Why We're Moving to ALASKA

8 years ago at around this time Jackie was graduating from seminary after 5 years of being in New Orleans. We were excited and full of hope. It felt like after years of preparation our lives were now going to REALLY begin! 

The seminary had hosted a sort of ministry fair for students to meet with representatives from across the United States. Jackie talked to me about which state representatives he’d like to talk with as we planned our perfect life out in our heads (HA!). He mentioned Alaska which I quickly vetoed; we thought it would be lovely to live near the mountains somewhere out west—maybe Colorado? Montana? However, I went back and told him to talk to the Alaska guy if he wanted to because I didn’t think it was right that I should tell him no. I don’t remember all the states he inquired about that day. I remember him bringing home a memo pad that said West Virginia on it, and I remember him talking ALL ABOUT ALASKA. 

Now when God speaks to me I unfortunately do not have a light from heaven shine above my head with a choir of angels singing hallelujah in the background. No, it’s simply a “small, still voice.” And I can still picture exactly where I was standing in our New Orleans apartment when I knew in my heart that’s where we’d end up. I most certainly did not share that revelation with Jackie, however. I waited to see what would play out. 

One day soon after, Jackie was driving to his job at a school supply store. As he was driving along, he was praying about what direction he should go in after graduation. He asked, “God, where do you want us?”when he glanced over at a passing car with an ALASKA license plate. He wasn’t 100% certain if it was a divine message or just increased awareness like how you notice all the white Honda’s after you get a white Honda. Either way it did seem unusual that a vehicle from Alaska would just happen to be in New Orleans (a minimum of 3,800 miles away) at the exact moment he was asking for guidance! 

After graduation we moved “back home” into my parents vacant mobile home which they’d lived in after the 2011 tornado damaged their home. We believed wholeheartedly this was a very temporary move. So much so that I was reluctant to fully unpack or hang pictures on the walls. Jackie made sure to buy small packages of things like dishwasher tabs because he didn’t want to have a large amount to have to take with us when we moved.

Jackie put his resume out in several states. While he did have one promising interview with a church in Vermont, it didn’t work out. Absolutely nothing worked out in our preferred areas. 

Having been in Alabama for a little over a year, Jackie decided to get a more stable, higher paying job and started work with Republic Services in August of 2014. He still believed this job would just be temporary and kept resumes out across the United States. After having been contacted by a church in Mississippi then dismissed as a potential candidate, Jackie confided in me his worries about not being sure what to do or where we should be. He recalls one night me telling him, “I think I know.” But I wouldn’t tell him because I didn’t want it to be anything to do with me. He listens well to God’s leading, so I just wanted God to tell him.

In 2017 we were still in our “temporary” home having added another baby to the family.

I began to fervently pray, “Lord, if Alaska is really where we are supposed to be then tell Jackie.” I prayed that God would send Jackie a literal sign at work. I didn’t tell Jackie that I was even thinking about Alaska at all. I didn’t tell him I was praying about anything at all. Later that very week he came home talking about a customer who had complained that “prices weren’t even this high in Alaska!” He thought it was odd that someone this far south would randomly mention Alaska. “Hmm, yes, that is strange,” I told him. But that wasn’t what I asked for, God. I asked for a literal sign—a neon sign miraculously lit up with burning bush power would be nice! Within the very same week, Jackie came home saying a big box truck had pulled up at work with FAIRBANKS emblazoned on the side. This was the first time Jackie had ever seen this truck after working there for years. “Isn’t that so funny that someone mentioned Alaska and then this truck came through?” 

I’ll take it, God!

I then told Jackie what I had prayed about. 

With renewed hope Jackie began sending his resume to churches in Alaska looking for a position in which to pastor. Two churches (at separate times) responded. The first was a church in an area that Jackie really preferred in a somewhat milder climate with the mountains and lakes that we love. This church eventually narrowed their search down to Jackie and one other man. The church went so far as to tell him we should start looking at houses because they were probably going to choose him. They chose the other man. 💔

Later another church showed interest in our family. This church was on an island along the coast accessible only by boat or plane. To be honest I really thought this was the place for us. The very first time Jackie showed me their search inquiry, my heart did a little flip. Indeed their search did narrow down to just Jackie and another man from their city. After several months it became abundantly clear that they were leaning towards this other man, and Jackie graciously withdrew his application. I tried not to let bitterness into my heart. 

After a while we began to question everything! Why had God even sent Jackie to school? Why had He called him to pastor when He hadn’t sent him to a church? Why had He laid Alaska on our hearts when NOTHING was working out? Why was He so silent?! 

Over this time Jackie had decided to try to advanced within the company he was working for. After all if you’re going to be working there, why not make a little more? A job within the company but in a different state had become available, and he decided to apply. The company was so eager to interview Jackie that they invited us ALL to come and stay in a hotel which we drove to in a passenger van all of which they paid for. Jackie was offered the job the day he interviewed, and we scrambled to find housing in the short time we had left on our visit. We found a townhouse, and, in my mind, I was already picking out paint colors and placing furniture. We returned home and began making plans for our move when Jackie got a call from the recruiter saying there was one person whom they had forgotten to include on the interview—an important person. They scheduled a phone interview but said not to worry, it was just a formality. The man spent 15 minutes on the phone with Jackie and undid everything that had been done. The job offer was withdrawn and we were back where we’d started. Waiting with waning hope. 

There was one church in particular (in Kentucky) that was very interested in us. I’m sure Jackie only had to say the word and we could have been there—in a church position we’d so long wished for with people who were excited that we had a large family. A church that even had a house for us to live in. But we KNEW that wasn’t the place for us. We could not go knowing that we definitely would not be staying. Jackie told them no. 

