an exciting process, one that comes with unexpected blessings along the way.
Here’s to new chairs and always paying attention to those “nudges,”
Nancy
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