Our Journey

After 60 days of waiting and cleaning, we received not one, but two, offers on the house! We received an offer Monday morning and then a second offer came in about 5pm. Both families actually scheduled showings of the house at the same time. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that. Since both families were aware of each other, the first offer was amended to full asking price! Amazing – in this economy and housing downturn.

Pending a successful home inspection on Friday at 4:30pm, we will close on the house May 14. It’s just around the corner. I haven’t been able to wrap my head around packing yet. It’s actually nice to just sit in the house and let the laundry pile up for a couple days since we don’t have to worry about last minute showings.

Now we have the hurdle of being homeless for about 6 weeks, between closing and our departure around July 1. An amazingly generous woman at church has offered us her home, but I’m wrestling with her offer because she lives nearly 30 minutes from Nashville. Now that we are on the countdown, I want to be as close to our friends, the kids’ schools, and church as possible.

So, I have contacted a friend and colleague who is pastor at a church in the heart of our current lives. The church has a guest house out back! She is meeting with the Trustees on Sunday to see if they will extend hospitality to us for those six weeks. This would be an amazing blessing and wonderful transitional house for us as we pack up and say our good-byes.

When we set out on this journey last summer, one of my stated goals was to begin trusting my life to God. I have been able to reason my way through life, throw some prayers God’s way, use my gifts in good work and ministry, and be kind and compassionate to the best of my ability. But I had never fully abandoned my life to the faith that I claim. I am taking baby steps and each one has been honored.

I do not think housing contracts and guest houses will continue to fall out of the sky for me and my family, but I am beginning to see that the possibilities and opportunities in this life are far bigger, greater and more sustaining when God is invited in than when we try to forge ahead on our own.

Prayer Requests: Claire Marin’s sadness about selling the house and our family’s healthy and prayerful transition from Nashville to Malawi.

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“You are true to your promise in which I delight.”

This is my prayer today. A humble reminder of vision and faith and hope.

May you find God true to God’s promises for you. Amen.

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In the midst of the angst and tension and limbo is this beautiful offering from the community of Belmont United Methodist Church! It’s going to be a wonderful evening – education about Malawi, wonderful food, AMAZING art and auction, and the bound-to-be-famous, BROTHER HENRY! Please come celebrate with us…

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I don’t try not to cry. I can recognize moments that should bring me to tears. I feel bad when my life and decisions bring others to tears that I do not shed. And sometimes I can feel the pressure of tears behind my eyes, but they rarely fall. Tears have not ever been my thing.

But this week… this week I have seen glances of our absence in the future of those we care about the most.

I watched Claire Marin in the rearview mirror laughing and talking with friends in the back of the minivan, imagining the conversation without her there. Carter’s teachers express their sadness that Carter will not be there this summer. My mom has already begun missing me. And tonight, with friends, conversation naturally turned to topics and decisions about events that would normally have concerned us, but no longer do.

It is odd to see one’s absence. To feel the stretch and the pull that will eventually become a separation.

My temptation is to sever the connections quickly. No more lunches with friends. No more drinks and laughter that only make new friendships stronger. Only brief and factual phone calls home.

But as I write, a tear or two rolls down my cheek. The pressure behind my eyes is relieved ever so slightly. And I know that I will continue to be in relationship, to love my friends, to need my family.

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“The awesome promises of God depend upon God and not whether you can or cannot believe God’s promises.” Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God

Somehow hearing that I don’t have to believe in God’s promises in order for them to be true makes it easier for me to believe them. God is beyond my doubt, my anxiety, my second-guessing. God’s promises are not dependent on the economy or the housing market. God’s promises are God’s. Amen.

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