#12 A Glimpse Into The Future
Over the years, starting from the time we married, my husband and I moved numerous times. When we first met, my husband was a carpenter by trade, worked with concrete and was, by every definition, a very conscientious and hard worker. We started doing northern work in Canada, living in construction camps on native reserves, building schools and other construction projects. My husband assisted with the building projects and I cooked for the construction crew. We worked incredibly hard during those first years of marriage.
When those three jobs were completed, each one in a different location, we settled in Manitoba, close to family, and I took some training in Winnipeg while my husband worked on various jobs in a few different locals in southern Manitoba. During this time we built a house for ourselves, on some property which was near my family. After living in that house for a short nine months, the company he worked for asked us to move to Toronto area to start a new division there.
After prayer, we decided to go for it. We settled in a smaller city near Toronto and lived there for five and a half years, where our oldest two children were born. Work dried up around Toronto so the company moved us to Cornwall region for a year and then to Kingston for another year, all for varying building projects. When the Kingston job was complete, after eight years of living in Ontario, a massive change loomed before us. The company was starting a new division in North Carolina, USA in 1997 and they asked my husband to be the first one to relocate to the area and begin a job there.
Our third child was born in the spring of 1997. When she was a month old, my husband, I and our three children made the momentous migration to North Carolina. The temperature change in July was drastic. We were not used to the extreme heat and humidity of the southern States and moving during the summer was a brutal adjustment. Our two oldest would run outside to play and soon came hurrying back inside, soaked in perspiration. I was never more grateful for air conditioning as I was there in that hot, humid and sticky location.
My husband’s position in North Carolina was a construction on-site supervisor and he would be overseeing large building projects. During the following months, other Canadian managers were transferred to the area in order to oversee the new office and general management of the company.
Our oldest child started grade one at a private school, operated by the church we attended. I still had two little ones at home and, although it was busy, I loved being a stay-at-home mother. I drove my oldest to school in the morning, took care of my other two during the day, and picked up my eldest from school in the afternoon.
Early one morning, on January 6th, 1999, after having lived in North Carolina for a year and a half, I was having my devotional time with God. I asked him about the future and if we’d ever live in Canada again. I heard his voice inside my mind say – I will move you back to Canada in five full years. I wrote this in my journal and tucked it away for future reference. Five full years to me meant that a move would likely occur after a school year was complete. I don’t believe I would have even considered a mid-year transition for my children.
Rarely did I think about that word while I was mothering my children and living life. Our time in North Carolina was occupied with the hustle of parenting and my husband working long days on various jobs around the area we lived. Then the company won a bid for a project in Wilmington, North Carolina, located on the coast in the southeast part of the state, and they asked my husband to run it for them. Instead of moving the entire family to Wilmington, we decided my husband would commute back and forth, a two hour drive.
During the two years he worked there, he would often stay in Wilmington for the week and come home on weekends. The busyness of my life mushroomed during that time as I basically parented alone. Those years were very tough.
In the spring of 2000, while my husband was still working in Wilmington, our youngest and fourth child was born. Being forced into predominately single parenthood, my life was ultra-overloaded, with never a dull moment while managing a household and four children, one a newborn.
About a year later, in June of 2001, I was working in the kitchen, preparing food as usual to feed my family of six, when my oldest son came up to me and asked me something he often did.
“Mom, when are we going to move back to Canada?” He was clearly missing his grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins.
Words immediately dropped into my mind. I heard the Lord say – Tell him you’ll be moving in three years. I was shocked at what I was hearing. The phrase came unexpectedly and echoed loudly through my mind.
I shared this with my son and the information seemed to satisfy him. I can’t remember him ever asking me this again. Also, when I went back to check the previous word God gave me concerning moving to Canada, the dates lined up perfectly. I’d received two confirmations about a move coming. Rarely did I think about those words in the next years. I was fully engrossed in mothering my children and managing my active life.
Thankfully, my husband’s job in Wilmington came to an end and he began to work much closer to home. Having him present every night was such a blessing and I finally had help in raising our four children.
When his next project was complete, a governmental building about an hour from our home, he received some upsetting news from his company. They had decided to shut down certain offices in various locations, North Carolina being one of them. His manager suggested either moving to one of their offices in Minneapolis or Toronto area.
After discussing it, we both decided we weren’t ready to move again. Although it was difficult for my husband, he had worked for this company since we were married, the decision was made to quit and find an alternate employer in North Carolina.
There were many companies eager to hire him, especially since he was familiar and gifted at managing large building ventures. He finally made a decision and began a project at Duke Inn, a renovation job. The task was prestigious, being tied to the Duke University, and my husband took pride in the fact that he was part of the process. I remember, during that time, my husband receiving free tickets to see a Duke Basketball game. It was very entertaining.
