Saturday, September 06, 2008

Couches, Conflicts, and Confirmation

This week flew by. I’ve spent most of my days painting for M & J—32 hours so far! I am exhausted.

Last week was so full of amazing God moments that I caught myself looking over my shoulder, half-expecting the enemy to pounce—and sure enough, Tuesday night, he did. Tom and I had a bit of a conflict. I knew immediately who was behind it, but Tom couldn’t shake it, and we ended up spending the evening in separate rooms. I went to bed feeling really sad that we had allowed the enemy to rob us of that time together. That heaviness lingered into Wednesday and showed up in my attitude about painting.

On Monday, I had called CT to check on her house situation. She had put in an offer, and it turns out she got it and already closed! She said she needed help painting before moving in and wondered if I could take a look. So, on Wednesday, she came by and brought me to see the house. Truthfully, it wasn’t the best day for me—tired from painting, still emotionally worn from the previous night, and just plain weary. But her house was beautiful! She really just wanted to change the colors to better suit her furniture and taste.

I forgot to mention something in my last entry: After that Thursday meeting with the girls, I started sensing that God was saying it was time for Tom and me to start the house church. It didn’t make much sense since the house isn’t officially ours, and it doesn’t feel “secure.” But I couldn’t shake that feeling. When I mentioned it to Tom, he was uncertain, understandably concerned about our unstable housing situation.

Then came the confirmation. KM had emailed me after our Thursday gathering, saying the Lord had revealed something to her and that she really wanted to share it with me. So on Tuesday, she came to help me paint and talk. She told me that she felt the Lord was saying it was time for Tom and me to start the house church, and that she and her husband were supposed to help us. I just stared at her, stunned. Wow.

And then, as if that wasn’t enough confirmation, on Sunday, DD—who owns the house we’re staying in—told Tom he had taken the house off the rental market and that we could stay as long as God provided financially. Another wow! It all started making sense. We now know why we’ve been feeling like it’s “time.”

So, with that in mind, we began looking at the house differently—as a place to gather and host. The only thing is, we didn’t really have a decent couch. While CT was talking about her new house, she mentioned her current couch was too big. I asked if she was planning to sell it, and she said she had decided to just give it away—and asked if we wanted it! A sleeper sofa, no less. Then she added, “Would you like the chair that goes with it, too?” Yes, please!

Later, I was telling MF about all of this, and she mentioned she had a couple of tables she needed to get rid of because they wouldn’t fit in her new space. Did we want them? Absolutely. God not only provided the house—but now the furniture to go with it.

As for my tired and emotional state on Wednesday, I later realized… it was PMS. It all made more sense. I ended up calling CT and told her that while I wasn’t ready to commit to painting, I’d love to keep the door open if my schedule allows.

Now, we just need to let DD know about the house church plans. The cool part is that a year ago, when we first shared our vision, he was the one who offered his house as a meeting place. How incredible that one year later, we’re actually living here—and now ready to start hosting!

Last night’s meeting at B and C’s was amazing again. The group is really getting comfortable and in tune with each other, and the gifts of the Spirit are flowing in powerful ways. Part of me wants to duplicate that exact experience in our own house church, but I know I need to lay that desire down and let God lead. His plan will be better than anything I could script.