Jun 15, 2011 | Stories
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!
Jun 14, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word
Yesterday I was sharing the tale of one of the molehills that the Lord turned one of our mountains into. In His perfect timing, He made provision for our rent, our move, and then some. (Some ice cream, to be more specific.)
Not long before any of that great stuff (from yesterday’s tale) took place, we were facing a different mountain. Our gypsy-like movements over the course of our marriage have not been conducive to the establishment of a nice credit line, as it would appear in the eyes of a modern bank, for example.
Allow me to explain why that matters. We got a free credit report and sent it along to a friend of ours who is a mortgage consultant. Between that and our recent taxes, she was able to calculate what we were likely to be able to get, with regard to a mortgage, when we got back to the States. Our hope was to spend a few months with my Mom settling in, and then look for a home to buy.
{Because after all this time, it would be really nice if we could finally start paying our own mortgage, instead of renting, and basically paying someone else’s.}
So our friend ran the numbers and came back to us with a picture that just. weren’t. purty. The numbers were not looking good. I recently saw an advertisement where people could pay that amount of money for thirty-six months to have one room in their home nicely furnished and decorated. Dang. {Who does that, by the way???}
Although it was discouraging to think that our dream of moving toward owning our own home might still be a dream for quite a while longer, we immediately said to each other, “It’s in the Lord’s hands. Maybe He has something else in mind.” And almost in jest, HH said, “Maybe he has a plan to give us a place to stay rent-free so that we can save up and pay down our debt!”
Though it looked like we were facing another mountain of discouragement, we decided to trust God, and just leave it in His hands.
Not more than two days later, I was on the phone with my Mom and she was telling me about how the rest of her Mother’s Day had gone. (I’d called her earlier that morning to wish her a good one.) She’d spent it with her niece/my cousin/my Mama’s brother’s daughter, and her mother/my aunt/my Mama’s brother’s wife, who live a couple hours away.
As we were about to hang up, she said, “Oh, I almost forgot! {Your cousin} mentioned that you guys could think about staying in your Aunt’s house after you get back. They need to do some renovations before they can sell it and she said if you’d be willing to oversee the work, you can stay there for free. You’d just have to pay the electric bill. Just an idea for you to think about.”
I think HH and I got off the phone and just blinked at each other for a minute. We’d just made the decision to trust the Lord about this, and already He was demonstrating His ability to provide when we just weren’t sure how it would come together.
You can still come back from spying out the land with a good report — even if that doesn’t agree with your credit report! God can make a way where there seems to be no way!
And you still ain’t heard nothing yet! So come back tomorrow for another mountain to molehill tale!
xCC
Jun 12, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word
Several weeks ago, the Hubs came down from an extended rendezvous with the magical spreadsheet of glory. That’s the one where he keeps track of our incomings and outgoings, and our multiple bank accounts in three different countries and three different currencies. Inside the multiple tabs of awesomeness, he can type in the latest exchange rate and everything will update.
Sorry this post isn’t about that, it’s really just a thing of organizational beauty, and just one more reason why the hubs is a hero.
Moving on.
The Hubs came downstairs and said we probably had a decision to make: rent or health insurance. The numbers didn’t indicate that we were going to be able to pay for both in the coming month. Which was kind of concerning since we also have an international move in front of us. And those aren’t cheap. Part of the problem was that our health insurance hadn’t reimbursed us for the cost of the 9 minutes of labour and delivery which were the arrival of Baby Brother.
Waiting on several thousand Rands worth of reimbursement, which were the result of a data entry error on the part of our gynecologist’s assistant, and seeing that the assistant was in no hurry to correct her error, the picture was a little bleak for getting things sorted out. (And even with the reimbursement back in our bank account, things were still going to be tight.)
We knew that it wasn’t just a matter of rent or health insurance, though. We knew behind door number three, God could come through and do something to make a way for us. We decided to pray and trust that He would lead us. We prayed, and felt like we should wait.
After church the next day, we arrived home to a message from a friend on Facebook who had shared about our ministry and our move with a foundation back in the States. The news: they’d met the night before and decided to send us a gift. A big one. If it came in in time, it would cover our rent, our health insurance and the cost of shipping our stuff to the States. And we’d have money left over to buy the Bear an ice cream cone, his daily request when he sees the ice cream shop while we’re on the way home from the gym.
