November 2025 On The Side: Where is Home Sweet Home?
Photo by Farouk Tokluoglu via UnSplash
by Dawn Mast
“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through
knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beutiful treasures.” Proverbs 24:3-4 (NIV)
We’ve moved twice in the last year. The first move was the biggest and involved selling our home of almost 20 years and renting a house closer to where my doctor-husband works.
We spent months purging almost 2 decades of accumulated “stuff”, cleaning out closets and reminiscing about raising our family in that sweet house in the country. On the final walk through I cried. A lot. I looked at worn wooden floors where our daughter had taken her first steps, the boys had run through the house while wearing soccer cleats, and big dogs had left claw marks.
If you’ve moved more than twice in your life (and with medical training, twice would be something exceptional!) then you understand how unsettling it can feel when you uproot once again. You are on the lookout for the best packing boxes and it seems like every time you put the tape rolller down it disappears. And you may as well tie a Sharpie to your head so you can find it when you need it!
When medical school, residency, fellowship or employment at a practice means moving your family it can feel scary, exciting and scary. Did I mention scary? There are so many details just for the day-to-day operation of your home not to mention the extra paperwork for your doctor husband to change addresses, update his medical license registration, and inform the DEA of the new address. Moving as a medical family has its own “to do list” and it can feel overwhelming.
If you are in the middle of yet another move (or are still recovering from a recent one) and feel lost and afraid there is hope. This is a great time to trust that God is working and that He has a plan beyond what you can see. Please know there are people praying for you and holding up your arms in the moments when you feel desperate and depleted. You may find that the life you left behind is opening up doors in your current city that will bless you, support you and build up your family.
As you unpack boxes and figure out where the grocery store is in your new town, take a moment to pray and ask the Lord what He wants to show you and your family in this new place. His faithfulness goes before you and will sustain you.
Gracious Heavenly Father, I love our old house, church and neighborhood, but we had to move for my husband’s job. Lord, please help me in the moments when I feel resentful (just being honest) and scared and quite overwhelmed with all that relocating involves. I ask for Your peace to cover us as we settle into our new house. Please lead us to a church where we can bless and be blessed and where our family can grow and thrive in You. Thank you, God, for the way You sustain us in the uncertain times of moving due to medical training and jobs. We trust You! Amen!