Months then years passed! It’s funny how everything can seem to happen slowly—how you watch as the days tediously stack upon one another—only to snap into focus one day and see that a whole mass of years has developed. 

In 2019 after all these years of waiting and wondering, going back and forth about whether or not Alaska was where God wanted us, Jackie started talking about going for a visit. When we had had to decide about going to New Orleans, we had gotten to experience “preview weekend.” Upon arriving in New Orleans, sitting in the seminary cafeteria for supper, God spoke to Jackie’s heart and confirmed that that was exactly where He wanted us. If Jackie visited Alaska, would God give Jackie the same sort of peace?

Originally, the plan was for Jackie to go alone since it would have been quite expensive and difficult taking all the kids. He bought a plane ticket and began planning his trip when my mother virtually volunteered to keep the kids so that I could go, too. In June of 2019, I set foot on my first plane ride, and we took off to the land of the midnight sun. 

We had a very enjoyable trip which not only included a train ride to Seward, lots of super scenic hiking, and plenty of good food, but also the opportunity to reconnect with a couple we knew from seminary now living in Anchorage and making new acquaintances with others in the Alaska Baptist Convention. However, we went back to Alabama without any magical sense of confirmation from the Lord. 

On Flat Top Mountain, Alaska 2019

The next month Jackie advanced within the company he was working for and became operations supervisor. 

We started looking at buying a house in Alabama. Part of me was excited because I do really want a home. Part of me felt selfish for wanting a home if that meant giving up on what we believed God had begun leading us to. But what should we do? We couldn’t stay in our borrowed “temporary” home forever! I easily fell in love with almost every home we looked at. I have HGTV deep down in my soul and knew I could renovate just about anything. I would have (foolishly) jumped at half a dozen opportunities, but Jackie is just the opposite of me. He calculates every aspect of any situation to death. He knew that if we waited a few more months and paid off our last remaining debts with our tax refund then we would be able to afford more. He decided to hold off on buying a house until the next year. As he calculated and planned and thought, I grew leery of the entire idea. Buying a house just did not sit well in my spirit. I know that the Holy Spirit was warning me not to go down the wrong path. Alaska wouldn’t leave me alone. 

Then 2020 happened. The year began innocently enough. Jackie and I even enjoyed a cruise to Mexico for our anniversary in February. In March we experienced a lot of private hardships that really propelled us towards moving. Somewhere. Anywhere. By April, however, COVID had shut down the entire world. It felt like I was on a sinking ship with no life preserver. I was deeply grieved over the entire situation. I was majorly struggling with anxiety and depression experiencing more and more frequent panic attacks. My burdened mental state began to really interfere with the way I was functioning in everyday life.

Again we toyed with the idea of buying a house in Alabama. After all, years had now passed. Years I had spent being very miserable and depressed, absolutely riddled with anxiety and fear. We applied for a loan and began searching for homes despite the pandemic. There were no houses for us! My sinking ship slipped further into the water. 

During our home search, Jackie had, just for kicks, searched for Alaskan homes. I had always wanted a homestead so when he noticed a rustic cabin in FAIRBANKS he jokingly messaged me the listing. The listing boasted that the cabin would soon have running water! Ha, ha! I was so ready to move that I would have went anywhere, water or no. I would have taken off with just a tent. Jackie wasn’t quite there yet.

After receiving that text message, I prayed in a somewhat disgusted way, “God, if that’s really where you want us then maybe you need to tell him again!” 

Within 15 minutes Jackie had texted me again. This time the text included a picture of that same Fairbanks truck from 2017! I immediately texted back, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” I told him what I had said to God. 

We had never actually considered that the city of Fairbanks was THE place. We had missed the mark visiting Anchorage. Looking back, Jackie remembers talking with the church planting director in Alaska years ago. He had told this director about the original Fairbanks truck experience and the director had assumed we wanted to move to Fairbanks. “Oh, no,” Jackie had told him, never really considering that Fairbanks was THE city but only that the truck had been confirmation of Alaska. How dense are we?! 

Having had this second experience with the Fairbanks truck and after much discussion and prayer, we decided to just go. Without a church position. Without a job. Without a house. We decided we would go trusting God. Though they’ve never met face to face, Jackie has been in contact with a pastor in Fairbanks who has been a source of guidance and encouragement for a little over a year. Lately the subject of church planting has been surfacing again and again, but at this point we do not know God’s entire plan. Having lived through the last 8 years, however, seeing how God has protected us by barring us from going down wrong paths and patiently leading us down the right ones, I am confident He will not lead us to stumble. As of June 14, 2021, we have made preparations to move as best as COVID restrictions have allowed. Having received his updated passport card, Jackie plans to drive through Canada with Jathan and Ryland and our belongings in a U-Haul. I will fly with the youngest four kids. Our application for a townhouse has been approved. When the current residents vacate at the end of June, the townhouse owners expect a two-week maintenance time then it should be ready for us! So we don’t have an exact move date at the time but expect it will be mid-July. Keeleigh does not plan on moving with us, but instead will be heading in an entirety different direction—to Indiana where her boyfriend, Shawn, is already living and working preparing a place for their little family. 

I cannot imagine what wonderful things God has in store for us. Though I am moving forward with a certain degree of nervousness, I know that God has us in the palm of His hand. I hope that whenever fears or doubts arise I will be able to look back at this written testimony and be encouraged by His faithfulness. I also hope that it encourages anyone who reads it to trust in the Lord and His plan to bring glory to His name through your life.