We knew this was God’s way of answering our prayers. It was like He was saying “Hold on, help is coming…just trust Me and hang in there.”
But four weeks later, there was no sign of the big check.
It started to feel like we were facing the mountain again, with everything ahead of us and no certainty on how things would come together. As doubt grew in our hearts, we knew we had to hold on to God. Whether or not the check comes in, God is our portion and our provision.
In God we trust.
We didn’t have the funds at the beginning of the month, and our gyne’s assistant was dragging her feet about the reimbursement. Our bank contacted us to find out what they should do, since we were about to be in overdraft. When we explained our situation, they were kind enough to simply wait a couple of days for the reimbursement to come through and square things up…free of charge!
We knew somehow God was saying it was going to be okay, and, indeed, it was.
There wasn’t a huge mountain tumbling into the sea moment — it was more like we just stepped over a little molehill in our path.
Finally, about five weeks later, the check we were expecting arrived in the P.O. Box of the ministry that handles our gifts. We were incredibly encouraged that God came through and made this provision for us — and as our job is about to transition, this is the perfect timing for this gift, to cover our moving costs and help with the time we’re between homes and jobs. And we can get the Bear that ice cream.
In God we continue to trust.
“Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; That the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see {it} together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” {Isaiah 40: 4&5, NAS}
In SO many ways provision has been magically appearing and things have been coming together for us in this transition. I’d like to share a few more stories of how God has been paving the way for us, on our road to North Carolina…so come back tomorrow for Part Two!
xCC
This post turned into a bit of a series! Here are the links to each part…
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
The Conclusion
Jun 12, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word
There’s a beautiful Waterdeep song, the lyrics of which I’ve mentioned here before. These simple words occasionally echo in my heart this great Truth:
A thankful heart…
prepares the way,
for you our God…
Even before {and ever since} our season of {Thanks}giving last year, I’ve found thankfulness paving the way for God to do new things in me and through me. As I continue to trust Him, to rest in Him, and to remember His consistently unfailing goodness in my life, fears disappear, faith takes first place, and mountains start becoming molehills.
Most of you probably know the big news that we are transitioning from the beautiful southern shores of South Africa to the tall trees and sunny skies of the Carolinas later this year. What I haven’t shared yet is how beautifully the Lord has been orchestrating our lives and circumstances to make this move a reality.
Over the next few days, I’m planning to share my thankfulness with you, as I tell stories of the molehills God has made out of many of the mountains we’ve been facing. If belief in God is a new concept for you, {or belief that God is active and desires to move in your life} I’d like to encourage you to push past the urge to brush away these happenings as mere coincidence.
I hope you’ll take the time to see how truth, faith, hope and thankfulness can come together as instruments, each playing notes and chords and echoing refrains in a grand symphony with an incredible Director.
I’m also hopeful that you’ll be encouraged and inspired — whether Jesus is yours or not — to consider making a move toward the amazing Son Who is the Way to the Father, and giving Him room to direct the music of your life.
There are beautiful life songs that come only from His direction, and if you haven’t taken the opportunity to listen for His lead, well, you ain’t heard nothing yet.
May thankfulness make a way in your heart today.
xCC
Jun 6, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word
For a number of different reasons, I’ve recently been for a few swims in the ancient chronicles also organised as events inside my photo library. It’s often difficult not to stop and stare for a moment and remember. The only thing that is certain is that the stream keeps on flowing.
At the Christmas Market in Edinburgh, years ago.
A photo I took from my phone, when our car died and we sat in the Ikea cafeteria waiting for help.
A memory from one of my most favourite days…
Dear friends holding our firstborn for the first time.
And their “first” meeting our first.
A picture from the trip during which the Hubs asked me to marry him.
Sometimes photography seems less about making sure the lighting and composition and focus and shutter speed are all perfect. Sometimes the most important thing is just grabbing the camera to savour the moment that is surely about to pass. You may not get something perfect for hanging on the walls of your home, but you often get something perfect for hanging on the walls of your heart.
Re-seeing these precious moments captured ushers me to thankful, and reminds me of the wisdom of this simple verse:
So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. {Psalm 90:12}
May the reminder that today never will be again, touch your heart in such a way that you’ll grab hold of thankfulness with both arms, and savour the good in every moment you’re given.
xCC
Jun 4, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word
One of the biggest challenges of this transcontinental move, and moving in general for me, which hasn’t gotten much easier even though I’ve lived in at least a dozen places in the past ten years, is learning to let go of stuff. I am a bit of a closet hoarder, even though I’ve been a bit of a gypsy for the past decade. I hold on to things…mostly things that won’t take up a lot of space, even though I will probably never use them, just because I might need them.
