After all the abundant goodness and whispered confirmations from God the owners announced they were canceling the contest and returning our fees.
In all honesty my first emotion was relief. To be given a farm would have been crazzzzy! We, as a flock, have been on this long journey and the all-and-all of it has been us, living totally abandoned to Jesus. To be given this property, especially one that would be an answer to part of our family’s heartbeat, would be amazing yet… it was not for us. It was not to be awarded to anyone. I was perplexed. What were all these little miracles that had happened to confirm our obedience in having mailed the essay in the first place? Either I’m crazy and made “it” all up or there is more for us yet to come...?
After knowing the contest was off Ryan and I knew one thing, we indeed were not going to move to VA. We now can address with our heads what to do about how our hearts were feeling regarding our living in the itty-bitty home in the alley. After a few days, Ryan and I decided we would ask our dear friends and owners of the itty-bitty house if we could stay longer than our initially proposed 2 years. I had already set up a time later that week to connect with them so it was perfect that I bring this up then.
The next day I received a call from my friend who had lost her husband. Only in and with Jesus can we be at peace in all circumstances. Hearing her and knowing she is okay with the heartache she is in, I was greatly encouraged. Even in her overwhelming grief experience she was able to confidently remind me “to hold to what I knew the Lord had been giving me” over the past few months. She was a rich gift to me and as a fellow perplexed ‘sister,’ I stood strong again.
Two days later my friend and landlord popped over for our tea and talk time. I proposed to her our thoughts of possibly staying longer as tenants. Of course she was fine with that but more importantly she knew where my heart was. She has been such a dear friend and knows some of our flock's struggles. She cared to listen and encourage me that morning as I shared about the contest being canceled. We wrapped up our time together and my heart was lighter, as it always is, after spending time with her.
During our talk time I missed a phone call and received a voicemail from another friend. She requested I call her back because she “had a quick question for me.” I knew I was soon running an errand to pick up some hand-me-downs from another lovely, gracious and ever-generous friend. Squeezing in this errand before school was out was important because it would bring a surprise smile to my sweet peanut Audrey so I planned to phone my friend then. You may know me well enough by now to guess that many of my conversations are not quick and this errand provided a 45 minute drive one way, so I climbed in the car and hopped on the phone…
To be continued...