“Do not be afraid…” says the Lord, “for I am with you.…” —Jeremiah 42:11
Just a few days until the big move. Our house is in boxes. Frances has finished her last gymnastics practice. Benjamin has bid goodbye to his kindergarten classmates. Soon we’ll be 3,000 miles away, in the middle of New York City, about as different from our quiet suburban life as you can imagine.
READ MORE: HOW CAN YOU SPOT A SIGN FROM GOD
We walked in Santa Cruz, California, breathing cool, salty Pacific Ocean air. We were certain God was calling us East. We trusted he had good reasons for the move. Or did we? I had an in delible memory of the morning when, out for a run in the predawn dark, I felt God say, Go. I will be with you. Yet, still, I wondered.
Suddenly, we noticed everyone on the blufftop stop and point out to sea. We shaded our eyes and gazed west. “Daddy, a whale!” cried Frances. Sure enough, a pod of gray whales was passing close by the shore. A spout of water shot from a blowhole, and a mur mur rose along the sidewalk. Then—something I had never seen before—the whale closest to us, just a few hundred yards from shore, lifted its fin and waved it up and down in the air.
We looked at one another. “It’s waving!” exclaimed Benjamin.
I thought I heard the words Go. I will be with you. Then the whale lowered its fin and slipped beneath the water.
Wherever we go, you are already there, Lord. Help me to remember that.
