I just really love the way God works! We've been trying to plan this trip since the Spring, but it just wasn't coming together. We were thinking it may not happen even now, but we really felt the urging from the Lord to just step out in faith and GO to TEXAS! So... we obeyed!
So many things have just "fallen into place." I'm sure God has had them planned all along!
This house we're staying in is one of those things. Our church's mission house is occupied. Most missionary housing is occupied & reserved years in advance! This was one of our hesitations about coming. When you are a family of seven (or even two) it is quite the task to find housing for 3+ weeks. That is a long time to be a house guest. We wouldn't ask. It is WAY beyond our budget to pay for housing for that long. So we began the search for missionary housing. Thanks to some suggestions of a dear friend, we found this house through another church! It has been just perfect right down to the fenced in backyard with a wonderful swing set!
Well, let me tell you something else about this house! It is actually the location!
First of all, it is in a wonderful neighborhood that has been here at least since the 50s. The houses are well taken care of, and this seems to be a close knit community in the heart of Arlington. Yesterday evening before supper we took a walk down a nearby street (the one we are on is very short). It was just beautiful. We learned today that it used to be pecan orchard which would explain the numerous pecan trees in the boulevard and in the yards. We met several others out for walks, too. Such nice people!
Well, we got home & ate supper. Then I decided to look someone up in our addresses. You see, when we lived here our pediatrician was Dr. Molly Hansen. I loved her. She was like a grandmother to me & the kids. I had so much respect for her. She was great! When we moved, she said she wanted us to stay in contact with her... so we have via mail. Well, we don't do a lot of mail anymore. She's retired from her practice. I didn't have a phone number to call her, and I never had e-mail for her either. I was going to send her a note to ask her to call us if she was able so we could get together while we're here so she could see the kids and we could visit. She has written us several times over the years we've been gone.
Well, you may know where this is going... when I looked up her address, it seemed VERY familiar! The house number was exactly the same as ours... 1513! That was odd, I thought. Then I noticed the name of the road. I was pretty sure it was the road we had just walked down earlier! Could that be? Well, then I noticed the zip code was exactly the same as ours... so I "mapquested" it. Sure enough... she was one road over. Dano walked over after the kids were in bed to verify the address was in the exact same spot as our house just one street over!
So this morning, after Virginia's morning nap & snack for the other kids, we went on a walk to see if we could find Dr. Hansen.
When we rang the bell, she came to the door and was delighted to see us. She even called us by name! She quickly invited us in. We had a wonderful visit with her and her husband. She wants us to come back for dinner. She plans to come by when she is out walking. She even asked if we'd be speaking at a church because she wants to come hear us. Isn't that neat?
So, you see... this is a blessing only God could have orchestrated. Who could have imagined that someone we were going to try to "find" would be one street over from a house that just happened to be available for the time of our trip? God loves to work out the details!
Now let me tell you more! You see, this house hasn't just been sitting around empty. It has been occupied, but when FBC Arlington got back to me about housing, the missionaries in the house were just leaving! When I talked to the husband of one of the ladies on the board for the housing (who happen to be good friends), he asked me how we managed to get this house. I told him I just called, and it was available. He said that was pretty much a miracle because this house was ALWAYS occupied! Well, that just confirmed that God had this house reserved for us!
May you have a blessed day knowing that God is concerned about the details in your life, too! Sometimes we just have to step out in faith and let HIM take care of them!
Blessings,
Melinda =0)
