Saturday, June 9, 2012

He called!

Well, after our lunch meeting with Russell on that Wednesday afternoon, time came to a screeching halt!  He told us that they were going to pray about it and see what God would have them do about the place they were really wanting to sell.

Wednesday night came and went and Paul and I were talking over all the 'what if's', praying about God's purpose and plan, and hoping like crazy that this was going to be the beginning of a new life for us.  We couldn't begin to imagine that after all these years of failed attempts at a new life that this 'chance' would turn out any differently than the hundred attempts before... but we had that one thing on our side this time... this plan wasn't ours!  It was God's!

Thursday morning came.  No phone call from Russell.  Thursday at noon, still no call.  Thursday afternoon I called Paul (again) at work, and still no call to let us know about their decision.  So when Paul came home from work that night I had only one question on my mind.  I told Paul, "didn't Russell say they were Methodists?"  He smiled and answered, "yes, he did."  So, in my most Southern Baptist way I replied, "well they can't still be praying about this then!"  (No offense... I promise you I started this life as a Methodist and love them with all my heart!!!  I just tend to use humor in my life as a coping mechanism.)

Thursday night was another one of those 'lay awake and wonder' nights.  So by the crack of dawn I was ready to hit the floor running and praying....

***NOTE:  I would like to add here that it is such an awesome privilege to be waiting on God!  When you have everything you ever dreamed of, you tend to just move forward through your days and take care of all the business at hand.  But I've learned that when you are in the 'waiting room' you (or at least I) spend an extra measure of time with my Father.  I wonder if He loves me so much that He just likes hearing me call out to Him and seek Him with my whole heart?***

Paul dressed and left for work with obvious and specific instructions to call me the second he knew something!  He smiled and carried his coolish, cucumberish self off to the office!

Sam and I took off that morning and had to go to Ellisville... for what I can't seem to remember.  Nevertheless, the one great thing about Ellisville is that it does have a Sonic, and Sonic does possess the Diet Coke fix that tends to keep me motivated!  We pulled into the sacred fountain of the nectar of the gods and placed our order.  And then it happened!  That familiar ringing... my phone!  I looked down and saw the smiling face of my husband's icon.  And with one breath every nerve ending in my entire body exploded!  I was frozen... I couldn't make myself answer the phone... I couldn't keep myself from answering it.  "Hello."

"What cha doing?" he calmly said. 

"I'm at Sonic... what happened?"

"Well.  I just got off the phone with Russell.  Rhonda, we got the house."

I don't really remember much after that... I squealed, I cried.  Sam was in his seat asking a thousand questions about what in the world was wrong with me!  

I explained to him that God had just answered our prayers.  That He had been faithful to us and that He had just orchestrated an absolute miracle in our life!  June 24, 2011.  The day we heard a resounding YES from the Creator of the Universe!!!

My first call was to Ryan.  I told him about what had happened and he was more thrilled than I ever imagined.  Of course our very next thought was "how soon can we move?"

You know how long it usually takes for these things to happen?  30-45 days is a great turn-around time for this house buying thing.  There are so many details to have to deal with and so many people to have to work around.

But not for our God... we moved in on the following Wednesday night!  In just about 10 days from the very first time we laid eyes on this place, we were spending our first night there.


So, guess who was too excited to sleep!?  You guessed it.  That night as Paul and I went to bed in our HOME... our wonderful gift from God... I asked him, "honey, do you think it's possible to die from thankfulness?"  He held my hand and sweetly told me, "no, baby, but just enjoy the blessing."

Paul seemed to fall fast asleep that night.  I'm sure that he was finally truly resting for the first time in his life, too!  It was an amazing thing to watch my sweet husband be blessed and be fully aware of the Giver of this incredible gift.

I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep... so I decided to take a walk outside.  As you can see by the photo, the grass was green and on top of this hill the moon and stars shine down at night and it feels like this is the very first place their light touches.  I walked around the yard with a flood of emotions on the inside and an ocean of tears running down my face.  "Thank you" seemed like it could never be enough!  How do you use words to express this extreme depth of gratitude?  As much as I love to talk... I can't begin to create enough words that would even seem adequate to thank God for His tender loving care over my family.  We didn't deserve this place.  There really was no way under heaven that we could ever have had such a thing happen to us or for us.  So, why?

To this very day I will never understand the answer to that question.  But at that moment, in our yard, on that crystal clear night, on a little farm on Slade Road in Purvis, Mississippi, I knelt down on that green grass and thanked my God the only way I knew how.  I gave Him the farm back.

In my heart I knew that our being here was a blessing, to be certain, but blessing us wasn't the purpose God had intended.  God had designed this particular place to be a blessing to other people, and we were only here to be caretakers of the gift.  So I gave it back to Him and promised Him that as long as He sees fit to have us here, we will keep His place up, run it as He sees fit and point as many people as we possibly can to Him.  

It was in that very moment that the true peace of God that passes all understanding set up a guard over my heart and mind.  I returned to our bedroom and slipped back into bed.  I knew that night that our family was about to begin the journey of a lifetime and that God was about to show Himself in a mighty way.  



Psalm 37: 3-11    Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.  Cease from anger and forsake wrath;  Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.  For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.  Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.  But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Encouragement for today....

Have you found out yet that our God is a promise keeping God?  Has He proven Himself faithful in your life?  The verses above are the key to the 'secrets' of God and they are the fulfillment of the promises of God.  He's on your side and He wants the very, very best for you and your family.

I've spoken often over the past 10 years about how smart - in knowledge and in wisdom - my Paul is.  We spoke just today about how weak people seem today.  Even Christians, who are armed to the hilt with the promises of God and the power of God!  When we run into hard times, or trials, or temptations, we run to other people for advise or counsel.  We seek out "self-help" books to 'fix' us.  We even depend on other godly people to tell us what we should do and what their opinion is of our situation.  Paul's advise is to be strong!  Don't run out to find help, dig deeper into God's Word and find out what He has to say on the matter. 

Paul and I are learning to take our own advise regarding this matter and we are seeking only the face of God for our family.  Paul has been placed at the head of our family and it's his job to seek out the future plans that God has for the woman and the boys that depend on him.  And I've seen that his decision to be dependent on God, has completely relieved him of all that external pressure that once weighed him down... those chains that had him bound like a prisoner inside his own life.

Paul and I are free today because we have chosen, in our lives, to let God be God.  

If, for some reason, you are still struggling with prison chains in your life, and if you are truly ready to be set free, please seek God's face.  If you don't know how or where to start you are welcome to email me and I will be more than happy to give you a hand up!  

You matter to God more than you will ever know.  My life is not one bit more valuable to God than yours... and I can prove it!

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life."

God bless y'all.

Rhonda Walters
rwalters.ssc@gmail.com


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