Faith Filled Steps

The last few weeks have been both physically and emotionally draining for not just me but my entire family. Growing up my family moved from place to place fairly frequently. The longest I have ever lived in one city is 5 years. Very rarely did any of us truly feel like we fit in with our peer groups. Because of that it was always just the four of us and we were ok with that. Needless to say my family is extremely close. Everyone knows every one's business.

When we discovered that my parents were moving it was a pretty difficult thing to come to terms with. In fact, I don't think I completely have yet. It's been more than just hard. It's been one of the hardest things I've had to go through. My mom told me that leaving her kids like this has been the single most difficult thing she has ever done. But she also says that every time she begins having a difficult time God asks her if she trusts Him with us and He reminds her that He has a plan for us.

There is zero doubt in my mind that this move has been completely orchestrated by God. Things have fallen into place too quickly and far too smoothly for it to be anything else. The one thing that has struck me the entire time is that each step along the way has been perfectly aligned. God has not revealed multiple steps but has just laid them out one at a time asking my parents to take just one step of faith at a time. The way in which this position seemed to have come out of nowhere to my parents housing situation has been nothing short of a miracle.

When my parents left Texas over a month ago after their visit, they had nowhere to live. They were unable to find a house while they were there. In the midst of the problem of finding a house, my parents were having difficulty with their mortgage here in California like so many others as my mom hasn't worked in months. However, not even a week after they came back from their trip, one of the couples in the church received news that an older man they had been helping out passed away and because he had no family, he left his house to them. It turns out this house is huge (2400 sq ft on about 1/2 acre) and would be available for my parents to rent (at a rate that was about 1/3 of what they had been previously paying). What an amazing blessing!

Well, there was still the problem of my parents house. My parents desperately wanted to be able to refinance the house at a much lower rate so that J.R. and I could live there and be a lot more comfortable financially. Well, it seems that wasn't quite in God's plan. But we're ok with that. As we were loading up the truck with all my parents belongings a lady came up to the house. She told us she was a realtor and was wondering what my parents were going to do with the house. They told her that they were going to attempt to sell the house. She then informed them that she had a client that was interested in a house in the area and asked if he could come look at the house.

My parents were a little hesitant at first as the house was in a complete mess as we were packing up a truck. The realtor said not to worry and she called her client. Two minutes later he was there looking through the house. Last week the realtor called my mom and told her her client was ready to put in an offer and was just waiting for the for sale sign. That's just not something that happens everyday. We are all in complete awe of how great God is at planning out every single little step and that all he requires is for you to put one foot forward in faith. Incredible.

More on my actual trip to Texas later.