Sunday

Today was the Lord's day and we celebrated as a family, attending a church we recently began visiting. And I felt blessed as I sat there amongst the other worshipers and we raised our voices in song and praise. Blessed to sit there and feel at home, blessed to be hearing so many beautiful voices singing as one, blessed to be able to hear God's words, blessed to be here in Tucson. I often marvel at the circumstances under which we ended up here. I keep meaning to write down the story and so I am finally going to attempt to do so. Last May, Chris finished his MBA with Duke. He was doing well at Pall and we were quite happy with our lives in Pensacola. Since we were now equipped with his MBA and were surely destined for great things, we bought our dream house. A big beautiful, yellow, 2 story house with a huge front porch and a swing. As excited as I was about the new house (I picked it out after all), I had some anxiety and doubts about what we were doing. Would we be able to afford it? Would it be okay? Would we be able to make it? Nevertheless, we sold the house and moved to the dream house. It was in a beautiful neighborhood...The best neighborhood really. Big trees, beautifully kept houses seated on beautifully kept lawns. We had a pool and mounds of azaleas that would have been just fantastic in the spring. I don't know for sure because we were never there for it. See....A funny thing happened not too long after we bought the house. Chris went to a trade show (nothing too weird about that), but he forgot his business cards. He did however have a handful in his suitcase. Not ideal, but he handed out what he had and came on home. We got on with life. We had very lovely neighbors in that house. Fantastic really. My favorite was a dear southern lady that lived right across the street. Her name is Sara Jo and this lady will always hold a special place in my heart...forever. She is one of the wisest and most kind hearted people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I cannot begin to put into words how much I enjoyed this sweet lady's company. Over the summer we had the pleasure of meeting Sara Jo's daughter Jennifer and her lovely family. They were visiting from Turkey, where her husband Rich was stationed with the military. Jennifer was pregnant with their fourth child and in Turkey, the only option for giving birth is through c-section. Jennifer did not want this as her other three children had not been sections. So the whole family came to the states and stayed with Sara Jo and Bud (her husband) for about 10 weeks. We got the chance to know J a little bit and her sweet little boys Rich (5), Daniel (4) and Nate (2). J was as sweet and delightful as her lovely mother and I enjoyed all the coffee and chats that we shared. She was interested in homeschooling her children and I was able to pass on some information to her. At the beginning of September J and Rich welcomed their fourth child into the world and were overjoyed to be blessed with a baby girl....Savannah Jo. Jennifer was so thrilled to have a baby girl after 3 little boys. I remember that I took over the prettiest little pink dress for the baby when she was born and a little lacy gown with butterflies. She was just thrilled and said that the little dress was so pretty that she was planning to hang it on Savannah's wall as a decoration so she could see it all the time. Just two weeks after Savannah arrived, Hurricane Ivan arrived. Our family evacuated to Houston, Texas to my sister's house. The Clay family stayed there to ride out the storm. At the same time we were watching to see what path the hurricane would take, Chris got a phone call from a head hunter who told him that she wanted to talk to him about a position she had in Arizona. It turns out that she had picked up one of the handful of cards Chris had with him at the trade show where he had forgotten all of his business cards. Chris thanked her and told her that we were really not interested in moving...we had only been in our house for about 4 months...our dream house to be exact. She kept at him though and I told him to knock himself out....if he wanted to check it out then he should. I mean, I KNEW that we would never end up somewhere like Arizona. I wasn't worried. So if Chris wanted to see another part of the country so he could say he'd been there and possibly make a good contact for Pall...then great! So he finally agreed to fly out and at least talk to the folks...though neither of us really thought anything much about it. We did end up having to reschedule his flight to interview out of Houston instead of Pensacola because of the storm. But no big deal. Well, Ivan came and had his nasty way with us. He ripped off our roof and rain poured in. The ceilings upstairs collapsed and the carpet that we had just had put in upon moving into the house a few months before was now ruined. All of the ceilings downstairs took on water as well. Our pool was black (but we did find all of our missing shingles there). Coming home to that mess was tough. I could not believe what had become of our dream house. But alas, it IS only a house and we would just have to tough it out and fix it. And so we cleaned it all up and had the huge tree removed from the house and we got our blue tarp on the roof and just kept on living life. The insurance adjuster was very kind and generous to us and we resolved to just get it all done. . Well, time flew by and it was time to say goodbye to our new friend Jennifer and her little family. Rich had gone back to Turkey right after the hurricane, but J stayed on with the baby and the boys until little Savannah was old enough to fly. And when she was six weeks old we packed them up and said our goodbyes. Sara Jo was going back with her to help get all the little ones home....it is a 24 hour flight to Turkey from Pensacola. She was going to stay 2 weeks and then come back home....just in time for Halloween. The morning that they left I went over and said goodbye and I prayed with Jennifer and Sara Jo. We prayed for safe travel and thanked God for the opportunity that we had all had to get to know each other. I wished them well and hugged them goodbye and wondered how in the world I was going to get through two weeks without my wise and wonderful friend. In the midst of all of this Chris really liked Arizona and the company really liked him. They asked him out for a second interview and they wanted us both to come...so that I could see the area as well. I really liked the Oro Valley area...the mountains were beautiful. But more importantly, the look on Chris' face told me that he was absolutely in love with the place. He was totally happy in Oro Valley and so many of his interests were here. I decided that if he was that happy and had the opportunity to work at his dream job as it turned out to be....well than I would just have to follow him. Even if that meant leaving a life I loved back in Pensacola. The company made Chris an offer...which we had to turn down because it wasn't quite enough money to maintain our life at the level we had in Pensacola. We flew home and were home a couple of days when they made Chris another offer. We could not say no at that point. It was too good an opportunity. I was excited, but very nervous. On the same day that we committed to moving to Arizona we got some sad news. Jennifer, our neighbor's daughter over in Turkey had suffered a brain aneurysm and was not expected to live. And within 2 days she died. Just like that...a young mother of four precious little ones with her whole life ahead of her...gone. It was heartbreaking. I could not believe what had happened. At the same time I had been pondering on why we had bought a house and then were moving just a few short months later. And I was worrying about how in the world we would manage to sell a heavily damaged house without losing our shirts. It looked like a huge task and I had no idea how to sort it out. Sara Jo and Rich brought the children back from Turkey and their family prepared to bury Jennifer. I was so sad and hated to add the news that we were moving away to all the other news. And then...in the midst of all of the funeral and sadness....Rich approached us and told us he wanted to buy our house. Name the price....just like that. And then I knew why we bought that house and were only there such a short time. God used us to hold that home for Rich and his children. So that they could grow up with the comfort of having Jennifer's family right across the street. To be a part of their lives and a connection to her still, even though she was gone. The way God worked out all of those details is so amazing to me. So many things had to fall into place at just the exact time....there is no way that many coincidences could occur so accurately....this was God's work.....and then today I came across this verse that spells it out so clearly: Acts 17:26-27 says this: From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. (NIV)

See? God determined the TIMES SET FOR THEM and the EXACT PLACES THEY SHOULD LIVE. God's word is truth. He speaks to us and tells us his plans for us. I am so thankful that I serve such an awesome and powerful God...a God who works out all the details in such an amazing way. A God who in tragic and hard times can be so merciful and loving and amazing. I thank God for my new life here in the desert. I know that I am where He wants me to be.