If you’re just joining us, there’s a little introduction here to this wee series of posts. I’ve been sharing about how the Lord has been moving and encouraging us throughout this transition…and here’s another little ditty.

As we looked at the calendar and thought about the way we’d like to spend our last bit of time in South Africa, we decided we’d like to try to take off a month before our lease ended. With prayer and thoughtfulness, we concluded that it would be very special to spend our last couple of months in SA with Goo-Goo and Gammy up in Bloemfontein, where the grandparents and the grandkids could enjoy some special time together before our departure.

And my Mother-in-Love can teach me how to sew. Here’s hoping.

This would also mean that we’d save a significant amount on rent and because we’d be between jobs, that sure would help. As the time to make a decision about it approached, the magical spreadsheet of glory indicated that saving on rent for the month of July would indeed be a good move. Obviously.

There was just one minor hiccough. {Or hiccup, if you prefer.} We needed to get permission to end our lease early. It didn’t seem like that would be much of a problem; our landlord has been incredibly gracious throughout our tenancy. I honestly expected it to be a phone call and a done deal.

HH contacted our landlord and, much to my surprise, our ability to exit our tenancy a month early would be contingent upon them finding another tenant to move in when we moved out. I was a little on the discouraged side at that point. It would’ve been a big deal to save a month’s rent and electricity, and I’ve been praying that we’d be out of debt by the end of the year, and this would’ve helped.

On the other hand it would mean we’d have extra time to get our things together to sell, and my brother touched base about coming for one more visit (a friend of his was able to pass a free flight on to him) so perhaps it would be good to still have the place, pay for July, and perhaps vacate halfway through the month.

We couldn’t risk the possibility that we wait through the month of June, plan on staying for July and then have them call us on the 29th and say “We found a tenant, yay!” We have furniture and lots of stuff to sell, bags to pack and things to ship. So we decided that Friday, June 10th, we’d make a decision one way or the other — if they hadn’t found a tenant we’d pay for July and stay at least mid-way through the month before heading to Bloem.

Even though we’re planning an international move and there are a lot of ducks to get in a row, we were both very relaxed about this. We just knew the Lord had it in His hands either way.

In the stillness of naptime, Friday afternoon, there was a light tap upon our door. The letting agent’s assistant said there was a family in Somerset West, desperate to move into a place soon. She asked if she could show them our flat that afternoon.

Om, yes. Oh yes.

We tidied and tidied with the hour we had before they were scheduled to view our place, and I even debated baking chocolate chip cookies so that the place would smell all nice and homey. {Time didn’t permit…sigh.} HH opened wide the doors that lead onto the beautiful views of the harbour since the day was nice and warm and sunny.

The couple arrived with their adorable little girl, and we began to chat and discover that they just moved here from Germany. It was lovely to meet them and I was sorry we were leaving just as they were arriving!

By the end of the tour, it sounded like they’d viewed another place about half the size asking for the same rent (we got a deal on our rent!) and our place was exactly what they were looking for. We told them a lot of the furnishings and appliances were for sale and we could email them a list if they were interested.

By the end of the day, they were planning to take the place as long as the application process wasn’t a problem, and a few hours later they’d replied to our email and wanted like THREE-QUARTERS OF THE STUFF WE WANTED TO SELL. {Like $1,400 worth of stuff!!!}

I honestly cannot fathom a way that this could have been a more smooth and amazing process. We actually get to LEAVE a bunch of stuff here — and we don’t have to look for buyers, and then wait for folks to come and pick things up, and then not come or change their mind…and then find new buyers…you get the idea.

We were willing to relax, to trust, to listen for God’s guidance and to wait for His lead, and the mountain of rent in July, and the mountain of selling our stuff BOTH became just another couple of molehills for us to step over on the adventure of this transcontinental move.

Two birds in the hand must be worth like…ten in the bush, right?

And still, there is more to tell! Can you imagine how a “compromised” debit card could work in your favour? With God, it’s possible!

xCC

Here’s Part Four!