It’s February 29, Leap Day, and a good time to write about some leaps my family and I are taking. One of those leaps began about nine months ago and has finally culminated in the birth of our beautiful daughter, Isabel. We already had the perfect family. Our son, Josiah, has brought us so much joy and laughter. But I wanted him to know what brotherly love is really like. So, in a sense, our daughter is our gift to him, and he to her. We are very much looking forward to watching their relationship grow. Josiah is already proving to be such a caring big brother.

This leap into being a family of four brings us back to a fork in the road. I have been a stay-at-home dad for about a year and a half now. But with my wife back on maternity leave for a while, it presents us with an opportunity for me to go back to work and, hopefully, for her to stay home permanently. The arrival of our tax returns brought us up-to-date on our bills and allowed us to finish Baby Step 1 of our Total Money Makeover. At the very least a supplemental income would help us make progress with Baby Step 2. But we are praying  that as I leap into the job market I will find work that will replace my wife’s income and free her to stay home.

Another leap we are taking is from one church family to another. I first came to our church as a youth ministry intern in Summer 2002, then as an attender the next year with my wife (then girlfriend) out of convenience: it was halfway between her house and mine. We’ve made great friends who will be deeply missed and we are confident that God has used us in our assignments here. But my wife and I both sense and know that God is now calling us away. We have not made any enemies and have no bridges to burn. We are not leaving on bad terms with anyone. We are simply ready for our next assignment. We do not yet know which church will be our new home, nor have we decided when we are leaving. We simply know that we must. And it will be this year sometime.

The words of a verse I first preached on as a youth minister fresh out of high school are once again at the forefront of my mind: “Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

It seems God has been speaking a consistent message to my heart: “Move on.” We are moving on into the uncharted territory of raising two kids. I am moving on to pursue an uncertain career path. And we are moving on to an unimaginable new season of spiritual vitality as God replants us, cultivates us, and makes us fruitful for His kingdom. Though we are taking leaps into the unknown, we know that the One guiding us is faithful.