We knew something was going to change, simply because change was needed. But we were not prepared for the level of change to which He was calling us. We were comfortable in Carrollton, Texas. We enjoyed well-paying jobs with benefits that allowed us to explore the world on a whim. We love our church (I am using the present tense, because we still love Sojourn Church and still consider it "our church"), a body of believers who seek the Lord with all their hearts and love each other well. This is where we had started our married life, grown together as a couple, made our first "couple" friends, beat the debt cycle, and learned about God's love for us transforming us from orphans to children in our thinking. This was "home".
For me, personally, having a "home" was a bit of a foreign concept. Growing up, my parents moved frequently, and by the time I had graduated college and established myself in the corporate world, I had lived in over 20 cities in 9 states. When I married a Texas boy the first order of business was to move to Texas, and much to my surprise, Texas became home. It didn't happen overnight for me, as I had established defenses that I wasn't even aware of.
About 4 years in to our 7 year stay, I realized that I had never really been open to deep friendships as a way of protecting myself from the pain of separation that was bound to come. As I began to open my heart and allow these walls to collapse, I discovered the richness of investing in relationships, and I have some amazing friends in Texas because of it.
Then God said, "Go," 1,800 miles away from my friends, my church, my comfort zone, my home to Maine, where we had no jobs, no house, no friends, and no "reason" for being there. In my experience, when God says, "Go," it's probably a good idea to just go and ask questions later! So we came in the middle of a record setting "cold and snowy" winter, arriving on December 18.
I'll never forget pulling into the Maine Mall in South Portland with our trailer and sitting together saying to the Lord, "Okay, we're here. Now what?" It was all quite surreal.
Biblical Scholars who have studied numerology in the Bible say that 5 is the number of grace, so as we celebrate 5 months of living in our new home, I thought I would testify to a few of the "graces" that the Lord has lavished on us (we would be here all day and night if I would to list them all).
Grace #1: There was room in the inn!!!
It was the middle of the afternoon, and we needed somewhere to stay while we started looking for jobs and a place to live, so we both pulled out our cell phones and started looking at what was around there. Because it was the week before Christmas, we weren't sure that we would be able to find anything reasonable, but God had brought us this far, so we decided to trust that He wouldn't abandon us now. We found an Extended Stay Hotel that allowed pets and had a furnished kitchenette in the room as well as laundry facilities onsite. When we arrived, the manager was moved by our story and gave us a HUGE discount for both the nightly rate as well as for the pet fees. We were able to settle in and have somewhere warm to stay over Christmas while the snow fell outside.
Grace #2: You're Approved!
As many of you know, we have been living debt free since 2009 thanks to Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. As a result, we have no credit score. It's as if we have never borrowed money and paid it back. We discovered this in Texas when we rented our apartment and had to pay an additional months' rent deposit as we were considered high risk. This was a concern as we began looking for places to live here in Maine, since in addition to have no credit score, we didn't have any income. In addition to the financial concerns, we have a dog and a cat, and there are very few properties that allow pets. With all of this weighing on our minds, we were excited to see an advertisement for our apartments which were having a "special". We visited the apartments and as we toured the available unit, we were told that they didn't have any more of the "specials" and all they had available were units that were going to be $300/month more, which was out of our price range. By this time, we had already been in Maine for 10 days, and I was tired of living in a hotel and a little frustrated with the Lord and His timing in the transition. It was late Saturday afternoon, and we left feeling dejected. Then on Monday morning, we got a voicemail message from the leasing agent. A "special" unit had opened up, and she wondered if we wanted to come by and see it. After debating back and forth, Paul and I agreed to come back and we found that the unit was perfect for us (unlike the first unit we had looked at), in the back of the complex, on the end of the building, right next to the storage facilities and the dog park. The leasing agent told us that there was a long waiting list for this unit, but we were on her mind and she had told everyone in the office our story of just uprooting our lives and moving here, so she called us first. We started the paperwork, explained why we had no credit score, and crossed our fingers. Within a couple hours we were approved, got our keys and were able to move in on December 31, just before the next major snow storm hit. Some additional "graces" in this process included steep discounts for move in fees, deposits and monthly pet rent.
Grace # 3: FRIENDS!
Trying to explain how we have made so many friends so quickly would be a little hard to follow. Suffice it to say, God has connected with friends who have connected us with more friends who have connected us with more friends. Through these connections, we have been able to establish some great relationships with friends who have already become so precious to us. Only God can do that!
Grace #4 : You're Hired!
This has been an interesting season for both of us, but for me especially, as God has been pretty clear that I am to take some time off from working outside of the home to spend time being a homemaker and work on writing. It has certainly tested our faith as Paul spent over 2 months looking for a job before he accepted a position as a Home Inspector. He applied for the job and was initially blown off, but he remained persistent, calling weekly to check the status of his application. He was finally given an interview after which he was immediately offered the position. But there was a catch (of course there is!). The job is 100% commission based, would require at least 3 months of training which will pay less than minimum wage, and then Paul would be responsible to build his own book of business. After much prayer, we both knew that this was the position he was supposed to accept. The great news is that he has excelled in his training (which is no surprise), and has surprised his boss with how quickly he has learned, which is great as they approach the "busy season".
Grace #5 : Manna from Heaven
It's a lot easier to quote the verses in Matthew 6 that talk about not worrying because God provides for the sparrows so He will surely provide for us when you're not having to trust Him for provision. When you have regular income that exceeds your expenses it's easy to call Him "Jehovah Jireh, The Lord our Provider". When we moved up here we had 2 accounts, our checking account and our "Emergency Fund". We knew that we could live for about 2 months on our checking account, and another 5-6 months on our emergency fund if we had to. As we have just celebrated 5 months here, I have to tell you that God's provision has been so good. We have lived these 5 months on our checking account and Paul's training income without touching our emergency fund!!!
I won't lie to you and say that our journey has been filled with rainbows and fairy dust, all giggles and happiness. There have been waves of homesickness, doubt, fear, worry, anger, sadness, confusion and tears, but for every one of these hard waves, there have been more waves of grace, mercy, joy, beauty, healing, reconciliation and growth. There is nothing like stepping out of your comfort zone and going after everything that God has for you. There are so many treasures in His presence, and by His Spirit you will see mountains melt before you. What has God asked you to do? What mountains are standing before you? I leave you with this declaration as my prayer for you:
Then
he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD...saying, 'Not
by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. What
are you, O great mountain? ... you will become a plain;
and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to
it!"'"
~Zech 4:6-7
No comments:
Post a Comment