"Not all those who wander are lost" J.R.R. Tolkien



Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Countdown is On

I'm on a 50/50 split; I've come to peace with moving back into the RV but still remain hopeful I'll be buying a house.  As Donald hasn't been interviewed for the hospital chaplaincy job yet it doesn't seem likely it would be offered to him before the end of the week.  He does, however, have a job interview tomorrow morning at Target.  If it is offered he will take it so we can stay in the house.  If the hospital job eventually gets offered to him, well, people start and stop jobs all the time.

Prayers appreciated over the next week.   I've begun what I call, after 17 moves, Preliminary Packing.  In this case it means sorting, organizing and making lists and piles of things to go into the RV.  I've also begun taking pictures off walls and packing them.  Donald has already done one box collecting run.  I'm hesitant to go whole hog on the packing because once I start, I won't quit.  I know Me too well and I pack with the same intensity as I unpack:  do it until It Is Done.  There is no exaggeration in saying it's a bit stressful.  This uncertainty may very well kill me.  When, exactly, do I begin really packing?  My boys think I'm giving up hope by doing the little I've done.  They see no need for a practicalities discussion, generally my forte.

Then again, when has God ever been practical?  How about practical miracles for a contradiction in terms?  Donald and I have had several 11th hour Miracles in our marriage.  For starters, when we were in Iceland I prayed for months that we would get our student loans paid off before we left the country.  About six months before we left we found out the Navy had not been paying Donald enough and the whopping back payment came out to the exact amount we owed on our student loans, Forty Odd Thousand Dollars.  Donald had a dramatic 11th hour Miracle just over a year ago.  His commanding officer "happened" to walk in at the exact moment Donald was attempting suicide.  I won't name all of our miracles; these are probably the most dramatic.  

Many folks would call this fortuitous timing.  I don't believe in luck and I do believe things happen for a reason even if we don't find out why.  Do I believe God could do a miracle this week? 

Absolutely.

If He created the universe in a week (and yes, I unequivocally disavow a Big Bang; I have a great Einstein quote if you are interested) then certainly getting my husband a job, selling the RV or both should pose no problem.  I've come to realize, this is, in part, what the last three months have been about.

Faith.  More specifically, my faith.

We were challenged recently to hang on to the last thing we confidently knew God was telling us.  The last thing we confidently knew was that in April, God wanted us in Salem.  Everything since then would point the opposite direction since no job has cropped up, the RV hasn't sold and we are running out of money.  Trust me, I have been questioning God for some time.  He is being silent.  For now.  Maybe being in Salem was only meant for short term.  Maybe being in Salem doesn't mean this particular house.  Maybe if everything had happened on my schedule and my terms then the results would be about Me.  Maybe the last three months means I need to ramp up my faith in an all-powerful God so that the results would be about Him and the Twist family testimony to His faithfulness and goodness.  I have two sons who have put my faith to shame recently by their fierce conviction that God will do "something."

When He does do "something," look out!  I'm sure it will make one heck of a blog!

1 comment:

  1. Dearest Twists -- we are praying that this next week does, in fact, hold great miracles for your family. Specifically, Donald getting a job and getting an offer on the RV.
    -- The Naumans

    ReplyDelete