Obedience in Action
I have learned that obedience is not always the “best deal,” but it can still be the right life. Buying my childhood home next door to my dad may not have been the most optimized financial transaction on paper. Leaving Florida meant laying down people, familiarity, identity, status, routines, and things I genuinely loved. But I was not trying to win a negotiation. I was choosing proximity, legacy, and a family life we could not build under any other circumstance. Over the last 12 months, these are the lessons I’ve learned from obeying the call to move accross the country to be closer to family.
1. A calling can cost you something precious—and still give you something deeper.
I gave up a life in Florida that held history, comfort, relationships, and a version of myself I knew well. I did not leave because everything there was terrible. I left because I saw my dad in January 2025, felt the weight of time, and knew Jack needed the chance to truly know him.
That has taught me that sacrifice is not always loss. Sometimes it is a trade:
familiarity for presence
social ease for family roots
“the life I built” for “the life I am called to build now”
immediate comfort for future gratitude
I think I have learned: I would rather pay the price of obedience than live with the ache of knowing I ignored it.
2. God’s provision often arrives as alignment, not ease.
The move did not make everything easy. I have still carried health issues, the hard work of rebuilding routines, business pressure, homeschooling anxiety, and the emotional disorientation of starting over.
But look at what aligned:
Craig was ready to downsize and moved toward the plan.
Our family created real financial stability.
We bought a home beside my dad and created daily access—not occasional visits.
Jack found a homeschool co-op that is genuinely good for him.
I moved (further) through my fear of homeschooling and became more confident in what I am building for Jack.
I have been able to create more intentional rhythms around work, writing, podcasting, and family life.
The lesson is not, “If God calls me, it will be painless.”
It is: When I move in obedience, the pieces may not become easy, but they begin to fit.
3. I am more capable than the version of me who was afraid to begin.
A major thread in my life and work is Start by Starting. This move made me live that message.
I was afraid of homeschooling in this new place. Now I am actively shaping Jack’s education around who he actually is: his strengths in math and systems, his interest in Linux, Warhammer, building, art, writing, and the possibility of dual enrollment and mentors as he gets older.
I have been rebuilding work rhythms while carrying multiple responsibilities. Yet I became more consistent with publishing, began rebuilding my podcast, kept developing Become the New, and keep moving toward the book.
The lesson: Confidence did not come first. Evidence came first. Then confidence followed.
I did not need to feel fully ready to build this life. I had to build it before I could see that I am capable of it -because I really am not…but He is. Trust.
4. The most meaningful life may look quieter from the outside.
I have recently that said I have “zero status” and yet “so much fruit.” I think that is one of the clearest lessons of this season.
A life next door to my dad in the house I grew up in may not look impressive to someone measuring status, proximity to big cities, career optics, social circles, or appearances. But the fruit is hard to deny:
Jack has more access to his grandfather.
Our family has a more rooted home base.
We are financially steadier.
We are building a home that reflects our values.
I am creating work that comes from lived experience, not just theory.
I am becoming more honest about what matters most.
I am learning to measure success less by visibility and more by fruit: peace, family, provision, faithfulness, health, meaningful work, and a child who is known.
5. Obedience is not one dramatic “yes.” It becomes a thousand ordinary yeses.
The move was the dramatic, yes.
But the calling is being lived out in the mundane yes:
staying close enough to show up for my dad
choosing a flexible but structured homeschool rhythm
doing the weekly publishing work
building the podcast again
caring for my health even when the process is exhausting
creating a house and home that supports the family we want
refusing to abandon the book, the business, or my voice
continuing to seek God rather than trying to force certainty
The biggest lesson may be this:
God did not call me to Texarkana merely to relocate. He called me into a different definition of a good life.
Not a smaller life.
A more surrendered one. A life where my hindsight becomes someone else’s foresight, because I actually chose to walk through the hard thing rather than just talk about it. And I think underneath all five lessons is this one sentence:
I can trust God.
