Kendall and Sabrina

learning.

This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
-Jeremiah 17:5-8

I felt challenged to trust in the Lord this week, and to put my confidence in him. Silly as it may sound, house-hunting and the not knowing where we will live come end of October finally began to eat away at me and I found myself floundering, trying desperately to conjure up a solution on my own. It seems that in the midst of the process, we asked Jesus to come along with us more often than we sought to run after him, and lost focus miserably. It was refreshing to be reminded by a good friend that God is faithful, and to hear her story of his continued work in her own life. I also found myself drawn to the story of the Israelites who so often relied on God's history of faithfulness as reason for his continued goodness.

And so I chose to replace my anxiety with anticipation of what he has in store, and to be confident in his care for us. But, true to human form, a part of me half-expected the next house we looked at to be 'the one' because I'd done my part and 'given' control to him, which I realized after walking out of a beautiful bungalow with cracks through the roof. Recognizing that this part of my heart existed was quite frustrating, but I am blessed to serve a God who still delights in me in spite of my self. It was liberating to voice this reality and to affirm to myself that God works in his time, not mine. I had to realize that his providence may not look the way I intended either. Perhaps we were to stay where we are for a bit longer, or wait to make this huge step altogether.

So this, combined with The White Stripes cancelling their US tour, and an unfortunately messy and unjust political situation at Ken's workplace made for a bit of a downer of a week. We chose to unwind with a date on Friday (as these may not happen for much longer!) and enjoyed great food, each other's company, and conversation at Earl's before renting a movie and hanging out at home. And then Saturday...

We bought a house!

Out of nowhere came along a lovely bungalow in the south end of the city. It's located in a family-friendly, quiet neighborhood, on the corner of a most delightful bay. Somehow it's everything we were looking for (and it has straight floors!). We can't even articulate the range of emotions that we feel-sheer delight, moments of overwhelmedness, anticipation at the thought of having a family grow in this place. We are blown away at how quickly it all came together and are excited to build community in this neighborhood. The photos we have are few, so I'll leave you with one of the outside for now. We get possession in a month, and I'll be sure to post more photos (before's and after's included) when we get them. Let's just say it was stylish in 1979. Complete with 'high end Italian Torino tile'...in a heinous shade of brown.

I am astounded at how God works things out, as timing could not have been better. In spite of a discouraging week, I wouldn't change the lessons learned as it is so often in times of frustration that I am reminded of my need for Jesus. I get frustrated when I attempt to live without him and life ultimately sucks. I need him. Not for his provision, but for him to be LORD. Trusting in myself has never gotten me very far, and it feels so good to have fresh perspective again. Until the next time I run ahead of Jesus...

posted by Sabrina @ 7:29 PM