The Thought for the Day is from Genesis 46 v 1-7 and 28-30.
Jacob makes his long journey to relocate to Egypt. This got me thinking about my own journey from N. Ireland to Felixstowe.
On Thursday, the 8th October 5 years ago Drew and I left Portrush. When we were setting off I remember saying, “Don’t look back.” I was very tempted but I didn’t. We drove to Larne, in a totally packed car, took the ferry to Scotland and drove to Carlisle where we were staying for the first night, obviously in a dog friendly hotel. The next morning we set off and met up with my brother and his wife at a Services on the A1. They were on their way to visit their son in Leicester. Then we made our way to Norfolk where we stayed another night before driving to Felixstowe.
I had never seen this town before so it was a huge leap of faith to decide to make our new home here. We had booked a holiday cottage for 2 weeks to give us time to find somewhere to live. By the next Friday we got the keys to this house and all our belongings arrived on the Saturday. Over the course of the next few days I unpacked quite a few boxes and we spent our first night here on the Monday.
Compare our journey to the ones made by refugees. They mostly have to flee with only the belongings they can carry. They go to countries where they can’t speak the language. They travel by foot for long parts of the journey or risk their lives in small boats manned by unscrupulous people. They have nowhere to stay when they do arrive in a new country and have to depend on charities to help them survive.
We moved so that we would be closer to our sons who live in London and we have been very blessed that everything has worked out well. Yes, I miss my family and friends back in N.Ireland but I keep in touch regularly and we have made new friends here in Felixstowe.
Jacob moved to be close to his son Joseph. God had a plan for how their lives were to work out and He has a plan for you and me.
Thank God for His plans for our life’s journeys.