By the time I finished my pre-employment training, I was counting down the days until I could start my regular shift work, praising God for my new job and the opportunities that it presented.
God was working in the background, blessing me at every turn, as I prayed that what I was doing was what He was calling me to do. The drive to work was about 30 miles both ways. I worried about whether my car could make the long drive indefinitely, as I depended on my transportation in order to keep my job.
A friend of mine, Rosa, that I grew up with had married and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, several hours away. Her parents had been instrumental in influencing my growing up years. Her father had been born with cerebral palsy and was not expected to live the night he was born, yet he was a vibrant man who had put himself through college and had two careers in his life, raising my friend Rosa to appreciate learning, books, politics and Jesus -- not in that order. I always found him hard to understand when he talked, but what he had to say was important enough to listen. It was him and Rosa’s mom who gave Rosa the big heart that she had, and the intellect and strong faith that she carried with her throughout her life.
Their open-door policy, when it concerned her friends, made them the extended family that many of us, as kids, came to enjoy. They lived right next door to the church I attended and was baptized at when I was fourteen. When I found myself pregnant and going through a hard time with my parents as a teenager, they let me stay with them until the situation was remedied enough for me to return home. They gave me my first trip to the public library when I was twelve.
Rosa’s brother developed an illness that eventually took his life about a year or two before. So, now the two resided in New Boston, Texas, just five miles from my job, alone.
Rosa’s husband had developed the early stages of dementia and it was progressing. Her parents had decided that they wished to live near her in order to help her as they go through this, and Rosa found that she really needed her mom and dad now more than ever -- but they were so far away.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Jones decided to sell their trailer and move to Fayetteville to be near their daughter. But, they were looking for someone to take up payments on their trailer home. Hence, the reason Rosa contacted me and asked me if I would be interested, knowing my situation at work, and my desire to move.
At first I balked on accepting the deal. The trailer was badly in need of repair, and I really did not want the responsibility of the maintenance work that would be needed. However, the owner of the apartment complex in which I was living decided to sell the property, and had found a buyer. The new owners decided that all tenants had to pay online, which raised the cost of the rent about $14 for a convenience fee of doing business online. Then, they decided the tenants needed to pay for their own electricity, and water bill. This would effectively raise my bills to over $100 more a month.
Then, the new lease they expected me to sign contained clauses I disagreed with, such as not being able to have visitors stay with me me without the owner’s permission.
Recently, I had helped some homeless friends off the street by letting them stay with me for a few days until I could help them locate an apartment. Under the new rules that would have been impossible for me to have been able to do.
I was not happy with the new arrangement, and I felt like God had offered me a way out. So, I prayed for clarity, and a sign that this was the direction that God wanted me to go.
I had applied for a home loan about a year before, but was told that my credit rating was one point off being able to be approved for the loan. But, Rosa encouraged me to try again, saying that taking up payments on the mobile home was a different category and I would probably be approved for that. So, I applied. I figured if I was approved, that would be the sign I needed to move forward. It was around the start of the month of May in 2018, and I was only a couple of weeks into my pre-employment training at Telford Prison.
I refused to sign the lease, and I had until June 1st to move out of my apartment. I had no where to go, and no one to help me move. My own mother refused to let me stay with her until I could find something better, and my dad was unable to.
When I received the call that I was approved, I determined to move forward. I contacted the owners and we planned accordingly. I agreed to even give them an extra $2,000 to help them move, on top of the down payment that I would have to make to the mortgage company when the deal closed.
While some of my friends said that I was being too generous, “No one does that! Why would you do that?” I prayed to God. I would need a stove, a refrigerator, and a way to wash my clothes when I moved. As I prayed, the owners contacted me. They told me they were going to leave their stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, lawn mower, weed-eater, garden hose, a living room chair, a big dresser and the metal storage building out front for storage. It was as if God said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this!”
I thought about my dogs that I had to give up when I moved to my current apartment because the owner had a policy of no pets. The people who took them told me that when I got situated, they would let them return, if the dogs didn’t have a problem with it. Then, I learned that the home I was buying had a dog pen attached outside the back door, complete with a dog house. I was more than excited! My baby dogs were coming home, soon!
God had just provided me with a great job, and home in which I could do what I wanted without anyone telling me I couldn’t! My independence was being secured, in the name of Jesus!
There was still the problem of having a place to stay until the deal closed. My friends that I had helped out offered to let me stay with them. I agreed to pay half their rent until other arrangements were made. They let me have their bedroom for privacy.
Then, I had to arrange for storage for my belongings that I would be taking with me -- my deep freeze and other furniture I did not want to lose. The owners agreed to let me move all my stuff into their back bedroom for storage until they could move. They even let me go ahead and use the address as my permanent residence already, so I could make all the arrangements with my workplace and insurance information.
God had stepped in. I was SO blessed!
And, I was so looking forward to the move. God had brought me so far in just a few years, since I had determined to live for Him. I now had another testimony of God’s great provision to add to my story as I showed off my crown!
