As most of my readers know, my family and I have transitioned to a church ministry in MD. About three months ago, we reluctantly and ‘faith-scrapingly’ (that’s the existential process of scraping together all the faith you can muster by recalling all the past ways that God has been faithful and claiming every relevant promise in the Scriptures) followed God’s leading to leave our beloved church in Chicagoland and move to Maryland. Associated with the transition of getting used to a new church culture, work environment, and lifestyle in MD, we had to deal with the stress of packing, moving, and the dreaded sale of our home in a depressed and horrible housing market in Chicago (forget about even looking for a house in MD!)

After a savings account draining four months of paying mortgage on a house we weren’t living in, we finally had an offer on our home. As divine providence would have it, the same day I was slated to start at the new church! The last month since the agreed upon contract has been a stressful roller coaster of inspections, repairs, documents, haggling, and praying. I knew we weren’t underwater on our home, but the selling price of our home – after closing costs and real estate commissions – was low enough that we knew we would have to take money to closing. When I first talked the selling price over with my realtor, she estimated that we would need about $2500-$3000 to take to closing. So we have been earmarking that amount in the last month. Little did I know that the Lord would use this process to show me his power, the love of His people, and to write people into our story of faith and obedience. Continue reading →