moving on
moving from one place to another often reveals how much we've been holding on to.
last month my wife and i moved into a two-bedroom townhouse;
an upgrade from the one-bedroom apartment we spent the first two years of our marriage in.
we needed more space.
any moment, we'll welcome our little baby girl into the world, and we wanted to be moved in and settled before she changes everything.
the move was smooth.
we had friends help us out.
funny, everyone asked me if i was hiring movers.
a miami thing, no?
i lived in the same house my entire adolescence, so i never moved myself until college;
but growing up, ANYONE and EVERYONE who moved called upon me and my dad to help because he had muscles and a pick up truck.
and i was the tetris master tasked with fitting everything in just right to make it in one load.
as my friends arrived to help us load up,
i realized i underestimated how ready we were to move.
i thought i had everything in boxes already...i was wrong.
there was so much i had forgotten to pack, and even more i had forgotten to throw away.
we spent about 3 extra hours packing more boxes and loading up the truck.
moving in however only took 30 minutes.
by the end of the day, we were in our new place, ready to spend our first night.
next time we move, i'll probably hire movers.
but this time, i had this "dad pride" running through my veins.
i wanted to put my blood, sweat and tears into the move.
something about preparing a place for my little girl and making a home for my family made me shun the idea of movers,
and bring on the stress of moving.
it made it worth it to me.
a sense of accomplishment.
before i moved in with Carolina just over two years ago, i lived by myself in an efficiency in little havana.
if you're not familiar with the concept,
an efficiency is basically an extra bedroom in someone's house where they decided to section it off and add a separate entrance to.
basically a 200 sq ft studio apartment the home owners can charge over $1000 in rent for.
and you can hear Will Smith say, "welcome to miami!"
i lived there for about 3 years on and off when i was going through my divorce.
(if you're surprised by this minor life detail, go ahead and check out the archives of Truthfully Tuesday... and this podcast...and you'll be brought up to speed)
it was by far the smallest living situation i've ever found myself in.
i joke about being able to touch all four walls while sitting on my bed.
i felt like i was in an incubation tube.
and for good reason.
it was a hard time of life for me.
i basically would go to work.
get home.
pop something in the little toaster oven,
or cook something on the electric plug in stove.
(there was no kitchen, not sure if you caught that)
and watch tv until i fell asleep, only to wake up and do it all over again the next day.
no one coming over...where would they sit?
oh, and don't get me started about my weekends at the laundromat.
what a waste of time.
i so desperately wanted out of that season.
but i wasn't ready, and i couldn't afford anything else.
i was stuck.
trapped really.
slowly, as my life started to get back into shape,
the pandemic hit, and then i was really stuck at home.
thankfully, God healed me.
i met an amazing woman.
miami opened back up.
and we got married, and i eventually moved out of my old place.
and the rest is a history i get to share wisdom from on the other side of the pain.
moving from one place to another often reveals how much we've been holding on to.
that season was a struggle.
but this move into our new place reminded me, i still have struggles ahead.
albeit they are different, and will come and go.
but they won't stop, and they won't stop making me stronger.
there was nothing wrong with our old place.
unlike my efficiency, it did have a kitchen.
it had enough space, for the two of us.
we were able to host people, have dinners and parties.
none of which happened in my little havana hot box.
we loved our first home.
but life changes
there's a 40 week baby in the oven about ready to hit ding,
and she needs her own room, eventually.
it was time to move on again.
this time, like the last,
it felt like i had accomplished something, and was being rewarded with a life upgrade.
from single to plural.
from couple to family.
the strength gained from the struggles of one season giving me the ability to open the doors of the next.
there's no way this was our last move.
i'm sure in a few years, we'll need a 3 bedroom house, with a den and a doggie door.
and future me will take all the lessons learned in our current place,
and feel as if God is upgrading us to the next season of our lives yet again.
the time will come,
but i'm enjoying where we are at.
i can't wait to bring our little girl home.
to put her in her room and turn on the sound machine and nightlight i installed last night.
i can't wait for her to get in the crib my friends helped me bring upstairs.
i can't wait to rock her in the chair we assembled.
the nest is set.
the move was worth it.
there were things we had to leave behind.
some things we had to throw out.
we cleaned out the closets and clutter.
we were making space for something new.
something better.
maybe you think you're ready to move into your next season of life, but you haven't gotten rid of the clutter.
stop waiting around, and get to work.
there's limited space on the truck.
you get to choose what you bring into your next season with you.
are you going to bring your pain with you?
or maybe just the healing?
are you going to bring your past failures?
or maybe just the wisdom gained from those experiences?
the choice is yours.
but believe me,
God's not upgrading you to a new space just to fill it with clutter.
He's upgrading you so you can make more room for Him and all the things He has for you.
maybe today it's time to move on.
throw out the junk.
make space for new things.
even if it's not time to move.
a good spring cleaning will leave you even more prepared to move when the time comes.
-gb