“I Hate This Place!” What I Learned From an Unwanted Move

Moving can be frustrating and traumatic, especially in your teen years. But what starts out seeming like a horrible situation does not have to stay that way!

How could they do this to me? Why is this happening? I want to go home!

These are all thoughts that I had after one of the times my family moved. My family has moved a lot; in fact, I have never lived in the same house more than four years and a couple months. But most of our moves had been within a somewhat small area and always within the same state, until that move.

That move took our family from living in the country in rural Illinois to living in a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina. It took me away from friends, extended family (including my cousin, who was my best friend), and the Church family I had been with my entire 13 years of life until that point.

Because of these things, I was angry, sad, alone, scared and homesick—all at the same time.

I wasn’t the only one

The one thing that helped me was that even though this was one of the hardest things I had ever been through, there were people in the Bible who had been through much worse.

Take Joseph, for example. Talk about a traumatic move! Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, and then he was taken to Egypt and sold again to a man named Potiphar. Just think about that. Here was Joseph, who was probably still a teenager, forcefully moved to a foreign country far away from his family and where he could not even speak the language. On top of all that, he was a slave.

Then things started to look up for Joseph. He became head over the entire household and by working hard, he caused it to prosper. But suddenly … BAM! He was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and put in prison for years.

Another example is Daniel. He and other young, bright Israelites were taken from their homes to Babylon to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel spent the rest of his life in Babylon serving several other kings over the years. During this time, he faced death at their hands a few times. He was once even thrown into a lion’s den.

Finding strength and comfort

Even though I could not begin to imagine how terrifying either of those situations must have been, I was still able to draw strength and comfort from them. Joseph and Daniel never lost faith in God or stopped obeying Him, even though they were not happy with where they were.

Their stories helped me to realize that even though I felt alone in my new city, I was not. God was with me—just as He was with Daniel in the lion’s den and Joseph in prison. God blessed Daniel with wisdom, and he was promoted to a high position in Babylon. God helped Joseph save not only his family, but also all Egypt from a famine, and he became second only to the pharaoh in Egypt.

For good

My move caused me to meet some of the most wonderful friends and brethren a person could ever have, and some of the greatest blessings that have come into my life would never have happened if it had not been for that move.

In Romans 8:28 we read, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God is able to take what seems like a hopeless circumstance and turn it into something greater than you could have ever known!

See these encouraging articles for additional help: “All Things Work Together for Good” and “How to Make Friends.”