Home on the Range - Move 3

Lord willing, at the end of this month we will be in our new home in Texas.  During this long decision process we have reflected on the many moves we have made. Each of them have been testimonies to God’s mercy and faithfulness. They have been structural faith builders. Unmistakable evidence that the Lord has gone before us.  And right now, in the mess of moving, I need to revisit these stories. I share them with you to strengthen your faith in whatever place you may be at present. The Lord who fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes said He will provide for you. 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 

and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:33

In the past, I have described the whole process of moving from California to Michigan as a delightul float down a river. God's hand was evident. He knew where He was taking us, and I was along for the ride enjoying the scenery. I experienced great peace - peace that kept me steady even though our three year old was in a full body cast for most of the move. That's another story.

We left him and his four sibblings with Steve's folks in San Diego. (Could I possibly thank them enough?) Three days later we found ourselves on the side of a road in West Michigan, trying to explain to our realtor why at forty years old we had absolutely no money for a down payment on a house. Not a cent. 

Amelia Drive, Jenison, Michigan. 1998- 2914

We were frist contacted by a church in Michigan in May. In August Steve and I were flown from northern California to West Michigan to canidate for the position as senior pastor. During some of the eleven days we were there, the elders had scheduled us to look at houses in the area with a member from the church who was a realtor. 

As we were driving to the first house on the list, he casually asked us what we were bringing as a down payment. When the answer came back, “nothing,” he pulled over  to the side of the road. We explained how we had lived the last fifteen years in a parsonage in a ranching community. Not cattle ranching. Almond trees. Pistachios.  Walnuts. Good people. Close to the earth. Not wealthy. We were thrilled that we had been able to provide for a family of five kids and had only accumulated a couple of thousand dollars in debt. 

“Why are we looking for houses to buy?”  

“The elders put it on the schedule.”  

“I’ll have to talk to the elders.”

God was going to do something we would not be bold enough to ask for.

One of the many colorful people we met while living in Orland was Marlise. She had described to us how she was a German by birth, an American by choice and a Christian by the mercy of God. Her story is another great story of God’s grace. Nazi youth worker, abandoned wife, and fast food restaurant manager - at seventy years old inherits money from a recluse. Remind me to tell you. 

Marlise was Oma to our kids, a part of the family. Honestly blunt and practically kind. When she learned we were going to candidate at a church in West Michigan, she wanted to know, “Pastor, how are you going to buy a house big enough for your family?” Then she called the elders in Michigan. “How much money are you going to give him for a down payment?”  Followed quickly by, “Whatever you give him, I will match.”

And so we were able to purchase a home on Amelia Drive. 

Did God know that all along? Was there any need to worry about our financial future while living in parsonages?  We were following the call of God on our lives. He had pledged Himself to meet all our needs. He takes care of sparrows and lilies. He will provide. 

"He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

Rom. 8:32

Before we could leave California, I knew I needed to bring an Ebenezer Stone from there with us to Michigan. A stone that would remind us all the work of God to lead us "Thus far."

A wonderfully accommodating group of men drove up to Mount Lassen and brought down a 500 pound lava stone. (You can read more about this https://www.pouroutyourheart.org/post/thus-far-the-lord-has-helped-me)

While the movers were putting our Ebenezer Stone and all our belongings into a 26 foot truck, I was thirty miles away watching the doctor take off our son's leg cast. He had been in a body cast for a couple of months and a leg cast for the last four weeks. Before he could even learn to walk again, he was on a plane with his sisters and I headed to Chicago. Steve took the other two sons and a gecko lizzard on the long road trip across the top of America. We met the Kroghs and their motorhome in Chicago, spent a sweet weekend with our friends in Wheaton then drove the last three hours to the other side of the Lake.

We moved into a two story red brick home. Four bedrooms all upstairs. Finished basement. Close to a hundred acre park. A yard with dozens of oak trees that each dropped a million leaves every fall. 

Our home was filled with neighborhood kids, and church friends, and family members who came for holidays. My folks decided to move to be close to us. Our last child, our only Michigan baby,  joined our family and home. A refugee from Sudan came to live with us. Fifteen years of fullness. Home schooling. Music lessons, sports teams. Potty training and Driver’s ed classes all in the same season. Crazy and wonderful. 

At one point, I began dreaming about tearing down the wall between the kitchen and the family room to make a bigger area for our table at which it was not uncommon to have more than ten people sit down to eat. Dreaming, until one day Steve stopped me as I was going on and on about my plan. 

“You know, we can never do this. The older two kids will be ready to start college in a few years. This remodel is not an option.” 

Death of a dream. Lessons in contentment. Life moves on. We squeezed in around the table. 

A year and a half later, right after a Christmas we had celebrated in San Diego with Steve’s family we got the call. Our neighbor had noticed water flowing out from under our garage. He went in to find a broken pipe behind the washing machine. He called a man he knew from our church. It was that man who was on the phone with Steve. 

“Well, all I can say is this, Lois is going to get to tear down her wall.”  

And insurance paid for every bit of it! 

The province of God.

Simply put, providence means that God sees everything and he always acts to ensure his plan comes to pass.  

“At any given moment, God is doing a thousand things that we can not see and may never know.” (John Piper).

There would be dark provinces to come. Happenings that made it difficult to imagine how this could be for our good. But the abundance of spiritual blessings, the daily graces, the large scale provisions and the threads of providence we could trace through all our moves had strengthened our faith. 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17

And this was very good.