At last count, the cultural backgrounds of our circle of friends spanned 15 or so very diverse nations. So when they found out we were moving from Australia to Northern Ireland we received a very diverse range of responses.
Our British friends were remarkably consistent in their responses however : all implied we had lost our sanity.
This of course is true; we lost that long ago, but we're quite happy about that.
So why are we moving from what is almost universally recognised as one of the best cities on the planet (usually fighting it out in such lists with other Australian cities, plus a few in Canada, New Zealand & Europe) to one that is still better known for its troubled past than its current, less-troubled existence?
The short answer is : God told us to.
The long answer involves lots of arguing with God over the fact He's been telling us this is what He wants us to do. And much of that arguing has been of the "ignore it and it will go away" variety.
And things certainly went away, but at no time was one of those things the call of God. And the things which did go away demanded our attention be refocused.
It's not as though we were living life on the wild side, but maybe that was the problem : we were comfortable, and while there's nothing wrong with that, if it's not taking you where you're meant to be, it's not helping.
Meanwhile, I'd been praying some heavy duty prayers, and God started to answer. I couldn't see that at the time, but with the 20/20 perfect vision that is hindsight, it all makes sense.
Annoying how God works like that...but if He didn't, I'm sure that not only could we not comprehend what He has in store, we'd get filled with pride if we saw the future plans He has in store for us.
More details to come as I get around to compiling prayer notes, journals-of-my-mind, & other bits and pieces.