We’re now firmly in the process of sifting through our things and making decisions about what we need to keep, sell or toss, and I’m finding things that we brought across from Scotland with us which I’ve never used. Silly, piddly things that were a waste of space, a waste of time packing and unpacking, a waste of money shipping and moving. There are clothes I brought over and haven’t worn. Shoes that traipsed across the continents in a box just to sit in the back of my closet.
It’s sad.
A few days ago the Hubs asked what I thought about not shipping anything across to the States and just taking whatever we can fit into the suitcases we’ll be travelling with. My eyes very quickly welled up with tears, and as I realised what was happening I said to myself:
Hoarder, we have a problem.
Like, why the heck am I so teary-eyed about stuff? We don’t have especially nice stuff. Most of the stuff I own has been given to me. Why am I so afraid of letting go? It’s just stuff.
As I brought that moment and my heart to the Lord, He seemed to shed light on the issue behind the hoarding:
Trust.
I hoard because I think “if I let this go, I won’t have it if I need it.” Or, “I might not be able to get one of these again.” Or, “This has sentimental value because it meant a lot to the person who gave it to me. (Even though I don’t like it and haven’t used it and won’t use it and it isn’t sentimental to me.”) Am I even hoarding other people’s baggage?
I realised that while mourning the letting go of my birthday gift crock pot, the blender and rice cooker we got as a wedding gifts, a set of knives here, a set of towels there, and all this stuff that, very honestly, isn’t worth the cost of the shipping across the ocean, I am really mourning out of fear that I won’t be able to get replacement stuff when we are settled in the States. My sadness actually has very little to do with sentimentality.
It’s really just fear because I like having stuff, and I am afraid of what it will be like to not have stuff.
Once my eyes were opened to what was really going on in my heart, my perspective began to change completely. God has been a faithful provider of every need, and ever-so-many wants, even in these years where I’ve been far away from home and often on a tight budget. Is there really any reason to fear that He’s going to stop providing when I’m back in the Carolinas?
This fresh perspective knocked the fear right out of my heart, and as the packing process has continued, I’ve been able to say, repeatedly, “We don’t need to bring that. We can do without it, and if we need one, we’ll be able to find one when we’re there.” It has been incredibly life-giving to say “I’m not really that attached to this stuff anyway. Let’s let go! Maybe we’ll even be able to find better stuff!” — I’m looking at this as an opportunity for God to bless us, and teach us contentment and I’m choosing hope instead of fear.
It seemed as if God was pleased with this turn-about: I felt fresh joy in my heart and a new spring in my step, just by mentally letting go of stuff. A weight had lifted.
And then guess what happened?
Besides being a former closet-hoarder, I am also a bit of a giveaway addict. When a blog is hosting a giveaway and I hear about it, honestly, I can’t resist. Knowing that just by leaving a little comment at the bottom of a blog post offering a giveaway means I could win something…I can’t pass it up. In the back of my mind I always hear the phrase:
“By entering, you increase your chances of winning by 100%.”
And though I have never, ever won anything on a blog giveaway up until this point, that doesn’t stop me from trying. So a couple weeks ago, the Nester and DaySpring were hosting a little giveaway. They were giving away some cute little blocks DaySpring has created, which you can use to spell different sweet things in your home, perhaps on a mantlepiece or a shelf. I (of course) took a moment to leave a comment, and then proceeded to completely forget about it and move on to whatever I was supposed to be doing with that free moment.
This morning, I received a happy little email from the Nester, notifying me that I was one of the giveaway winners. I was ever-so very delighted. This simple little provision of something that will decorate the home we hope to have someday felt like a token, and a message straight from heaven:
“I’m pleased with you. And I can provide for you. Well done on letting go.”
Whatever your fear — whether it keeps you from letting go of stuff or keeps you from stepping out and doing something brave, I’d like to encourage you to bring it to God. I’m so encouraged that He is meeting me and helping me through even something as simple as this, with His grace and goodness.
xCC
P.S. Thank you so much, Nester and DaySpring! This gift is a blessing to my soul!
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