Living ‘in between’ and learning to embrace the journey

Have you ever been in a prolonged “in between” situation where you could hardly wait for something to happen? Like being in between jobs or girlfriends or just waiting for God to show you the next step? I’ve been living in between for more than two months. And God has been teaching me something while living “in between.”

Patrick Novecosky

As you likely know, Legatus moved its headquarters back to Michigan last fall. Tom Monaghan founded Legatus in Ann Arbor in 1987. Then in 2005, after construction of Ave Maria University had begun, Legatus’ board of governors, at Monaghan’s request, voted to move the headquarters to Southwest Florida, and eventually to the town center of Ave Maria, Fla., a quarter mile from the university.

I was part of that transition, taking over as editor of this magazine in June 2005. After more than 11 years in Florida, I was asked to move with the company back to Ann Arbor. So, on Jan. 2, my family and I packed up our things and moved north. Not the best time to leave Southwest Florida, but duty called.

Why am I “in between”? We’re renting a house in Michigan. Our home in Ave Maria is still for sale after three months on the market. For months, I’ve been waiting and praying to St. Joseph. I’ve been focusing on the next step. Our house would sell, then we could move on and get busy living again. My life was on hold. It was a big, long pause — like being stuck in traffic for months.

After Mass a few weeks ago, I realized my focus has been off. Life was actually going on, great things were happening, and I was missing them because I was looking down the road a little too far. I realized that I needed to put down my binoculars and let the Lord take care of things that would happen in the months ahead. Once I did that, things got a little easier.

I’m a planner by nature. I’m always thinking two or three steps ahead like a chess player. But sometimes leaving advance moves to the Lord is the better move. He sees all of time and space at one glance. Allowing Him to move me takes a lot of pressure off of us. That doesn’t mean we just sit back. We pray. We wait. We work. And we let God be God.

My house is still for sale, and when the time is right, the Lord will send a buyer. Jesus, I trust in You … and St. Joseph is on the case.

PATRICK NOVECOSKY is Legatus magazine’s editor-in-chief.