The Heavenly AGENDA!

I was praying in the shower this morning about our current and upcoming housing situation and discovered that I did not as yet, have much peace about the Oklahoma part of the equation.  Over the last couple of days, I checked flights from here to there as one option has been to fly out while the realtor is showing this house and look for a new place there.  That plan left me with concerns of not really wanting to spend the money nor the time to do that right now, since we are on a rapidly escalating time schedule.  I could fly for free since I am the parent of a Southwest Airlines employee, but that means stand-by and opens up another can of worms…

Yesterday I went online and looked at a bunch of apartments homes in the Tulsa/Broken Arrow OK, area… but the idea of living in another apartment is something that I didn’t really want to do… even with the shortest lease possible!  On top of that, I get concerned about my big white fluffy friend who is used to living in a quiet, decent size house with a large, fenced in yard all to himself. 

So… I pondered and prayed, “What should I do Lord?  What is the best for us right now?”  And you know?  I think I got the beginnings of an answer.  After asking that question and toweling off, I started to see, in my mind’s eye, that over the years, God has always placed us in the right place, at the right time for that particular period in our lives.  As I look back at the twelve places that we have lived since getting married in 1975, I can see without a doubt, that it was the perfect place for what was going on in our lives at the time.  Sometimes our residence was rather short and at other homes into multiple years… the shortest being one year and the longest ten.

When I sat down to do my morning Bible Study, I realized that for each of those places we had specific needs and God had a specific AGENDA for us!  My thoughts immediately went to the cute little cluster house we rented after returning to California following Bible School.  It was exactly what we needed at the time as we began our harrowing journey with Piper’s health needs.  I had a new job that took me out of town for 10-12 hours a day and I needed a place for Piper that was safe for her with her deteriorating mental abilities, a place that brought us physical, mental and visual peace in the midst of the ever-increasing storm around us and a location that was close to family, doctors and shopping.

The Psalmist prayed in Psalm 88:2 “Put me on your salvation AGENDA; take notes on the trouble I'm in.”   This prayer is very similar to the prayers that we prayed before we ever took a step in just about every situation, including a move into another residence.  We always wanted to be as sure as we could that we were on the same AGENDA that God desired for us.  That little cluster home was no different… in fact, maybe even more so.  With everything we had already been through, we wanted to be certain of God’s plan.

And I’ve told the story before… how everything simply fell into place in miraculous ways!  It was so exciting in the midst of the confusion, personal pain, negative responses of others and all the other trauma associated with Piper’s changing conditions. That home with it’s beautiful park like setting, scenic lake, friendly neighbors and miles of walking paths was like the garden of Eden to us!

Once again, I saw the hand of the Lord reaching out to me this morning, reminding me of His past involvement in our lives and renewing my trust in Him for our immediate future.  So, what’s the plan?  Well… to make sure that I am part of His AGENDA and not mine or someone else’s.  Back in California we had plenty of those giving us their AGENDA for our situation, including where to live.  And to be honest… as I look back today, I can see without a doubt, that they were totally off-based and out of touch with our needs!

So, I will continue to seek Him, follow His guidance… even if it doesn’t seem to follow the secular way of thinking (or maybe because it doesn’t!)… follow His peace and then do what He says to do!  I continue to want His AGENDA for my life.  Whose AGENDA do you want and choose to follow?

Have a great weekend.  I’ve got someone coming by this afternoon to measure and sketch the floor plan of our home, have the professional stager coming by on Tuesday, the power wash guy the following week and… well, you get the idea!  Things are happening fast and after this morning’s discussion with the Father… I think I know what His AGENDA is for our living accommodations in Oklahoma!  

STAY TUNED… MORE TO COME!