There’s been a lot of speculation as to why our family moved back to the east coast after such a short time in the desert. To be honest, we questioned it a lot as well. We loved what we were doing and we had plans for so much more.

But as Proverbs 19:21 goes, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

The girl that keeps us on our toes has continued to keep us on our toes. While the move to California opened the door for her to see a new specialist and get new testing, her needs continued to increase and our remote location in the desert prevented us from getting the day to day care she needs. Resources were just not readily available. In addition, I was having health issues and struggling to find healthcare, Kirby was having to be away from the church more than he wanted, and we were trying to find balance with our oldest girls and homeschooling as well with the support and help of our family thousands of miles away.

And then suddenly God surprised us and threw the doors back home wide open, as only He can do. We weren’t looking for it, and I argued quite a bit about it. Ministry was going great, we were learning so much, and we had already built lifelong relationships. But within weeks every little detail was taken care of, from job opportunities to the selling and purchasing of homes to travel plans to medical appointments. God made it clear that seasons were changing.

So here we are.

While it has been sad to shift seasons yet again, and to do it so quickly, I can see the reasons for it. The day before I left I received the results of one of Harper’s latest tests, indicating that her seizure activity is having tremendous impacts on her brain development. We have even more therapies and interventions to implement and she has a lot of hard work ahead of her. However, the doctor informed us that all of that is for naught if they don’t get better seizure control.

So everyone’s goal right now is seizure control, but her seizure activity is increasing. We’ve known that she was having constant activity in her sleep, but now that’s causing her to sleep less and less. She was having absence seizures while awake, but in the last week she’s had three more pronounced seizures while awake. She just finished another EEG study at Duke, so we’re waiting for the doctors to review the data and tell us what step is next.

Waiting.

That’s not my favorite place to be, yet here we are in the throes of waiting. Waiting in line at the store or the gas pump. Waiting at the stoplight. Waiting in yet another medical waiting room. Waiting for the doctors to report back. Waiting for my husband to make his way here. Waiting for our belongings to arrive from across the country. Waiting for a home to be ready. Waiting to see what happens next in this scary, broken world. Waiting for prayers to be answered.

But there’s purpose in the waiting. There’s comfort in the waiting. There’s worship in the waiting. There’s strengthening in the waiting. There’s growth in the waiting. There’s Presence in the waiting. HE is in the waiting.

Whatever you’re waiting for today, know that He is there with you.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. 
-Psalm 27:14

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
-Lamentations 3:25

But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
-Micah 7:7

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.
-Psalm 130:5

But they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
-Isaiah 40:31