Finding the Promised Land

I once owned a house up in Running Springs and I loved it. When my marriage failed, we lost the house and I moved into my in-law's garage. I was very grateful for their kindness, but to go from a two story house of my own to a garage that barely held me and the kids (Isaiah and Abby), it was quite depressing. A few months after that I had the opportunity to rent a house. It was small (about as big as the garage), but it had it's own bathroom and I no longer had to let people in to do their laundry. I was VERY grateful. A couple of years later I married Becky and we moved into a two bedroom apartment. That sounds small (and it was), but it was still so much bigger than the previous place.

A year and a half after that, we started renting the place we are in now. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms! It doesn't have air conditioning and the house is constantly falling apart, but (again) we are so grateful because it is that much better than our prior situation. We have been renting here for 3 years. It gets really hot in the summer.

All 4 1/2 years of our marriage, Becky and I have been looking for a house to own. Every time we find one, the deal falls through for some reason or another. And we've had LOTS of deals fall through. Lots of doors closed. We've prayed and searched and searched and prayed to the point of emotional exhaustion - throwing our hands into the air to ask "WHY?" when we can't find our permanent place. We've felt like nomads. And yet, all the while, God has taken care of me. Time and time again, He has blessed me and my family with something better. And so, a year ago we decided to stop grumbling like the Israelites and to start praising God for what He has done. We realized that God wants us HERE. So we asked God to give us a clear, obvious sign when it is time for us to move. And in the meantime, home is where the heart is and our hearts are with God.

A couple weeks ago, our property manager told us the owners are selling our house. We have 60 days to vacate. Our first reaction was to get all huffy and offended and start freaking out a bit. After all, we had looked for a house for years and couldn't find one. How are we supposed to find one in 60 days?! But then we realized that this was God telling us that it is time. That means He must have a house ready!

We started looking immediately. We looked at 6 houses the first day. We never had any other days of looking. As a matter of fact, the first house we looked at is the house that accepted our offer. In the past, deals have fallen apart because we are using a VA loan which requires the seller to pay closing costs. This time, the sellers chose us BECAUSE they want to help a VA family. In the past, the inspection has found major problems with the house. This time, it was virtually flawless. In addition, there have been little ways that God has allowed for me to see (behind-the-scenes) to know that this is His direction - without a doubt. Nothing that is a deal breaker, but eventually enough coincidences pile up to where you can't label them coincidences anymore.

On April 24th, Becky and I are moving our family of 6 to Beaumont - to yet a bigger house - one that is ours - with air conditioning! And we just can't praise God enough!

Things Don't Always Happen for a Reason

Things don't always happen for a reason. Sometimes they do. Sometimes I can see God working. Sometimes I can see forces attacking. Sometimes I can see nothing, but later I can look back and see how it all came together – like some sort of behind-the-scenes documentary. But sometimes things just happen. And I don't mean small things. Sometimes life altering things happen and it has nothing to do with Heaven or Hell. When my dad got cancer I heard all sorts of people telling me this was a spiritual battle and we had to fight back with prayer. My dad died almost 12 years ago. It wasn't because God lost, or Satan won, or we didn't pray hard enough, or because God intended my dad to suffer and die. He just had cancer and died. 

That's not to say that God wasn't there all the way. He kept our spirits from shattering. He kept us from falling apart. He put my dad to sleep in a coma for weeks while going through the worst of it. And then he allowed him to wake so we could all say our goodbyes. Even my dad spoke of a general who would come to him at night and ease his pain. God was always there. As a result, my perspective on death completely changed. It's not “the end”. 

Every action movie in Hollywood is about fighting to stay alive. Death is always the worst thing that can happen. We must never stop running or fighting, from the humans to the animals to the insects to the viruses. To live is the most important thing of all. This is ingrained in us because we are of this natural world. But we are also spiritual. And because of that, death is okay. An old busted suitcase doesn't mean that the luggage inside will be thrown away with it. This is what God taught me when my dad left us. 

Everyone in my family (my sisters and my mother) all learned things from this dreadful situation. We all grew, and were shaped and reshaped. Did God take my dad away to teach us lessons? Absolutely not. But He used the situation for our own growth. And because we held on to Him, He showed us where life blooms in the desert.