Aug 15, 2007

The other tenant


So I am the other tenant of 312 W. 14th St. It has indeed been a long journey gettting to God's Resort. One that for me started over six months ago when I first wanted to move here. The timing just wasn't right at that point. No one wanted to live there, the neighborhood was worse then it is now, and the church was still getting things organized. After eight months a lot of that has changed.

I came back from Jamaica ready to be content with where God had me, in Joplin, at the Royal Orleans, working. It had taken forever it seemed to get to that point of contentment and Jamaica had given it to me. Then God called Megan to move to God's Resort and finally I had my partner to finish his call in my life. So we did it. I had come up with every possible obstacle we might face in the eight months preceding this so I was not quite so assured as Megan. It wasn't logical, it wasn't conveniant, and it was exactly the kind of thing God does to bring glory to His kingdom. His timing I have decided is never our timing, sometimes we miss it by minutes, sometimes by months, some wait years, but it always comes if it is truly a desire given by God and we must be patient and faithful until he has set the way.
So we moved! The house was less then clean, but we cleaned it. We had no refrigerator, so we ate a lot of Taco Bell and were blessed by many loving friends. We had no air conditioning, so we stayed with many other loving friends for the first almost two weeks. The house is coming together though. Day by day it becomes home. Having the kids there is such a joy, even in the tough moments you just can't help but love them and be so joyful to have the opportunity to spend so much time investing into them. We are already seeing changes in them which is incredible!

Right now we are setting up boundaries and they are testing them. It is almost like animals when they get new cages and start testing for secret ways in and out or the weakest link. These kids have tried everything. They knock at all hours of the day and night, windows, doors, walls. They yell when knocking doesn't work and all the while you must be patient and kind and explain what correct etiquette might be for that situation. Curfew is 10:00, which to me seems late, but for these kids is early. They haven't quite figured out what curfew is yet I think, if the lights in the house are on they take it as an invite to knock. Neither Megan nor I are getting the greatest amount of rest, but we know its worth it.

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