What I did not know at the time, was that God would be calling us to New Mexico, and would provide us with quite literally a temporary home. After my husband accepted the call to our new church, he set a start date for the beginning of December, and we decided to move our entire family later that month (after our baby girl arrived). So of course, we began to look for a place to live.
For a while, there was really nothing available, but we weren't concerned because we still had time and assumed places would be coming available December 1st. Well, after the first of December, my husband met with a couple people in town to officially start the search and go looking at places. What he discovered, however, is that there is virtually no rental market in this small town. And when homes do become available, they are pretty run down, and very overpriced. So after driving around town and talking with several people, my husband had seen EVERY rental listed on the market. And by that, I mean two or three homes, only one of which he was actually able to go inside and view.
So there we were. We were set to move our entire family of five in about a week and a half, and still had no place to live. Now, we are not very picky, and we were certainly not looking for a mansion, but we are a family of five. We at least needed enough space for our family! All that was left was for us to pray. Of course my husband kept an eye out, and continued to spread the word, but really all we could do was pray. God had so VERY clearly called us to this place at this specific time, and had worked out every other detail, that He would not leave us without a place to live.
A day or two later, the director of missions for our local association of churches notified us that another church in town owned a parsonage that was not currently being used, and they were willing to let us rent it from them. Talk about an answer to prayer! It is definitely smaller than our old house, but it is everything that we need. And the church has been incredibly gracious to let us live here, and did not even list an end date on the lease, so we are not bound to any specific time table. We really can not even express to them how thankful and grateful we are to have a place to live!
Because this house belongs to another church, however, we know we cannot stay here forever. They have been very kind, but they would like to have their facilities back to use as they need (for office space, or bible studies, etc.). So we are very literally in a temporary home. While it can be frustrating knowing this is temporary (not being able to unpack everything, not hanging pictures and making it "home"), it is also a good reminder of our temporary home here on earth. And it has been a great reminder that ultimately, even a home is just "stuff" that I can't take to heaven with me. Being here I have been able to recognize what we actually need versus what are just my own materialistic desires. So for that, I am even more grateful for this house.
And so now, we have just one more hurdle, and that is to sell our home in Texas. It is the final detail that we are praying about and waiting patiently for God to answer. Although I am not worried, because I have no doubt that God has the perfect buyer and we will sell our home in His perfect timing, I am praying that it will be done sooner rather than later. We are definitely hindered by having to maintain a home that we no longer live in, as I'm sure you can imagine. But through this we are learning patience, reliance on the Lord, and to continue to trust in His plan. He has called us here, so He will continue to work out every detail.
And until then, we will continue to live in, and be thankful for, our temporary home.
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