You may have heard the term, "Trailing Spouse," but I have to admit it is a term I cannot stand. To me, this would be the person in any relocation who trails behind, picking up the pieces when a relocation doesn't work. Yet, I met someone in Paris several years ago who loves the term. "That's me," she said, "I just move in the slip stream!"
I much prefer the acolade, "support spouse," meaning the person who makes the assignment successful for the entire family. If you are a single parent you can get caught up in being your own support team, and that just leads to exhaustion. Married or single, to insure the peace and even rest I talked about in last week's "Relocation Advisory" blog, you need to establish a personal support team (PST).
This support team has the sole purpose of assisting you in finding a new community in which you and your child/children thrive, new school/s, place to live, new church or whatever else you need. Need?
One of the most stressful aspects of any relocation is in actually knowing what you will need in a land you do not know.
As you start to build your PST for this relocation, remember that your Father God knew before you were born that you were going to make this move. Do you think for one minute that He will not be in the details? Take time to ask Him to reveal your needs for this move. "Not just what I think I need, but what You, Father God, KNOW I need," is a worthwhile prayer.
Ask Him also to help you speak truth in love to those around you. Too many people are quick to tell you what they think you will need as you relocate, so resolve to have that daily quiet time, listening to the Father's confirmation in your mind and heart for a needs vs wants list. Great is His faithfulness.
Ask Him what nurtures your spirit,(from the Holy Spirit), then nurtures your soul, and then your body. As you look to establish your support team, remember that you want the Holy Spirit to lead your spirit in your decision making, not your soul leading, not your body.Unless your spirit is nurtured as you establish this support team list, you waste a lot of time trying to feed your soul. When you are preparing for a relocation research trip, one thing you don't usually have is time to waste. A practical, "how-to" book for spirit nurturing (I would recommend for any long haul flight) is Dr Gary Chapman's, "God Speaks Your Love Language." For reading that will strenghten your resolve in establishing a godly PST, I keep Joyce Meyer's classic "Battlefield of the Mind," on my kindle. You are not going on vacation. You are taking new ground for the work He has given you.
If you are going to have the Biblical peace which passes understanding, and you long for the leading that at least knows where the still waters reside, then you need His support for the road. Tomorrow, I will talk about the next steps in rounding up your personal support team that enables success in any relocation.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
