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Becoming Hoosiers

By October 23, 2016August 30th, 2022Lost in Translation

As difficult as it is to believe, it was 34 years ago this week-end than Janet and I brought three small children to Carmel, IN from the Chicago area, and made this new city our home. Kristin was 7, Jill was almost 5 and Andrew had just turned 1. Although it would have been impossible to predict the ups and downs we have experienced, all in all it has been a great place to live and raise a family.

I had accepted a position here, working in downtown Indy and I originally moved down here on Labor Day week-end while Janet stayed in our Inverness home with the children. I lived in room 1231 of a hotel located near downtown and every several weeks, I made the trek back to Inverness, IL to spend time with Janet and the kids. Although Janet and I had been married 9 years, we hadn’t spent very many nights apart and neither of us enjoyed our temporary separation.

The first work night I was down here, I visited the Carmel area and stopped by the racquet club to get the “lay of the land” as tennis was an important part of our lives back then. I worked with a realtor and even committed to purchase a home in the area. Janet came down several weeks later to see my choice and she approved of the home I had picked out. We made preparations to move right after closing and the rest, as they say, is history. Janet came down for closing and then we went back to Inverness to supervise the move.

Janet and I then returned to the new place in Carmel and slept on the floor the first night. Janet’s sister, Debbie, and her mom, Nancy, arrived with the kids while we had travelled with our dog. We unpacked on the Sunday before Halloween and I went to work the next morning. That’s when the real drama started to unfold. I had discovered some improprieties and was worried about my reputation. In fact, I resigned the first work day that Janet and the family were here. It was mind boggling. Here we were, in a new city, just moved in, and I quit my job the next day.

But even then, we thought there was a purpose to our being here and Janet, whose faith has been larger than mine for our entire lives, figured it would all work out. It was a scary time in our lives, but very exciting as well. We couldn’t afford to move again and so we had to make the best of our situation and that’s when we made the decision to start our company. There was no way that we knew all the miracles that God would perform in our lives.

Sure, we had our trials and tribulations but when I look back with the benefit of hindsight, moving here was a divine mandate. Now we are still here, believing that God had, and still has, a purpose for us to be here. Two of our children live locally and three of our four grandsons are within minutes of our home. It has been a wonderful 34 years.

Our walk of faith has not been unlike that of Abram. The Bible tells us that God directed him to move and as a result of Abram’s obedience, God blessed him and his family. Again, it was not without strong trials, but Abram became the father of at least three different religions and God showed that He can achieve His goals by working through anyone.

The verse for this evening is from Genesis, a book written by Moses. We are told, In Genesis 13:18, “So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.” In fact, the Scripture faithfully records that Abram built numerous alters to the Lord wherever he went and whenever he moved. This was Abram’s way of honoring God in all he did. My encouragement this evening is that there are times in all of our lives when God will ask us to do things that may seem difficult or impossible for us. But that’s where the faith part comes in. My prayer is that you will have the courage to answer the call when it comes – and it will come! I know that Janet and I have a much better life than we could have ever imagined and it started with a step of faith that the future would be bright – and it has been!  Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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