“The Move”
From: Bryan
Over the past few weeks, the Hutson household has been preparing for “The Move.”
When I say that this move is a “God Thing”, that really is an understatement.
He has completely “showed up and showed out!”
A few months ago, we began praying for God to open doors for us to be able to move and for Yvonne a job transfer.
Our prayers continued when back in late February, she was contacted from 2 different companies about open Store Manager positions. Our prayers were “God, if either of these jobs ARE a door, open one. If they are NOT, CLOSE them.”
After a couple weeks of praying and discussions with both companies, Y accepted a new position with a different company.
I’m thrilled because this job should be less stressful physically and mentally for Yvonne. I will no longer have to commute 5 1/2 hours to meet the Soul’d Out bus. Plus, we’ll be closer to family.
Part of the process of moving is “purging.”
I began going through boxes and either discarding items or taking them to local charities. See, I am a hoarder. Y says “You’re one step away from being on The Hoarder TV Show!”
I had to make decisions on what to keep and what things “had to go!”
I have realized that the things that I gave or threw away, I really didn’t need anyway.
How many times in life does God want to “Move” us, yet we are still holding onto issues and struggles from our past? How can we receive God’s future blessings, if our arms are full of things from our past?
We can be living on past gains and losses! God wants to bring us into a new dimension of His presence.
Isaiah 43:19
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Yes, God showed up. But the enemy also showed up.
First, he didn’t want us to follow God through this door. When we did, the enemy came at Y and I with both guns blazing!
He attacked us individually by using our insecurities and our emotions against us. Sadly, we began to fight each other, instead of fighting him.
The enemy wants us to doubt God. He wants us to doubt God’s plan.
However, he is a liar. He is a defeated foe and we ARE God’s children and we firmly believe that God is going to use this “move” to not only bless US, but bless others as well.
I’m not sure what the future holds for us, yet I know God is holding us. He will not forsake us and He will guide us through this transition.
From: Y
To say that we have felt and have seen the evidence of God in our lives lately would be an understatement. We have other moments in our lives that His presence has been evident but none as great as in this moment of our lives.
To give you the backstory, I will have to begin in October of 2011. I believe it all started then with the culmination in February 2013. You see, Bryan began talking with Matt Rankin about coming on board with Soul’d Out Quartet around that time. We knew it would be a weekly commute. In the long term goals for our family though it would get us closer home and to family. We also knew it was God’s will for our family. So, we stepped out on faith and took the plunge all the while trusting and believing God’s promises.
Looking back on that time, the enemy began his attack then on Bryan and I separately and as a couple. In this day and age, the issues that couples encounter can easily tear them apart and destroy a family. We pushed through the year 2012 dealing with the devil. That year was very difficult for me professionally too. I had to deal with several tumultuous events in my building. The struggle of 2012 truly ended on New Year’s Eve driving home through the night. Bryan and I tend to have our most meaningful conversations on those drives in the middle of the night. That night The Lord healed wounds and gave us direction for the future.
Within a month, we were put to the test. We had decided that by July we were going to relocate closer to family and closer to SOQT home base. I want to be clear about the fact that Bryan never once complained about commuting for almost 15 months. Not one time- ever. Our decision was based on family and the need for me to have more work/life balance. I soon dusted off the resume. I decided to only look for things that I was passionate about since I was not in a position of having to find a job- yet. So, on a Thursday afternoon I spent what seemed like days pouring over a job search website looking and applying for positions I was interested in. I remember closing the laptop and praying “Lord, if one of these open positions is your will for our lives, please put your hand in this and move on our behalf”. Bryan was in the kitchen cooking dinner so I went in to see if I could help. While making dinner, I received an email from a company interested in my résumé. We were thrilled with the prospect. Later that evening, another email from another company. I was thrilled simply because it wasn’t the “Thank you but you’re over qualified ” responses I had received when searching previously.
Within a week, I had phone interviewed and reference checked with both companies. I remember it was the day I had my cortisone shot and I prayed for The Lord to give us a “burning bush” if one of these opportunities was His will for our family. Literally, within 3 days one of the companies job offered me. That is craziness. I had figured I would need to travel for a face to face interview with both companies. One had scheduled a face to face already for a couple weeks later. The other company continued with phone interviews and job offered without needing a face to face interview. Even the company’s recruiter stated “we don’t normally do this and it’s mighty fast but we feel you’re the right fit for our company”. So, yes I happily accepted. Secretly, this was the position I really wanted. The one I felt was the best fit for me.
Bryan and I began to make plans. We drove to the area house hunting in one day. We had researched the area and knew where we wanted to be. We put in an application on a home we liked (with a screened porch for Soph). The crazy thing was I wasn’t worried about it. That’s not normal for me but I had such peace about it. Strangely enough the house went through without all the normal things you would typically need to have completed.
I had been traveling and commuting for training over a period of about 6 weeks whether with my previous employer or my new one. Bryan and I typically never argue. We began bickering. The not seeing each other and the stress of him packing up the house and for me being in cities by myself with people I didn’t know was wearing on us both. We saw each other less than 18 hours collectively over a period of a month. We were aware we were under attack. We also knew that this was The Lord’s will and we just needed to suck it up and deal with this little period of time. We plowed through it. We started having conversation about how God must have something big in the works because the enemy was working mighty hard to drive a wedge between us.
You see, the enemy knows exactly which buttons to push to push you to the edge. I admittedly was behaving poorly by allowing the enemy to lie to me. That stubbornness rose up in me that I worked for years to suppress.The wounds of yesterday cracked open and began bleeding again. Before I knew it I was filled with thoughts and emotion that was not me. I knew that my husband didn’t know what to do with me. I began praying and I now know that Bryan began praying too. When I don’t want to pray or even know how to pray, I just pray the Holy Spirit will intercede on my behalf. I was able to bring myself to send a lengthy email to Bryan explaining how I felt. I later called him and I could tell by his tone he did not find the peace in reading that I had found in sending it. There was that immediate tightening of my chest and the voice in my head that said “See, I told you that you shouldn’t be transparent. I told you he will use it to throw stones back at you WHILE you are vulnerable.” I immediately recognized it and just began to pray for God to allow Bryan to read the message in the way my heart sent it to him. The next time we talked that day he seemed better. By the end of the day, we were able to discuss it in a loving manner. I discovered he (admittedly) had selective reading. He pulled out the parts that seemed to make him feel like he couldn’t do anything right. Yet he skipped over the sentence that said “it’s nothing you’ve done or not done”. So, his first reaction was defensive. Which in turn made me feel as if I should just keep my feelings pushed down, that being perfect equals love or that he won’t honor and respect me if we’re upset at one another. The enemy was certainly working overtime on us. We gained our footing though and pronounced we are more than conquerors. I intentionally played and sang worship music on my 9 hour drive home. Bryan made choices that put my feelings first and quieted the voices in my head. We grew stronger in the fight hour by hour.
From both:
We are not naive enough to think our battle is over. We have learned a valuable lesson. “Fight the enemy, not each other.”
The enemy wants YOUR marriage destroyed. He wants you and I to doubt God and His plan.
When circumstances and situations arise; guard your heart, protect and hold onto each other and stay connected through prayer and communication.
Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Fight the enemy..not each other.
The Hutsons 2013
