Well, we have made a decision since the last update. We are going to stay in our house. It was a very VERY hard and emotional decision and probably the first of many times that I had to trust fully in God and Mario instead of following my own wants and emotions. Here is how it all happened...
We found an apartment that we really liked and the owner gave us a week to think about it. We looked at it on a Saturday and by Tuesday after hours of praying and discussion, we decided we were going to stay in the house we are in now. Then wouldn't you know that the owner of the other apartment called us and told us that since we were missionaries he would lower the price for us. Ahhhh, just when we thought we had a decision made! So we talked and prayed more and we were actually not in agreement. The emotional side of me said that there is no way that I wanted to stay in a place that I did not feel secure in. Mario, however, being the strong solid person that he is reminded me that we had worked hard to get into the house and that he felt that God wanted to challenge us to a new level of faith in Him. That was not really want my emotions wanted to hear, but after giving up my emotions to the only one who can really handle them (God) and having a really good cry feast, I was in agreement with my husband. What a learning experience!
On the next Saturday we found out that it was probably our neighbors who actually broke into our house. They have been under watch by the neighborhood security for some time now since they have two teenage sons who do drugs and have been known to do some other shady things in the neighborhood. Once again my initial reaction was to become an avid prayer warrior and start praying that they move. Mario, being who he is, asked me why I don't start praying that they would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Ugggh! So now I am praying that they both accept Christ AND move away!
We have been able to see God's faithfulness working through all of this in a huge way, though. We haven't had a TV or computer to distract us so we have been able to pray a lot and spend good times together. We thought about getting at least a TV to replace the one we had, but we both really felt that we needed to wait to see what God was going to do. On Wednesday (yesterday) a friend from our small group at church called us and said their family had something for us. I tried not to let my mind run wild with possibilities as we drove over to their house. After some juice and cookies, they brought out a TV and said that they wanted to give it to us! We were so thankful both for the TV and for God's faithfulness! Then last night we went to the streets to do ministry with the homeless. We were dropping off one of our friends from church who came with us and she said "I think my parents have something for you" so we got out and said hello. Would you believe they came out with a TV in their hands?!? How good is God!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are so thankful to be in this place where we can see Him moving and working in such a real way in our lives. Thank you all, as well, for covering us with your blanket of prayers-they have definitely been felt in a huge way!!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
An Update...
First of all, let me say sorry that there are no pictures in this post. Really I just wanted to update you all about what has been happening in our lives really quickly since I am using a borrowed comupter, so as fast as I can here I go...
First, we went to Livingston last week, where Mario´s family is, to visit his dad and his grandma who are both very sick. While we were there someone broke into our house and stole our computer, television, and a few other things. While we don´t know who did it, we suspect the security guards who are in charge of our neighborhood had something to do with it. A shady, suspiscious situation althogether. The fact that it happened a Wednesday morning between 8am and 10am doesn´t take our suspiscion away from them.
Anyway, we don´t feel safe where we are and we definitely don´t trust the guards- both very ironic things because we moved into this house because we felt it was a safe neighborhood where I would be able to stay home alone if needed without any worry, and because the guards are paid to watch our neighborhood. So now we are praying about what to do. We have found, with some help from friends from our church, an apartment that is the same price we are paying now, closer to the base, and in a safe neighborhood (the owner of the apartment lives downstairs so he would be there to watch over it when we aren´t home) but we have to see if the owner of the house we are in will free us from our contract and give us back the extra month´s rent that we have paid him. We are going to meet with him tonight to see, so I will keep you updated on the process.
In the meantime we ask you to be praying for us. We have spent LOTS of quality time together since we don´t have any electronic devises to distract us, but we would like to replace the items that were stolen at some point. We also ask that you would pray for our peace. We are thankful that we weren´t home when it happened, but anyone who has ever been through anything similar knows the feeling of having a stranger enter into your home. It just doesn´t feel good. Okay, that is all for now but I will try my best to update again soon. Thank you!
First, we went to Livingston last week, where Mario´s family is, to visit his dad and his grandma who are both very sick. While we were there someone broke into our house and stole our computer, television, and a few other things. While we don´t know who did it, we suspect the security guards who are in charge of our neighborhood had something to do with it. A shady, suspiscious situation althogether. The fact that it happened a Wednesday morning between 8am and 10am doesn´t take our suspiscion away from them.
Anyway, we don´t feel safe where we are and we definitely don´t trust the guards- both very ironic things because we moved into this house because we felt it was a safe neighborhood where I would be able to stay home alone if needed without any worry, and because the guards are paid to watch our neighborhood. So now we are praying about what to do. We have found, with some help from friends from our church, an apartment that is the same price we are paying now, closer to the base, and in a safe neighborhood (the owner of the apartment lives downstairs so he would be there to watch over it when we aren´t home) but we have to see if the owner of the house we are in will free us from our contract and give us back the extra month´s rent that we have paid him. We are going to meet with him tonight to see, so I will keep you updated on the process.
In the meantime we ask you to be praying for us. We have spent LOTS of quality time together since we don´t have any electronic devises to distract us, but we would like to replace the items that were stolen at some point. We also ask that you would pray for our peace. We are thankful that we weren´t home when it happened, but anyone who has ever been through anything similar knows the feeling of having a stranger enter into your home. It just doesn´t feel good. Okay, that is all for now but I will try my best to update again soon. Thank you!
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