About a week ago, Timehop reminded me about a blog post I wrote this time last year. A Prayer for Our New Home. I didn't open it, didn't reread it. I kind of already had the feeling we would be staying in Evart for "another season" (whatever that means) and wasn't the happiest person about it. I didn't want to remember the prayer about God using us here.
Today, after the denial started to fade some and I caved and put my fall decorations up, I read it: So my prayer today is that I understand my true blessing. It's not my house. Or my job. Or my standard of living. No. My blessing is this. I know a God who gives hope to the hopeless. I know a God who loves the unlovable. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. And I know a God who has planted this same power within me. Within all of us. And for this blessing, may our response always be, "Use me." I am grateful for the opportunity to buy a house. I am blessed to know and be known by a God who provides things a house can't. Use us God. Austin and I wanted to move back to Grand Rapids to be closer to our family and friends, the community we are most comfortable in. Mr.Fix-It aka Steveo is in Grand Rapids, he's who I call almost every time I'm facing a home repair and Austin's not around, I wanted to be closer to him. I wanted grandmas to be within driving distance the moment I realize I have no idea how to do this mom thing after baby boy comes. Mostly, we wanted to move in order to better support our recently widowed friend and his sweet baby girl. At 24 years, I can't believe I'm using the word widow to describe one of my friends. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. The same power is within me and I trust God will allow Austin and I to still be part of his home team, even though I don't know what that looks like yet. We are humbled and grateful to continue living here in Evart. When we were trying to sell our house I kept saying, "If I could just pick up this house and move it to Grand Rapids I would be so happy." I love our home- the completely imperfect hardwood floors, the two old windows in the kitchen, the original hardware on door hinges, everything. We tried to get the heck out of dodge but instead we get to stay. We get to bring our baby boy into this home. I still can't believe it. There is hopelessness, people who feel incredibly unloved, and lots of sorrow in our little town. Our school district is described as traumatized. It's hard living here sometimes. Yet, from the moment we tried moving, community started popping up everywhere. Cards, flowers, baby gifts, a meal. Someone from our small group joked there is a Facebook group called Keep Austin and Haley in Evart. We have been well loved and well served. It's our turn to join in and get our hands dirty. My prayer is simple, and remains the same: Use us God.
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Hi! I'm Haley. Archives
May 2019
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