Peace in the Unknown

It's been a peaceful, though topsy-turvey, moving experience so far. It's amazing how God's peace can flood our hearts so that things that would normally drive us crazy, cause us to fret, or make us anxious and worrisome don't really even scratch the surface-- it's as if you can see them coming at you from inside a glass bubble, but they can't actually get to you.

My "natural" inclination and character is to plan, organize, get stuff done a bit at a time so as to not have a huge workload at any given moment, do things ahead of time, make efficient, etc. I say "natural" because I am pretty convinced in my own mind that though these characteristics are ingrained deep within me and seem like they may have been there forever as a part of my natural character, that indeed they are the workings of God and are result of some spiritual gifting.
If you would have known me as a child or even a teen, I was a huge slob, a major procrastinator, a pack-rat, and a bit on the lazy side. It might be maturity that has changed me, or having to move lots... I know living in my car made me quite a bit more organized (it's a bit of a necessity with such limited space!). The Lord has blessed me with the gift of administration, though, so I do believe a lot of it is spiritual. Either way, this moving situation has not at all fit into anything resembling preplanned and organized! At least not by me... (God's got it all planned!)

I hadn't packed a single thing until a couple days ago-- all the pictures still hung on the wall, all the dishes in the cabinets, the books on the shelves. I did call the phone company and make an appointment to move my piano, but that's about it. I've tried, but there is nothing I can do.

There is another couple at my church who was buying a home, and the escrow fell through and they ended up needing a place to stay-- and since I wouldn't be moving for another month, they've been staying in my (soon to be) new place. So I haven't been able to move anything ahead of time because of that. And, their new escrow is going through this Thursday, and I am moving Wednesday! So there will be some overlapping here. All my furniture, and myself, needs to be moved out by the end of the 31st-- and they can't even start moving till the 1st.

Another part of the trial, that by God's grace I am handling very well-- it's hardly affecting me-- is that I took Tuesday and Wednesday off to move (as those are the last 2 days of the month), and since I am not able to move my stuff until the last minute, that leaves a weekday for finding help to move (and I have 2 flights of stairs to go down and 1 to go up)! But I had God's peace that it was all going to work out, and not to worry. And sure enough, it turns out that my soon-to-be new landlord has a big truck and is available Wednesday afternoon-- all we need now is some manpower (I am not very useful in moving heavy things down 2 flights of stairs, it throws my back out).


Also, until today I had no idea how I was going to pay for the piano move! I just knew it had to move, so I trusted the Lord to take care of it. But it looks like I'll be borrowing the money. So I'm glad that the Lord has at least provided someone to borrow the money from! The piano can't stay here!
On top of those things, I'm not even sure where I will be sleeping or living (in referrence to eating, making my lunch, etc.) until the family moves into their new home. But strangely, though all of this should make me freek out to some extent, and would normally get me stressed due to my inability to plan and organize, the Lord has done a tremendous thing in keeping me relaxed and care-free, trusting that He's got it all under control...

The only thought now is, if I am passing the trial so easily, it could be only a matter of time until a harder one comes 'round the corner... (suspenseful music...) :)

The End of an Era... (?)

Everything will soon be changing. I will miss the old times, the old ways, the old things... I will miss those late night rehearsals, having someone else make my lunch for me (and my dinner!)... It will be different, but it will be good. I am looking forward to it!
...In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I am moving at the end of this month!

For the last year and almost 4 months I have had the pleasure of having my good friend and ministry partner Tom as a roommate-- and though there are obvious inconveniences in having a roommate of opposite gender, it has been a blessing as he's a great friend of mine. I've certainly learned a lot about how different guys and girls are!!

It will, in some way, be the "end of an era", in that for the last 3 years we have, due to circumstances, been side by side much of the time.
He had his own place when we started doing music, but shortly thereafter he moved into his car at the prompting of the Lord. (Don't you love a little trial now and then?) So, I did what any Christian would do for a friend who had no home: I invited him over to hang out when I could-- and we had to rehearse anyway, so it worked out.

Then, after the Lord had led me to quit working full time in order to have more time for the ministry, in about a month and a half's time I moved out of the house where I rented a room and was invited to stay at various friends' homes. Since Tom was still living in his car and we had mutual friends, he'd come over and visit lots (and we'd practice).

THEN, after about 6 months of that (I had been working part time but wasn't making enough money to rent anything-- even with working full time at a good job renting anything in Orange County is hard!!) the Lord led me to live in my car too. It was a blast-- a totally joyful, fun experience! That attitude is the major confirmation to it being of the Lord, because I'm pretty prissy and particular in my flesh. But I only did that for a month and a half before we moved to San Diego County.

This is the incredibly abridged version of the story, and I'm obviously leaving out all the details of how the Lord spoke and led me to do this or that, but as I am speaking of the events in hind-sight, I have the ability to specify which things were the Lord's actual leading the which things I erred in. And a lot of it sounds unbelievable and incredible, but that's fine-- God does weird stuff sometimes, and He always has a reason. I just try to do what He says and not put Him in a box...

Anyway... So we both felt the Lord calling us to minister as a band in San Diego County, and "moved down". (It's easy to move when you live in your car-- you just drive somewhere and say, "okay, I live here now". It's funny!) But some gnarly stuff happened, and people who were supposed to help us shut up their hearts to us, and we ended up alone down here without help. Rather than look to each other to fill the financial gap that prevented either of us from renting a place to live, we chose to live in our cars down here, too.

The catch with that is, whereas it was legal in O.C. where we parked, it is not legal down here... So after trying to stayt awake all night long for a couple days, we were finally forced to sleep from sheer exhaustion, though we only slept minimal hours. And as I would park next to Tom for safety reasons, we saw a lot of each other. This time I did not have joy, peace, or fun as I did in O.C.. This was not from the Lord! I was totally depressed and anxious and couldn't understand why God was seeming to forsake us, etc. But Tom was reluctant in his own mind to even consider getting a place together, despite several attempts to find separate places falling through. (Remember, this is the incredibly abridged version!)

So, one day after being woken up several times a night for over a week by police officers, we had to face the facts: we could not keep sleeping in our cars. But what could we do? I did not make enough money to rent anything, and Tom could not find anything (plus he didn't want to leave me out in the cold alone if he did find something). So we prayed and sought the Lord, and He provided the perfect 2-bed, 1.5-bath apartment. And that's where we've been for the last year and almost 4 months. (Phew, long story... Picture break!)


But now we are both moving (after months of trying to!!), and the Lord has provided marvelously for each of us to go our own way, home-wise. It will be different having our own separate homes again, as almost the whole time we've known each other we've been around each other lots due to someone being homeless! :) But it will be good, and I am looking forward to having my own place! I won't have to clean up other people's messes, and I can wear my p.j.'s around the house whenever I want! Yay!

Come February 1, we will be moved out of our cute little coastal apartment and a new era will begin. I'm wondering how we are going to arrange practicing, as we work opposite schedules? We won't be able to squeeze in those right-before-bed practice sessions. And, I won't be able to have the chef-extraordinaire make my lunches for me! I will have to make my own lunches, no matter how tired I am. And who will eat the flavors of yogurt I don't like?

BUT... I am excited. I am stoked. I am a little bummed that I have to wait till the end of the month! I am so ready to move! Yay! I am moving to a backhouse of a rad family at my church. So I will have them for company, and feel so loved and blessed to be offered such a lovely place to live, and to have such love from them as though I were their own family. And thus is the family of Christ.

Praise God for His grace, and His purposes and His timing. I have learned much in the past 3 years, and now He is moving me on to the next "era"... I can hardly wait! :) Amen!