Once we made the decision to embark on this adventure, I began looking for evidence of God's presence and leading. I found it almost immediately a few days after we decided to head to Guam. I was sitting in Sunday school and the leader passed around little pieces of paper with verses written on them for each of us to read to the class. When I read mine, I almost started to cry as I was touched that the Lord would speak to me so personally to confirm that we had made the right decision. It was this: James 4:13-15-- Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” Wow! We had been thinking that "tomorrow" we would go to Italy, spend a few years there, carry on business and make money. But He was clearly steering us in a different direction. It was sweet relief to have this confirmation that He was in charge and had determined our path.
My next love note came as we began to look for someone to rent our home. I was pretty nervous about having to keep it ready to show all the time and on a moment's notice. We were frantically working to get repairs and improvements done--painting, laying a new kitchen floor, putting up blinds, hanging a ceiling fan, when we got the call that someone wanted to come see the house. As I raced around trying to clean, organize, purge, and put away tools from the almost-finished projects, I thought, "This is way too much work. I don't think I can do this repeatedly." Shortly after showing the house to 2 families on the same day, we got word that the first family to see it wanted to rent it. They were willing to give 2 month's rent up front, to find a temporary place to live for 2 months, and they were interested in possibly buying the house. Another confirmation that God was in the details.
Once we knew we were moving, I began looking for a home for our outdoor cat, Simon, the one that came with the house. Over Christmas while we were out of town, it had snowed A LOT, his bed got wet and he had slept in his litter box which was on the front porch. So we had bathed him and learned he was very docile and laid-back. He meowed a few times to express his displeasure, but never put his claws out or tried to bite us. Once bathed, it took him days to dry, so we let him stay in the bathroom. While there asleep, he was attacked by a visiting dog, receiving a deep puncture wound to the neck, which necessitated a much longer stay in the house. He really was a good kitty, staying on the floor and off the furniture, counters, tables, and fridge. I had thought all cats jumped up on those things. Anyway, we all became quite attached to him during this time and considered taking him with us to Guam. We discovered it would cost us about $3000 to take him, a cost we were not willing to undertake. I had jokingly mentioned to our renters that we had a cat that comes with the house--any chance they'd take care of him for us? They laughed and said they might (even though they have 2 dogs). Later, I asked my real estate agent to ask them about it. They said they would take care of the cat for us. Unbelievable!
I received my next note during a shopping trip, looking for a table cloth for our bedroom. I had found a beautiful tropical print duvet cover that was white with robin's egg blue flowers on it and was looking for 2 tablecloths to go on the small round bedside tables. I had looked all over town for those, finally finding some at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I looked at all the ones they had and was disappointed to see that the only thing that would work was a solid white one. I continued to look at other stores but found nothing. So I headed to a different BB&B to pick up the white ones I had seen. As I crossed the parking lot, I prayed, "Lord, I don't want white tablecloths. Could you please provide some robin's egg blue ones to go with my new duvet cover?" I kind of laughed as I prayed it, thinking, "I know I'll have to get white ones, but what could it hurt to pray for what I really want?" I walked quickly into the store to the tablecloth section and began scanning the high shelves where they display all the options on the tables. I saw the white tablecloths but no blue. Bummer! As I looked on the lower shelves to find the right size white one, I saw a robin's egg blue napkin out of the corner of my eye. Then I spotted a robin's egg blue placemat. Then I saw they actually had tablecloths that color to go with them. I just knew they'd have the size I needed since I could see God was answering my prayer. I was so excited that I told the salesclerk, "I know it's here somewhere! It's just gotta be!" And sure enough, there was one the size I needed all the way in the back. I asked him, "Now why isn't this color on display like all the other ones are?" He said, "Oh, it is--it's just hidden behind this sign." And, there, just above the blue tablecloths was a table on display hidden behind the sign. It was as if God had thrown me a surprise party and had hidden behind the sign to watch me discover His goodness and His love for me. As I checked out at the register, I told the cashier my story. She said, "That was luck!" I let her know that it was NOT luck at all but my God saying, "I love you" to me. He is truly "El Roi," the God who sees me!
My next love note came the day the first packer arrived to assess our goods. She was very confident and reassuring and let me know that it would be her and one other lady who would pack the house and maybe one man. I had heard my house would be full of people packing us up and wondered how I would ever be able to oversee all that everyone was doing. What a relief! I could manage 2 or 3 people. Plus it wouldn't happen so fast, which would give me more time to work as they worked. The day they arrived to begin, I was really worried. I wasn't as ready as I wanted to be and said, "I hope you will give me grace today--I'm doing the best I can." The woman in charge said, "No worries. No stress. We're here to help YOU--we are working for you." That put my mind at ease, but I knew the Lord was there when I walked into my kitchen and heard the man that had come singing, "Here I am to worship..." Turns out he was a preacher who packs on the side. How about that?!
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