Within a a short period of time we found (we thought) our next rental home. We applied, put down a deposit, and waited to hear about moving in on March 31. And waited, and waited..... (The story gets kind of long and convoluted at this point, so this is the short version.) Less than 3 days before our lease was up, we heard that the owner of this house decided not to rent it out.
Thankfully, God has blessed us with amazing friends. Even more than that, He knows and provides for our immediate needs (not necessarily our wants) in His incredibly abundant ways!
Recently a couple we know moved from Albuquerque, leaving their house up for sale. They very graciously (and on very short notice) agreed that we could move in as house-sitters. So, March 31st saw our friends helping us pack almost all of our belongings into storage, and take the rest over to our 'temporary housing.'
We are finding this kind of displacement remarkably freeing. The physical separation from our stuff allows us to objectively evaluate what we really need (and look forward to getting rid of things we don't).
We can think about living arrangements from a completely different vantage point. It seems like our next move will also be 'temporary:' house-sitting for a UNM professor who will be teaching at another university next school year.A friend of Sandra's jokingly commented about how well we're handling 'homelessness.' The reality is we've never been homeless. We possess abundant resources in our finances, relationships, physical and mental health, and employment. The primary resource is spiritual through our growing knowledge of and relationship with the loving God of the universe through Jesus. Our friends who struggle with real homelessness often lack many of these resources.
We're really appreciating these extraordinarily practical lessons in God's abundance and renewed empathy with the 'marginalized.'
