God Gives Grace When You Need It…Not When You Want It

Jessica Swanda
4 min readMay 27, 2019

Eighteen months ago, my husband got the job he had been preparing for throughout the previous two years. The news was exciting but also terrifying. It meant we had to give up the stability of home and nearby friends and family in exchange for moving to a new place every month.

Celebrating his new job

As we began preparing for this major life change, I also began struggling with the uncertainty and stress of moving so often. I was sitting in our living room one night, surrounded by half-packed boxes, feeling sick of packing, when I realized that regularly packing and unpacking would be the one of the very few consistencies in our life for the next two years.

And suddenly, I was completely overwhelmed. I sat there, overcome with doubt, and tearfully told my husband, “I don’t think I can do this. How do I know I’m going to be able to handle this?”

If there’s one true thing about life it’s that it’s full of transitions and new challenges. Just when you think you’ve got life down pat, it changes on you.

You transfer to a new college. Your old friends move away, and you have to make new ones. You job changes. You go on a blind date. You move. You have to give a public speech for the first time. You have your first kid. Or third.

--

--

Jessica Swanda

Freelance writer. Travels the USA full time with her husband. Writes about travel, faith, books, and business. More about me: https://proofisinthewriting.com/