The Amazing News I’m Really Excited to Share – Part 2

We left Arizona with happy hearts. We had finally taken action towards what God had been telling us to do. (Here is a link to Part 1 of the story, in case you missed it.)

Our leap of obedience came in the form of rental applications. And it was slim pickins’! There were only 2 possibilities, so we applied to both. One we never got to see other than the photos online. Have you ever rented a house sight-unseen? The other we got to walk through and even speak to the handyman doing work inside.

Handyman crawling under the house to find answers to some of our questions – God bless him!

We knew there were many applicants for both properties, which meant a lot of competition. And my daughters had been applying for rentals back in California – for months – with no luck at all. Add the fact that many people don’t like to rent to someone who hasn’t yet moved to the area, along with some discrimination against Californians, and maybe you can imagine our nerves.

We were on pins and needles. We watched the market while we waited. There were no new rental listings. We prayed and kept breathing. The only hope we had was in God. If He wanted us to live in one of these houses, He’d have to make it happen. There was nothing else we could do. A few days seemed like forever!

One piece of amazing news I’m really excited to share – God gave us a home!

I cannot tell you how relieved we were when we found out that God had worked it out for us. He gave us the one we’d seen, which I appreciated. It was such a miracle under the circumstances! This was a huge piece of our puzzle that God put into place.

The home has some obvious pros and cons, as all do. I’m thankful to be familiar with some of them from our visit. I have a favorite feature and a most dreaded downside.

My favorite feature – the forest

My favorite feature is the view. The house is situated in such a way that other homes are out of sight. The only thing to be seen is the forest of pine trees. And the property line extends way out into the wooded area, so I fully anticipate walking and talking there with Jesus!

The pine trees behind the house

The serenity of the forest feels like an extravagant housewarming gift from God. He knows how tumultuously emotional it has been for us to pull away from our kids. I expect Jesus, the clear air, and the tranquil view to be a miraculous salve for my heart. It is also a personal touch because my earliest memories are of living, as a toddler with my parents, in a home on the edge of an evergreen forest. Isn’t that just like God?

My dreaded downside – the door

The most dreaded downside is the back door. It is a wooden door. For the 11+ years since we’ve had our little dog, we’ve had sliding glass doors and doggie door inserts by which he could come and go at will. Now he will need assistance to go outdoors. I expect it will require patience, and possibly a good deal of mopping (if you catch my drift), to teach our old dog new tricks.

My dog

In case you’re wondering, I did inquire about purchasing a new wooden door with a doggie flap installed. Apparently though, pet doors are not a good idea near the forest, as they provide access to, not just dogs, but wild woodland creatures too. Yikes – I definitely don’t want that! Hopefully my dog and I will both take to new leash habits quickly.

Disobedience is costly

Getting either of the homes, for which we applied, meant agreeing to rent immediately, and we hadn’t yet given notice to our CA landlord. My wavering and delayed obedience cost us time and money. We had to pay rent in both states for the month of March. Ouch!

God is faithful

God lets us face our consequences, but He walks through them with us. His miraculous (no, seriously – so amazing!) provision on the financial front will be a post for another time. Wow! I cannot wait to tell you about that!

For now, let me ask, are you facing a choice where neither option is ideal? Are you focusing on the favorite features or the dreaded downsides? Are you willing to follow God into whichever journey awaits?

Maybe He is asking you to notice that an open door is a blessing, and that it’s less about the size or color (sliding glass or wood) of the door and more about the opportunity it represents. When one open door is all you need, it is a huge gift to have only one as it removes the responsibility of decision.

^{Photo by George Becker on Pexels.com}
An open door

If, like me, you’ve been characterized by dragging your feet instead of jumping to immediate obedience, you may find yourself in a situation like mine. Are you facing a costly consequence? My friend, I am so sorry. I am living that with you right now!

But God is good! We have a new place to live! My slow obedience, the crazy rental market, and all the other hurdles were no match for God’s plan. And this is just the first miracle that God has done since we took our action step of faith.

There is more amazing news I’m really excited to share. We still had to break the news to the kids, who hadn’t yet found somewhere to move. I hope you’ll join me next time so I can tell you all about it!