2013 January: Living with my Husband’s family

If you know me, you’re doing a double-take and scanning through every Christmas card and Facebook status you can find… If you know me well, you’re smiling, shaking your head, rolling your eyes, or some of each.

I haven’t changed my last name, nor is there any difference in the number of shoes in my closet or people in my bed. You didn’t miss the big party, well, maybe….but it was a graduation party, not a wedding reception. There will be another article that goes into all that, but for now the topic is January 2013.

In January, I moved into a home prepared several years ago and provided at the last hour (literally) before I surrendered the whole adventure due to finances. The December (Provider) article has details. This home is a place of faith-walkers, people who ride the roller-coaster of trusting God through the ups & downs and around the unseen curves – ever secure yet sometimes scary. We’ve been getting to know one another and sharing stories of our mutual Beloved, much in the same way as women for generations before me have done. Because of our bond with Jesus, we are forming bonds with each other and working together to make this particular roof of His household a better place for all and a spot for welcoming more people into His family. As far as we know, I will be here for an indefinite time, and there will be plenty that we can contribute to one another between now and whenever.

A week after I moved in, I had a 3-hour impromptu informal interview with the founder & director of a deaf ministry. We are negotiating a partnership so that I can begin formally raising financial support and the accounting, accountability, and tax paperwork will be managed by people who know what they’re doing. Much of our discussion came back to faith-walking, tales of how God made arrangements to see His objectives accomplished. Just like the family I’m settling into, the ministry and I can contribute resources and skills to one another, working together to add more people to God’s household. After all, we’ll want plenty of fluent signers in Heaven’s visual praise choir, don’t you agree??

The personal Bible Studies are regaining their footing. I have a preferred seat at Panera two days a week to Skype with my Chicago friend, and my other friend has returned from her travels so we’ll get that study resumed soon. Cold weather is a hurdle, but it comes with the territory. Now that I’m in a new geographic area, I’m going to try my hand at identifying and meeting with deaf people in this locale, perhaps getting a group together for fellowship & study nearby.

Pray for the odd but essential things like internet connectivity, Skype cooperation, and an easing of pain-inducing weather patterns. Several in my circles are dealing with health issues, many significant, and we have a growing list of deaf people who have lost (or are losing) their fathers in recent weeks. Eternity is rather in-their-face at the moment – pray for wise and fluent people to step up beside them and lead them to the One who holds time and life in His hands.

Grieving Christians often comfort one another with Jesus’ promise: “I go to prepare a place for you”. These words have taken on a new meaning for me. In short, He can coordinate multiple people and places here on Earth from His vantage point in Heaven. (yes, I know that’s very much out of context, as surrounding statements clarify) With the stories I’ve been witness to in the last several weeks, I’m convinced that God’s been busy in the Real Estate market. He owns it all, prepares to provide, and relationships are His highest priority. Who wouldn’t want to be part of His family??