Life is often hectic.

A whirlwind of deadlines, appointments, dinner dates, and homework often dashes in and out on a daily basis. Time for coffee, exercise, and prayer is sidelined when our phones are glued to our hands with texts from the circle of busyness and agendas are ingrained into our thinking. We never take a moment to rest, to breathe, or to enjoy a moment of peace. We may miss out on something more pressing or even interesting.

I am getting ready to move for the 12th time in my married life. 

Most moves are tedious, frustrating, and dirty with years of forgotten dust causing havoc for our eyes and noses. Clipboard in hand, and prayers on the forefront, we hope for our family trinkets and dishes to be in one piece and for all things to be accountable. High hopes, low expectations, and a dozen pizzas later, we are exhausted and rest is fleeting. There’s always more steps to be taken.

This move isn’t any different as far as the typical boxes to check off. What gnaws at my heart strings is the bittersweet idea of leaving our island home heading towards the end of a journey.

All the years of my husband serving in the military have that list topped off with deadlines, appointments, children and responsibilities in the home. All the time spent apart has a tired lady full of busyness that it took a bout of anxiety and depression to bring her to her knees in front of the cross. Years of stress and the unknown has brought hope in showing me that I don’t need to have all the answers but peace in the journey that God has set before me. This lady, although frazzled and exhausted in a home piled with household goods waiting for the movers, is excited for what whirlwind adventure that the Lord takes her on next.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV 

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

The Lord knows and He cares about our stresses, frustrations, and worries. He doesn’t dismiss our thoughts over the next home, the new friends, and the exhausted little ones that are in our care.  Instead, He gives us hope and excitement for the next thing.

He sees our concerns over the earthly treasures we have collected that remind us of the far off places that we care and pray for.  He sees us through our appointment books and group texts.

As I head across the ocean and a continent, I may think of these things in passing, but I am choosing to take in my heart the most important of all the blessings that God has given me. I am placing my anxieties at His feet no matter how much I want to hold on to them and I am going to focus on my loves: God, my husband and my children. As He cares for me, I will pay it forward and care for what He has given me as the most important treasures. I can always take that with me.