It was mid- September in Ecuador and I walked around the
gated community of Caracol in a mild state of desperation. I needed to find a
house to rent, and I needed to find it before November, when my current house
would be needed by another missionary. But there were hardly any homes
available to rent, and the ones I saw were not ideal.
To tell the truth, I knew it would be hard to satisfy me. Caracol
is a nice-ish community, but for a girl used to the wide-open spaces of the
mountains of Mexico and the rolling green fields of southern Ontario, a small
cement block of a house in a crowded neighborhood did not seem appealing.
However, I recognised I was a missionary, and with that job-description comes
certain sacrifices.
But I had some criteria that were ministry related. Most
homes in Caracol consist of four rooms and a bathroom: a kitchen, living room
and two bedrooms. Only in a few homes is
there no wall between the living room and the kitchen. I was currently living
in one of these select few and I loved it because I could host a group of
people comfortably. This was the main thing I wanted, and I felt that because
it was ministry related, I could reasonably ask God to help me find a house
with a room big enough to hold a group of people.
Between the house I was in and my co-worker’s homes, we have
no space to host visitors. As we have visitors coming down quite often, I
thought it would be great if God would lead me to a house that had one extra
room that we could have as a guest room when people came. This was also ministry
related but not absolutely necessary, so I put it to God as a suggestion as
something I would like but knew I didn’t absolutely need.
My dreams about what kind of house I wanted included
balconies and a patio where green things could grow. Also, I where I currently
lived was a 30 second walk from my co-workers, Becky and Erin’s, house and
which was wonderful anytime I wanted to borrow a cup of sugar or needed
company. I was praying for a home close to their house, but felt it was
unrealistic to ask God to find me a house within that same block. So I limited
my prayers to “as close as possible”.
I was worried too about how to furnish the house. Here the
homes are empty shells when you rent them. You have to furnish everything
yourself- right down to the stove and kitchen cabinets. I kept running around
in circles in my brain trying to figure out how I would make the house into a
home without spending way too much money.
One day, Erin was out walking around the neighborhood and
saw the owner of a house she had looked into renting a while back. She didn’t
have sign out that she was renting but said that she was considering renting it
out. We went later and climbed up the narrow, foot and a half wide staircase to
the second floor with low expectations- and were surprised by what we saw. Two
big bedrooms, a kitchen connected to the living-room (no wall in-between), two
extra rooms (guest rooms?!), not one, but two
balconies and the one at the back looked out onto an empty lot filled with palm
trees and all sorts of green things. What’s more is it was about a 30 second
walk from Becky and Erin’s house. It was exactly
what I wanted and then some.
The one drawback was that it was more money to rent than my
current home and I wasn’t totally sure if it was right for me to spend a larger
chunk of my monthly income on rent. So I went home, mulling it over. The next morning,
I got word that another person had decided to support me monthly. That for me
was the last thing I needed to make up my mind. If I really believed that God
directs His people when they bring prayers before Him and if I really believed
that He gives us more than we ask for just because we are His children, then
how could I reject this opportunity and just chalk it up to coincidence?
The last worry was how to furnish it- I was picturing empty
rooms furnished with a plastic table and chairs. Then we got talking to other
missionary friends who were planning to leave for a year and had been praying
for a place to store their furniture until they came back. They wondered if I
would be needing any furniture. Uh… yes!! They were willing to give me anything
I needed- from beautiful couches to cutlery and cleaning supplies. And when
were they planning to move out? The first week of November- the very week I was
planning to move in.
I left that conversation with a greater understanding of
God. I much too often fall into the trap of seeing God as a being who demands
sacrifice and hardship from His children. Here I was shown without a doubt that
He is a Father who lavishes love and full life on His children, delighting to
give us more than just the bare necessities.
