End of an Era

A year ago I had a stirring in my heart. Some may say that it was motivated by the below-freezing temps we were experiencing, but I knew that Heavenly Father had something in store for our family. I started feeling that our time in Westlake was limited.
I shared my thoughts with Todd, who replied with, "Aren't you happy here?"
I told him that I was, that in the last 8 years Westlake had not only been my residence, but my home. I have friends who have come to my aid in trying times, I have been understood and welcomed by many, and though I may not have any blood relatives in the area, I feel as though I live among family. Westlake is where we have had 4 children join our family. It's where I grew into my role as a mother. It is the place of my children's earliest memories.
But I couldn't dismiss the feelings I had. Todd asked me what I thought the timeline was, which I really did not know, but I responded that in a year I felt that we would at least be in the process of moving.
Todd thought I was crazy. He had no desire to move. He claimed that he had never been happier in his life, so why would he want to move? I agreed with him, it wasn't that I wanted to move, but I couldn't dismiss my feelings.
My experience has been that the Lord knows what is best for us and our growth. Whenever I have followed His promptings, even when it wasn't what I really wanted to do, things have worked out smoothly and I have felt a lot of peace. Whenever I have decided that I wanted to do my will, things have been difficult, I'm constantly hitting my head against the wall, and I am void of that peace that all will be well.
Though I didn't want to necessarily leave my life in Westlake, I couldn't deny the fact that the Lord was wanting us elsewhere.
I didn't bring up the topic of moving too much with Todd, he was in denial and I wasn't going to push him to do it. There's nothing I hate worst than feeling responsible for someone doing something  that they feel forced, pressured, or tricked into doing.
Todd had only once or twice admitted that we would probably move, only to quickly forget his heart softening and the impressions that had come to him, and once again deny that we would ever leave Westlake. Then in August, Todd came home from a work meeting with something to tell me. His boss had offered Todd a promotion. Even though he had never fully accepted that we were moving, Todd cautioned his boss to the fact that we would be moving...by next summer.
I was shocked when Todd told me this. He hadn't shown any progression towards moving, then suddenly I found myself with the knowledge that it was going to happen. I felt both happy and sad. Sad to have to do all the work involved with moving, but more importantly, sad to move away from the "family" that we had grown to love. Happy for the prospects of a new adventure, happy because of the peace that I felt.
That evening Todd got a call and was asked to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency. He was President of the Young Men's program, and had been for only a year, so we assumed that maybe it had something to do with that.
President Kerr came to our house and Todd met with him as I took care of our many children. After some time, Todd had me come join in their discussion.
Todd had been asked to be a counselor in the Bishopric. Todd told President Kerr about his conversation with his boss earlier that day, but President Kerr seemed confident in that Todd was the one for this calling. He also said something about how the Lord is in charge and works these things out.
After President Kerr left. Todd went into a frenzy. Did he make a mistake by talking to his boss? Should he tell his boss to disregard any plans on moving? Once again Todd felt unsure of the prospect of moving.
I felt calm about it. The thought came to me to notice the sequence of events. Had Todd first talked to President Kerr, he would not have even thought about talking to his boss about moving. Second of all, Todd had not been open to the idea of moving the entire time, but then suddenly one day he is open to it? I felt that God's hand was in this and that it was His will for us to move.
We didn't know where we wanted to move. In some ways it was more difficult for we felt that we could be happy anywhere and we were unsure of how to narrow it down. We talked of Nevada, Wisconsin, Montana, Washington, Virginia, etc...we were open to almost anywhere.
One day Todd came home from work and admitted that it was too difficult having too many choices and that we needed to narrow it down to just a couple of states. He said he thought we should go to the Carolinas. As he said this, I had a warm feeling in my heart as the Spirit confirmed that this was true. I agreed and we started to focus on North and South Carolina.
As we searched for jobs, I found myself wanting to go to North Carolina, my brother had served his mission in North Carolina and I had loved visiting it when he and I went back there shortly after he returned home. But I couldn't kick this nagging feeling that we were probably going to end up in South Carolina.
Long story short, we are going to Columbia, South Carolina. We both feel peaceful about this decision. We don't know anyone from there, and it is scary to go from our comforts in Westlake of knowing so many great people to venture out to somewhere neither of us have ever lived. It really is a leap of faith for us, but as we have gone down this road there have been so many times things have just fallen into place and we have felt the Lord's hand in this change for our family. 
This is an end of an era for our family, but I trust that we are making the right choice.
Go Clemson!