Who moves in December?

Moving in December is the LAST thing I thought I would do.  For 3 1/2 years I have been praying for contentment in the house God put us in.  We were in our own house after spending 5 years living with Rob's parents.  Wasn't that enough?  

Four years after God led us to Nebraska,we had been living with Rob's parents who were graciously allowing us live with them however long we needed to for Rob to go to school, I had a conversation with Candace from church.  I knew we could afford a small place of our own, but not all the bills associated with it.  Our savings had been spent on school.  I would have to go to work fulltime rather than parttime and our priority was that I be with our two kids.  She told me about Lincoln Housing Authority.  I did some research online and realized we may qualify for help with rent.  So, I did the paperwork and got on the 1-2 year waiting list.

Six months later we got a call that they were ready to get the process started for us to get our own place. We were elated!  I began scouring the paper and the internet looking for a place for us. Throughout the search process, I prayed that God would take us to the neighbors He wanted us to have.  I wanted this to be more about where He could use us than about me and my desires. I didn't fully understand how the numbers worked, but I quickly realized that the budget they expected us to have did not lead me to desirable housing situations.  I was beginning to think we were better off staying put.

I walked into 331 N 30th St.  It was neat and clean and actually kinda cute inside.  I could see us living here.  The neighborhood had an inner city reputation so I was concerned.  I knew a couple of people that lived in the neighborhood so I talked to them about it.  I drove by the place numerous times during different parts of the day trying to figure out if it was safe or not.  Most of all, I prayed and prayed and prayed.  On April 1, 2007 we moved in and we looked forward to continuing to grow our family as we had dreamed of doing.

Fast forward to Sunday, Nov. 29, 2010.  Our family had enjoyed a very relaxed Thanksgiving at our home.  We slept in that morning and sauntered across town to church for the second service.  We went to one of our regular places for lunch and headed home for a nap.  We drove up to the backdoor and drew a quick breath.  Our backdoor was open...

Memories and panic flooded my brain.  Almost 2 years ago to the day, I had come home from work for lunch to find the same backdoor open, kicked in, and we had been robbed of as many electronics as they could shove in Rob's backpack. Ever since then, every time I drove up to our house I would subconsiously check the backdoor.  It hadn't been open again...until today.  This couldn't be happening, could it? 

From that moment our lives were put on Holy Spirit autopilot.  I felt literally pushed to look in the rental classifieds and research them online that night.  I felt like someone steered my car past one of the houses the next morning, dialed the phone number on the sign and made an appointment to see the house the next morning for me.  I didn't want to move right now!  By Wednesday, it had been confirmed over and over to us that this was the place and we put a deposit down.  EVERY detail was obviously pointing us to the fact that God was completely in control and leading us to move quickly. 

This is where the wonderful community of friends we have made here in Lincoln get to shine.  We made some pleas on facebook and in person to help us move little stuff - stuff we didn't even have in boxes yet - to the new house on Saturday.  The night before 2 girls from our Small Group showed up with boxes and filled them to be ready for Saturday.  We were literally blown away!  No less than 15, possibly 20 people showed up!  There were more hands than boxes.  Rob's grandma gave us the Christmas gift of movers for the big stuff.  They came on Wednesday and we spent our first night in our new home.  Friends continued to help with meals and doing final cleaning in the other house.  And the snow waited until the next weekend.

Here I sit a week later, surrounded by unpacked boxes but feeling so incredibly blessed..  Our new house is wonderful.  I love that we have 4 bedrooms - everyone shares and Rob gets an office.  Our kids have a 500 square foot family room in our basement to play in.  I cannot wait to send Zac out into our fenced yard and watch him play as I do dishes in the kitchen.  I love that we have a doorbell and a medicine cabinet and more closets than I know what to do with right now.  Our commute to church is cut in half.  Justus is looking forward to starting his new school in January.  I could go on.

Moving in December is the last thing I ever wanted to do.  But God's plan is perfect and we trust that He moved us in his perfect timing and we are firmly in His hands.