Time flew by and, before I knew it, we were facing the end of summer 2003. Our three oldest children started back to school and I began to consider God’s words to me about the possible change in our future. According to the timeline I’d been given, we would be moving in the spring/summer of 2004. My husband’s job at Duke Inn was far from finished and would extend well beyond that date.
I began to seek God concerning what he’d revealed to me. I told him, “God, it doesn’t look like we’ll be moving any time soon. If the words I heard were from you, you will have to bring them to pass and cause them to happen.”
God heard my prayer because things began to happen quickly after that. Perhaps a month or so later, my husband started receiving calls from a manager he’d had with his previous company. When the office in North Carolina closed, this manager had applied for a job with a construction company in Alberta, Canada and was presently working there. Apparently he’d told the owner about my husband’s qualifications and they were interested in having him come and work for them.
This manager encouraged my husband to come and visit this city in Alberta, check out the construction company and see if he’d be willing to switch over. At first my husband was opposed to the idea. The Duke Inn renovation was far from being finished and he was much too busy to consider a trip anywhere.
I remember my husband asking me what I thought about it all.
I said, “I believe this is God’s timing for us to move back to Canada.” I shared the words I’d been given over the years and explained that I sensed God was opening the door and leading us back to Canada.
My husband was shocked that I was so at peace with another move. All the moving we’d done had taken a toll on me and yet I had such tranquility about this potential and massive transition.
In November, the owner of the construction firm in Alberta reached out to my husband and said that, since my husband couldn’t take time off to fly to Canada, he would fly out to North Carolina and meet with him there. November 17th and 18th the owner came to see us, spoke at length with my husband and took us both out for a nice meal.
I don’t know all that was said between the two, but after the owner left we began to make arrangements to fly to Alberta. I asked a woman, whom I knew through the church, to move into our house and take care of our children while we were gone. Ten days later my husband and I flew to Alberta, Canada for an expense covered visit, footed by this company.
While there, they company put us up in a nice hotel with a great view, my husband had meetings with the owner and mangers, they treated us to another fantastic meal and we seriously began to look around for a school for the kids and for a place to live. Although things were moving rapidly, we both experienced placidity over what was taking place. God seemed to be resting mightily on every detail.
After visiting a few schools in the area, we clearly sensed God’s direction in one of them and knew our children had found a new home. We met with a house builder and began the process of having a new home built for when we’d arrive the next spring.
When we returned to North Carolina, my husband eventually told his employer about the changes coming and that he would be quitting in spring of 2004. The owner and one of the managers came to see him, insisting they wanted to bring him a bonus. When they arrived at his on-site work trailer at the Duke Inn, they offered my husband a substantial bonus cheque/check (different spellings in Canada/US). At first he declined, saying that he didn’t want to be bribed to stay on in North Carolina. They insisted that the money wasn’t a bribe; they wanted him to have the bonus regardless of his decision, so he took it. This money ended up being a huge blessing for us.
The following May, in 2004, my husband moved to Alberta, Canada to start his first job with the new company. I and the children stayed in North Carolina in order that the children could finish off their year of school and for me to sell the house. Being paid in Canadian dollars, the amount my husband was making in Canada would not convert equally in the United States. The money we received as a bonus from his previous employer helped pay our expenses in the US while I and the children stayed for a few more months.
Early July 2004, my husband flew back to North Carolina, our belongings were packed up, we said our goodbyes to our many friends and began the long drive to Alberta, Canada with our RV camper. Our new adventure had begun.
Thinking of all the supernatural events that made this move possible astounds me. God’s hand was evident in answered prayer, opening of doors, unexpected money provision, selling of our home, finding a school in Alberta, a builder to construct our house and the massive transition to a new country and province, one we’d never lived in as a family before. Although these things were amazing, not everything went smoothly, there were difficulties and trials along the way and the move was monumental and rigorous. Focusing on the positives and how God was orchestrating his will through our lives is important to recall.
We moved multiple times, major upheavals, from one city to the next, one country to another. God did not forewarn me of every one of those shifts, but he knew how hard all these moves were on my heart and how lonely I often felt.
God is still in the business of speaking to his children. His word says in John 10:27 – “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” I am so grateful that he spoke to me all those years ago, giving me a heads-up of what was coming for us in the future. He knew my heart was weary of all the moves we’d made. He knew I needed supernatural guidance and knowledge about another upheaval approaching for us in the years ahead. God prepared me for the massive transition years before it ever happened, which revealed his kindness and love. His words prepared me and I was ready for it when the situation presented itself to us.
This significant move, transitioning from one country to another, created much stress, difficulty and logistics to be worked through. But, having God’s supernatural direction throughout brought tremendous peace and I will be forever grateful.
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