Monthly Challenge

Challenge 50

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Let Go: You are moving in the right direction if you are following the leader – Jesus Christ. To know Him is to love Him and to follow Him is life changing. The more you read, study, observe, and understand the life of Christ and then imitate Him, the more your life will be a reflection of Him.

Start Today: Ask yourself, “What are the detours and dead ends I’ve taken by trying to go my own way?”

Move Forward: This week examine the life of Christ by reading in the Gospel of John. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and to open your eyes to one way that you can begin to imitate Christ.

Monthly Challenge

Challenge 47
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:2

Let Go: It’s only natural to have expectations when you move. We anticipate a better job, a larger income potential, a bigger home, a different lifestyle – we all know the list of expectations well. Disappointment can slide us off the mountaintop of expectation very quickly unless our focus is Christ-centered and not on what we have or have not!

Start Today: Think about your expectations and what effect they would have on your happiness.

Move Forward: This week journal your thoughts about the specific expectations you have and why you think they will make you happy.

(adapted from My Journey: A Journal for Letting Go, Starting Over, and Moving Ahead with my Life after a Move, by Susan Miller.)

Monthly Challenge

Challenge 45
Faith is often strengthened right at the place of disappointment.
- Rodney McBride


Let Go: Are you disappointed in the circumstances of your move?
Start Today: Ask God to help you to focus on Him and not on the people and circumstances around you.
Move Forward: It’s time again to make a list. In one column write down the things that have been disappointing to you about your move. In the other column write down the blessings that are in your life. Include even the smallest of blessings. Keep writing until the blessing list is longer than the disappointment list. Read the blessing list every day and trust God with the other list.

Monthly Challenge

Challenge 43
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.


-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Let Go: Are you anticipating a move and find that you fear the future? Have you made the move, but now lack courage to meet new people, get involved in a group where you know no one, or are intimidated by a city that is unfamiliar?
Start Today: Memorize Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Move Forward: Choose to make the first move toward making friends. People won’t come knocking at your door. Use this time for growth. Leave your comfort zone. Discover the woman God wants you to be.

Monthly Challenge

Challenge 42
So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.
-John 8:36 (The Message)

Let Go: Are you hemmed in by uncertainty, pressure to ‘measure up’, or the loss of identity that comes with a move?

Start Today: Give yourself permission – freedom – to be the woman that God created you to be and to rest in the circumstances in which He has placed you.

Move Forward: Make a list of your gifts, abilities, and strengths. Thank God for His workmanship in you and, if you have not found ways to use those abilities in your new community, choose to trust His timing and ask Him to reveal opportunities for you to offer your services.

Monthly Challenge

Challenge 40
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
- Matthew 11:28

Let Go: Are you exhausted from the preparations for your move or from having completed a move?

Start Over: Identify those tasks that are particularly exhausting or that you dread doing.

Move Ahead: Make a plan to tackle one or two of the most unpleasant tasks early in the day (or whenever you have the most energy) and reward yourself after their completion with a cup of coffee and a magazine or a walk around the block; whatever your favorite activity. Keep this break to 20 minutes or so and go on to the next task awaiting your attention. Remember to check these tasks off your list as you complete them and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment!
Challenge 39
"Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling"
[Augustus M. Toplady, Hymn: Rock of Ages]

Let Go: Are you starting over? Do you feel as though you have nothing in your hand to bring to your new situation?

Start Today: Cling to Christ. When the familiar supports of friends, family, jobs, church, and favorite places have been removed from your life, cling to Christ.

Move Ahead: Memorize John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” and Isaiah 43:18,19; "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Challenge 38
I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. --Philippians 3:14 (The Message)
Let Go: Is your focus on the home you left behind?

Start Today: A runner cannot win the race, let alone run the race if she is looking behind her. Her focus is forward and her eyes are on the finish line.

Yes, cherish the home and the people you left behind, but do not cling to them in a way that they absorb your focus. God has much in store for you in your new surroundings!

Move Forward: Be alert and be watching for doors that God is opening for you. It could appear in the conversation you have at the grocery store or at your child’s school, it could be in a request for volunteers at your church or community center, or it could be a smile and “hello” that you offer to someone else who looks lonely.

Have you been reluctant to change your driver’s license or paint rooms in your new home because they are acts of commitment to your new community? Do it! Start running forward into your future. God is at your side. No turning back.
Challenge 37
"Have you asked yourself, 'How is this move affecting my marriage?'"
(Susan Miller, After the Boxes are Unpacked)

Let Go: Is the stress of your move having a negative impact on your marriage?

Start Today: Pray about it. Remember, you can't change your husband, but God can!

Move Forward: Love him unconditionally. No strings attached. Show it wih your eyes your smile, your touch.


Challenge 36
...anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (The Message)

Let Go: Are you bogged down with negative thinking and negative patterns of behavior?

Start Today: Ask God for the ability to recognize those negative thought and behavior patterns when they arise. Take those thoughts “captive”: identify them as the “old life”, and ask God to take them and toss them!

Move Forward: In Christ, you are a new creation! Believe it and trust Him for the ability to ACT like it!

Monthly Challenge- 40

Challenge 40
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
- Matthew 11:28


Let Go: Are you exhausted from the preparations for your move or from having completed a move?

Start Over: Identify those tasks that are particularly exhausting or that you dread doing.

Move Ahead: Make a plan to tackle one or two of the most unpleasant tasks early in the day (or whenever you have the most energy) and reward yourself after their completion with a cup of coffee and a magazine or a walk around the block; whatever your favorite activity. Keep this break to 20 minutes or so and go on to the next task awaiting your attention. Remember to check these tasks off your list as you complete them and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment!

Monthly Challenge- 39

The journey of a move is the process of learning how to Let Go, Start Over, and Move Ahead with your life. Our Monthly Challenge provides an inspiring quote and stepping stones to help encourage you during this journey.

Will you accept our challenge?

"Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling"
[Augustus M. Toplady, Hymn: Rock of Ages]

Let Go: Are you starting over? Do you feel as though you have nothing in your hand to bring to your new situation?

Start Today: Cling to Christ. When the familiar supports of friends, family, jobs, church, and favorite places have been removed from your life, cling to Christ.

Move Ahead: Memorize John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” and Isaiah 43:18,19; "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Monthly Challenge- 38

The journey of a move is the process of learning how to Let Go, Start Over, and Move Ahead with your life. Our Monthly Challenge provides an inspiring quote and stepping stones to help encourage you during this journey.

Challenge 38
I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. --Philippians 3:14 (The Message)

Let Go: Is your focus on the home you left behind?

Start Today: A runner cannot win the race, let alone run the race if she is looking behind her. Her focus is forward and her eyes are on the finish line.

Yes, cherish the home and the people you left behind, but do not cling to them in a way that they absorb your focus. God has much in store for you in your new surroundings!

Move Forward: Be alert and be watching for doors that God is opening for you. It could appear in the conversation you have at the grocery store or at your child’s school, it could be in a request for volunteers at your church or community center, or it could be a smile and “hello” that you offer to someone else who looks lonely.

Have you been reluctant to change your driver’s license or paint rooms in your new home because they are acts of commitment to your new community? Do it! Start running forward into your future. God is at your side. No turning back.