God was working in the background, blessing me at every turn, as I prayed that what I was doing was what He was calling me to do. The drive to work was about 30 miles both ways. I worried about whether my car could make the long drive indefinitely, as I depended on my transportation in order to keep my job.
A friend of mine, Rosa, that I grew up with had married and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, several hours away. Her parents had been instrumental in influencing my growing up years. Her father had been born with cerebral palsy and was not expected to live the night he was born, yet he was a vibrant man who had put himself through college and had two careers in his life, raising my friend Rosa to appreciate learning, books, politics and Jesus -- not in that order. I always found him hard to understand when he talked, but what he had to say was important enough to listen. It was him and Rosa’s mom who gave Rosa the big heart that she had, and the intellect and strong faith that she carried with her throughout her life.
Their open-door policy, when it concerned her friends, made them the extended family that many of us, as kids, came to enjoy. They lived right next door to the church I attended and was baptized at when I was fourteen. When I found myself pregnant and going through a hard time with my parents as a teenager, they let me stay with them until the situation was remedied enough for me to return home. They gave me my first trip to the public library when I was twelve.
Rosa’s brother developed an illness that eventually took his life about a year or two before. So, now the two resided in New Boston, Texas, just five miles from my job, alone.
Rosa’s husband had developed the early stages of dementia and it was progressing. Her parents had decided that they wished to live near her in order to help her as they go through this, and Rosa found that she really needed her mom and dad now more than ever -- but they were so far away.
So, Mr. and Mrs. Jones decided to sell their trailer and move to Fayetteville to be near their daughter. But, they were looking for someone to take up payments on their trailer home. Hence, the reason Rosa contacted me and asked me if I would be interested, knowing my situation at work, and my desire to move.
At first I balked on accepting the deal. The trailer was badly in need of repair, and I really did not want the responsibility of the maintenance work that would be needed. However, the owner of the apartment complex in which I was living decided to sell the property, and had found a buyer. The new owners decided that all tenants had to pay online, which raised the cost of the rent about $14 for a convenience fee of doing business online. Then, they decided the tenants needed to pay for their own electricity, and water bill. This would effectively raise my bills to over $100 more a month.
Then, the new lease they expected me to sign contained clauses I disagreed with, such as not being able to have visitors stay with me me without the owner’s permission.
Recently, I had helped some homeless friends off the street by letting them stay with me for a few days until I could help them locate an apartment. Under the new rules that would have been impossible for me to have been able to do.
I was not happy with the new arrangement, and I felt like God had offered me a way out. So, I prayed for clarity, and a sign that this was the direction that God wanted me to go.
I had applied for a home loan about a year before, but was told that my credit rating was one point off being able to be approved for the loan. But, Rosa encouraged me to try again, saying that taking up payments on the mobile home was a different category and I would probably be approved for that. So, I applied. I figured if I was approved, that would be the sign I needed to move forward. It was around the start of the month of May in 2018, and I was only a couple of weeks into my pre-employment training at Telford Prison.
I refused to sign the lease, and I had until June 1st to move out of my apartment. I had no where to go, and no one to help me move. My own mother refused to let me stay with her until I could find something better, and my dad was unable to.
When I received the call that I was approved, I determined to move forward. I contacted the owners and we planned accordingly. I agreed to even give them an extra $2,000 to help them move, on top of the down payment that I would have to make to the mortgage company when the deal closed.
While some of my friends said that I was being too generous, “No one does that! Why would you do that?” I prayed to God. I would need a stove, a refrigerator, and a way to wash my clothes when I moved. As I prayed, the owners contacted me. They told me they were going to leave their stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, lawn mower, weed-eater, garden hose, a living room chair, a big dresser and the metal storage building out front for storage. It was as if God said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this!”
I thought about my dogs that I had to give up when I moved to my current apartment because the owner had a policy of no pets. The people who took them told me that when I got situated, they would let them return, if the dogs didn’t have a problem with it. Then, I learned that the home I was buying had a dog pen attached outside the back door, complete with a dog house. I was more than excited! My baby dogs were coming home, soon!
God had just provided me with a great job, and home in which I could do what I wanted without anyone telling me I couldn’t! My independence was being secured, in the name of Jesus!
There was still the problem of having a place to stay until the deal closed. My friends that I had helped out offered to let me stay with them. I agreed to pay half their rent until other arrangements were made. They let me have their bedroom for privacy.
Then, I had to arrange for storage for my belongings that I would be taking with me -- my deep freeze and other furniture I did not want to lose. The owners agreed to let me move all my stuff into their back bedroom for storage until they could move. They even let me go ahead and use the address as my permanent residence already, so I could make all the arrangements with my workplace and insurance information.
God had stepped in. I was SO blessed!
And, I was so looking forward to the move. God had brought me so far in just a few years, since I had determined to live for Him. I now had another testimony of God’s great provision to add to my story as I showed off my crown!
No comments:
Post a Comment