some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
here's the part that struck me: God leading by 'a straight way'. I thought about the Israelites wandering for 40 years in the desert - not my definition of "straight". I thought about our journey from Parkside and through unemployment, the journey here, and now the journey away. not my definition of a straight line. more, as my son would say, "ziggity-zaggity" - which is how he likes his ketchup on his kraft dinner.
I bet that God sees things differently (no surprise there). when He looks at my life He sees the line of experiences and people and growth I needed to get to this day. He sees all that I need to get to tomorrow and next year, to be the mother and wife I need to be, the artist I want to be, the daughter, the friend, the mentor...
and that's the straight line that matters.
I prayed yesterday that God would lead us to a city where we can settle. I want to be a "lifer" somewhere. I want to grow old digging into a community and neighbours and church body. I want to swing my hips wide and sit down deeply, surrounded by place and people that I've come to know over many years. when I die I want it to be a no-brainer where I should be buried.
I sincerely hoped the city was going to be Saskatoon, and I daily grieve that it is not. two and a half years here, and I feel like i'm just starting to find places of influence that resonate with my passions. it's exhausting to think I have a number of years ahead of me where i'm the newbie, trying things out, trying friendships out, figuring out where people live...ah, I need to stop typing about this.
the good, the amazing, news: God heard my prayer. last night we bought a house.
and it's not a fixer-upper, or covered in cat pee, or almost what we wanted. it's wonderful. it's got a little creek running through the front yard - with a tiny bridge on the path to our front door. it's half a block from the school grounds. it has room for a guest room (!) and a studio (!!!). and....wait for it...a chef-grade gas stove, with a salamander (not the lizard - a small oven for broiling things like nachos and crème brulee) and a ginormous fridge. start booking your holidays at chez Anderson today!
it has all that we prayed for, and we got it for the price we wanted to pay. we placed a bid and heard that another bid was expected last night. this happened to us last week and the house we bid on sold for 45 thousand more than we offered. but last night the other bid was the same as ours. so, instead of jacking up the price, it solidified how reasonable our offer was. amazing.
God is in charge of my life-line. and I can't tell you how grateful I am for that.
I now have less than 7 weeks to enjoy my little house on the prairie. my in-laws gave me money for flowers for mother's day, so I planted geraniums and petunias in my garden, and filled some pots for my front step. I have a multitude of green sprouts (SPROUTS!) all over the place - plants I harvested last summer from the gardens of friends. I don't have a clue what they are, but i'm so excited!! it is bitter sweet to finally have perennials growing - I hate to say goodbye - but i'm pretty darn proud of myself. I've come a long way baby!
may we bear witness to God's guidance, to his hand drawing the paths of our lives with gentleness and accuracy. to live in trust for tomorrow, straining for a larger view of our lives, a bigger faith, a sweet surrender.
and thankfulness that no matter how L-O-N-G the winter, (and folks, I mean lo-ong)
the perennials break through.
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