Annyeonghaseyo!!!

Annyeonghaseyo!!!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Stepping out in Faith

So as some of you know, we moved back to the states to put Taylor through Seminary. It's not really any surprise that he was accepted the same day he applied at Redeemer Seminary here in Dallas. :) (Proud wife) And so the journey begins. We were blessed to have a move in ready home available for us the moment we arrived on our return from Korea. We have been living in a trailer home in Wylie for the past 4 months and it has definitely helped keep some change in our pocket books. The only issue was the distance between our home, and our life. Church is 25 minutes away, Tay's daily job about the same, and school... further. So when we started thinking of how much actual time was being spent on the road, it began to be very clear that we needed to move closer to the places we spent most of our time. This would not only save on gas, but give us more time to spend together as a family... and with seminary in the mix, I am going to want all the time I can get... which might not be much. So, the search and prayers began. At first we thought about an apartment, but between rent and bills, it was just going to ruin any plans for paying for tuition. So we waited. We figured we would see what God could come up with. We had heard about seminary students getting to live with wealthier families in guest houses or garage apartments and figured maybe one would become available to us. A few weeks ago, an email went out from Redeemer Seminary that was notifying students of an available housing option. A married couple had been blessed with a massive home near the seminary and were wanting to extend the blessing to another couple in need. The "ad" mentioned that they were open to kids, so we sent them a reply. After not hearing from them for about a week, we figured they had already found their new roommates and so we looked forward, still praying for a solution. Then, Taylor finally got an email back from the couple. They wanted to meet with us and have dinner. In my mind, I thought "Lord... I really don't want to live with anyone else. I want my own space, my own home." I kept thinking I would go in with a good attitude, but my heart was discouraged at the thought of having roommates. So I prayed about it. I asked God to change my heart and that if this was not the place for us, that He would make it very apparent and put up red flags during the "interview." The evening started off well. WE walked int he door and immediately my nerves were calmed. I felt very at ease with the couple. We went straight to the food and waited to do a tour until after dinner. I mean, if you've seen one bedroom/bathroom, you've seen them all... right?! Anyways, by the time dinner was through, I really felt like I had known them for a while. I felt really comfortable around them and for me, that was HUGE! I am NOT good with flow of conversation with new people. I am usually very awkward and there tend to be lots of moments of silence. This time, not so much. After dinner, we took a leisure tour of the massive home. It seemed like a pretty great place with a big shady backyard, a gigantic living room, two separate bedrooms with their own private bathroom in between and a large kitchen with all the amenities... including two full size fridges. I kept looking for or even trying to create red flags due to my selfish heart... but to no avail. God was NOT going to let me have this one. After knowing this couple for a total of about 3 hours, we were offered the wing of the home for a GREAT rate that includes utilities and internet. Obviously, Taylor and I needed to discuss it before accepting the offer, but as soon as we buckled ourselves into the car... smiles lit up both our faces. Mine, because I KNEW this was an answer to prayer. Tay's because I think he secretly likes living on the edge. :) Okay, not secretly... but still. Actually, one of the amazing things about this new adventure was that Taylor and I had just been talking about missing community and ministering with our home like we did in Korea. We missed the way we were able to live like sojourners with very few material things to our name. This was an answer to those problems. We would get to minister not only to this couple, but would be able to get back to that "wanderer" status by not giving up the home we now reside in and downsizing to what will fit in two rooms again! YAY! I know. Most of you are sitting there thinking this sounds awful to you or sounds risky. Trust me when I say, I am sooooooooo stinking excited about this! So now, I ask you to pray for our transition as we get ready to move into the new place over the next two weeks. Our goal is to be out of the trailer and into the new home by July 1st. :) Praise the Lord for answering prayers in ways that we don't understand at the time. Thank you Lord, for this chance to grow and learn.Thank you for meeting our needs and more! You are such a gracious and generous God and beyond worthy to be praised!!!!!!! LL