Something really incredible is happening. Last week, I was absolutely heart broken about the possibility of selling our place, and we almost decided to take it off the market. In talking with my husband, I started to feel myself shifting away from total despair, so we kept it on. We woke up the next morning at 5 am, which never, ever happens, and both felt moved to pray together about the sale of our house. It was a great prayer time, and both of us felt energized, excited, and hopeful. We also felt really strongly that God would use this house to bless the next family that moved into it and it would be a place of faith and answered prayers for them. That day, we got the offer that led to the counter offer that led to us suddenly being under contract to sell our condo at just $4,000 below our original asking price. I spent a few sleepless nights wondering if we were doing the right thing and if God would be mad at me if I broke my good faith agreement and decided not to sell after all. Then I remembered my beautiful friend, Faith, who moved her 7 member family to Arizona basically sight unseen because her husband got a job there, and how brave and joyful she was about this new opportunity for them. Somehow in the face of that, it seems a little melodramatic to be so twisted up about basically moving across town.

So I settled into the idea that we would be moving, and the quick descent toward panic started soon after, culminating in compulsive round-the-clock internet searching for the new place for my family to call home, over the weekend I was supposed to be relaxing at my parents' house and celebrating valentines day with my sweetie. After about 5 days of this, I had concluded that there were absolutely no 3 (or 2, or 4) bedroom apartments that even remotely resembled places my family could reasonably live, at least none within a thousand dollars of my monthly rent budget. Despairing again, I started posting my woes on my Facebook page. An old acquaintance from church, who recently moved to California, emailed to congratulate me on our sale, mentioning they still owned their home in Somerville and would be needing new tenants in June. No dice, I said - we close April 23 and I theoretically give birth on May 19. Seems like a bad month to be homeless if you ask me. We dropped the issue. And then, a few days later, he wrote back and said "Funny thing - I just talked to our current tenants - and both of them have been praying that there would be some way for them to get out of their lease early - say April 1?" Immediately everything started falling into place. Rent? Exactly within our budget. Timeframe? Perfect. Neighbors? Friendly folks from church, paired with a super awesome and very responsive landlord with a total heart of service. Cat? Welcome! Parking? You got it. Storage? Is 400 square feet enough?

Tonight, we went to see this place, and without being too dramatic, I have to say that it was amazing. So much more than I could have hoped for. From the 800 square foot furnished attic playroom space, to the guest quarters available in the furnished basement, to the under cabinet kitchen lighting (with dimmers! have you EVER?), to the huge, flat, fenced in yard, to the laundry room and 3 season porch, etc., etc. It was fantastic. Places like this don't really exist in Boston. And the landlord doesn't want a security or last month's rent deposit, which means this place is $4K cheaper than anything around. And that is the thing - technically this place is *not* around. It is not on the market, it is not advertised anywhere. We have no competition. It is like God pulled this beautiful home out of thin air just for us.

But that is not all, either. Both the tenants feel like this is God answering their prayers and blessing them to move on, one to a new church and one to a new marriage and family. My friend the landlord has in the last 3 days had three offers of interviews after months and months of joblessness with no bites at all. The whole thing is such a multi-layered web of blessing that it is actually a little difficult to conceptualize all of it. Who am I, that I should be so richly blessed, and that my needs being met would also bless and meet the needs of these other people who until last week I had no idea I was even linked to at all? Who is this God, who loves so abundantly and provides so radically? I feel so blown away by this, I don't even know how to begin to receive it. But I am sure it is God. SO sure. And I am sure, more sure than I have ever been, that if he is for me, who could be against me? He is good. He is holy. He is faithful. He is powerful. And I am his.