A Hope Renewed...

Friday afternoon, Aug 27, 2010, the air conditioning pump broke and our apartment flooded. Not a good start to a weekend; indeed, it was the final straw and turned my Awful Day into a Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day. To anyone who has read the book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, you know what I am talking about. For a second I contemplated moving to Australia. But then I remembered that not only could I have bad days there too, it was winter there right now and I didn't want to experience that--mostly because in a few weeks it would be the beginning of summer and I'd have to start all over! (although in my 80 degree apartment it might have felt nice to be wintry...but I digress...).

So I called my husband. The gentleman we live with was out of town (of course!) to spend his granddaughter's first birthday with her. (Happy birthday Eve!!!) My husband made his way out to the parking lot thinking about how miserable this weekend was going to be...and then God threw us for a loop. Two ladies were standing in the parking lot near D's car and wished him a happy weekend. D explained the situation he was heading home to, and one lady informed him he needed to move. D laughed and said that yes, but we didn't have anywhere to move to...and then...out comes the surprise. K has an apartment available. Would we be interested in taking a look? OF COURSE!!! We set it up, Saturday evening D and I will drive over to inspect the premises.

I am, by nature, a pessimist. D tells me the aforementioned scheme and I immediately think of all the negative possibilities. They have 4 dogs. I am not a dog person. And I am allergic to them. The size (around 2,000 sq. ft.) is too good to be true. What's the catch? Fully furnished? Yeah, right! Huge closets and kitchen? Huge is a relative term...on and on my mind went. I thought of a million reasons why this apartment would never work and why we shouldn't even bother looking at it. However, God had other plans for me and my family.

After talking a little bit, I realized that all of my excuses were just me trying not to have hope. It hurts to hope, because sooner or later, your hope is disappointed. I am hard pressed to think of the last time I actually let myself hope for something. All that changes now!

Saturday, 8:30 pm. Our apartment tour over and D and I sat in the car completely flabbergasted. God provided every single thing that we hoped for and went beyond that as well. Ginormous kitchen? Check. Room enough for the girls without crowding anyone? Check. Big bathroom? Check. Enough closet space for clothes and other closety things? Big Check. Living room? Check. Fully furnished? Check and double check. The apartment is absolutely incredible. It's spacious, lots of windows, sound proof, private, on a lake...I could go on forever. (to give you an idea, the bedroom closet is larger than our current bedroom.)

I am still mind boggled over this weekend. Not only was a prayer of ours answered with a resounding YES! but it was so quickly answered without us trying to find our own solution to our moving problem on our own. The fact that for as many people as this woman knows, she chose to ask US to move there is unbelievable to me. I had thought that God had forgotten our little family. Or that He felt that we'd been provided with enough and screwed it all up and didn't deserve another chance at something wonderful.

Isn't it incredible that God doesn't operate that way? Isn't it wonderful that we don't get what we deserve? This weekend was a huge reminder to me that God really truly is in control. He does care, and He really does want the absolute best for us. Sometimes (quite often actually!) it's hard to see that because all we see are the things we want and the things He has said No, or Wait to. But isn't it true that if we got everything we wanted, right when we wanted it we would miss seeing God's Hand at work?

Food for thought...

We move in about 3 weeks. Oh, did I mention that we're moving 10 houses down from my dearest friend's family's house??? Yeah. How cool is that?

This has been the best weekend I've had in a very long time. Both emotionally and spiritually. I had forgotten:

Romans 12:11-12. "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

A few things for me to remember and practice.

And now I leave with a question: what did God show/do for you this weekend?