Monday, March 7, 2011

Courage Builder #2: Evidence of God in My Life

       Introduction to "Evidence of God in My Life" Series
       Courage Builder #1: Evidence of God in My Life

After getting married and graduating from college, my husband and I moved back to our hometown.  Once we started our family, I became a stay-at-home mom.  Living on one income of even a college grad entry level salary proved to be almost impossible.  We realized that I was either going to have to go back to work or Robert was going to have to take a promotion.  Well, the first promotion he applied for he got.  So, we moved a little over an hour from our hometown.  We rented (which God gave us the perfect little brand new duplex to rent) until we were sure that we wanted to stay there and buy a house.  We lived there one year and Robert decided that he would like to try for one more promotion.  By this point we had two kids and while our duplex was a wonderful temporary fix, I was longing for a house where I could stretch my arms, have good storage, and a good backyard.  I couldn't wait to go house shopping!!  Robert found out on a Thursday or Friday that he had gotten the promotion and that weekend we piled the kids in the car and went driving around neighborhoods in the new area.  I was soooo excited!!  It was actually Sunday afternoon.  After driving around we stopped at a park.  There was a couple there playing with their daughter.  I knew that the guy looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. I could tell that he recognized me also.  Finally, we broke the ice and asked how we knew each other.  We had gone to the same college for awhile and had some mutual acquaintances.  We started to talk to them and we told them that we were moving to the area.  They told us about their Sunday school class and their wonderful church.  They also gave us the name of a realtor in the area that was in the Sunday School class as well......Long story short, we are now in that church and that Sunday School class!  The realtor did in fact sale us our house and it actually backs up to that exact park.  I have no doubt that God put that couple at the park on that particular afternoon to lead us to where we are today.

We loved the church that we were going to at the time and I hated to leave it.  I remember telling God that morning during the worship service that I loved the church so much and if He moved us He was going to have to lead us to another great church.  As we got in the car at the park that afternoon after meeting the couple and their daughter, it hit me.  The name of the dad, mom, and little girl were all names of people in our small group at our current church.  God spoke to my heart right then and reassured me that He had amazing people and new relationships waiting for us at our new place.  He has kept that promise.