i am not a patient person. i hate waiting. when an event or thing or idea gets into my head, i tend to let it set up shop there and grow until it's all i think about and then come to the conclusion that obviously the only acceptable moment for it to happen is "now".
a few months ago, the 2-bedroom apartment next to my 1-bedroom opened up. i wanted it. i'd never seen the inside of it. but it has 2 bedrooms, which means it has to be bigger than mine. and it's an end unit, which means it has to be brighter than mine.
the problem was, i was in the middle of my lease, which includes a cleaning contract for the apartment building and in turn, a discounted rent price. [read: it didn't feel like a good idea, especially because of the timing.]
fast forward. my lease ends february 28, and i have spent some time in prayer about my living situation. i've also been checking craigslist and other listing sites off and on, just to see what's out there. last tuesday, my landlord posted the availability of a 2-bedroom in my building.
five days, several emails, and one visit later, i will be moving march 1 to the 2-bedroom that my heart so desired in the fall.
the timing, His timing, couldn't be more perfect.
the current tenants moving out coincides perfectly with the end of my current lease.
the apartment is bigger and brighter. there are original refinished hardwood floors, and there is plentiful storage.
and the icing on the cake?
my landlord has offered to pay me to advertise, show and find a qualified tenant for the 1-bedroom.
if i am successful, it will cover the difference in rental cost between my current apartment and the new one for 6 months.
i said to john last night that i needed to write this story down because when times get hard again, i need to remember things like this and reclaim hope.
::i couldn't have asked or imagined the way in which this all unfolded.::
it is so much better than what my human efforts would have meagerly produced a few months ago.
His provision, His blessing, His timing... is so worth the wait.
Monday, January 31
Monday, January 17
new year's resolution
i had grand ideas for my 2011 goals - make a list, sort it into tidy little categories with witty names, blog about my progress throughout the year, seize a bull by its horns... you know... really make this the year that counts.
and yet, before i'd even started, something in me already felt defeated.
it seems so easy to take a breath of fresh air at the beginning of a new year. i allow myself a blank slate. i feel motivated and energized. and why? because a calendar page is turned. why can't i feel this kind of empowering can-do attitude on march 12? or august 26? or any day of the year?
why must this kind of carpe diem me take over for a few days in january, and then exponentially shrink back to the weighed-down-by-the-little-things-struggling-to-find-joy-in-each-day-daily-grinder me?
there's something in me that longs to be made new. there's something in me that resonates with the opportunity to have a clean slate and start again anew. there's something in me that jumps at the chance the beginning of the new year brings to do that.
we're created in the image of the Creator. and i believe that that means we are created with a desire to do the same - to create, to accomplish, to bring about. by their very definition, things that are created are things that are new.
:: if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2 cor 5:17) ::
that promise holds true every day. each day does count. and each day is a clean slate. december 31 doesn't have to hold any less passion or blessing or accomplishment than january 1. God promises that i am a new creation - each and every day.
there are still things i'd like to do and become in 2011. but instead of focusing on those things and whether or not i'm meeting my expectations in accomplishing them, i want to draw near to my Creator and ask if He'd make me new, once again, and then show me what He'd have me do with this year.
and yet, before i'd even started, something in me already felt defeated.
it seems so easy to take a breath of fresh air at the beginning of a new year. i allow myself a blank slate. i feel motivated and energized. and why? because a calendar page is turned. why can't i feel this kind of empowering can-do attitude on march 12? or august 26? or any day of the year?
why must this kind of carpe diem me take over for a few days in january, and then exponentially shrink back to the weighed-down-by-the-little-things-struggling-to-find-joy-in-each-day-daily-grinder me?
there's something in me that longs to be made new. there's something in me that resonates with the opportunity to have a clean slate and start again anew. there's something in me that jumps at the chance the beginning of the new year brings to do that.
we're created in the image of the Creator. and i believe that that means we are created with a desire to do the same - to create, to accomplish, to bring about. by their very definition, things that are created are things that are new.
:: if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2 cor 5:17) ::
that promise holds true every day. each day does count. and each day is a clean slate. december 31 doesn't have to hold any less passion or blessing or accomplishment than january 1. God promises that i am a new creation - each and every day.
there are still things i'd like to do and become in 2011. but instead of focusing on those things and whether or not i'm meeting my expectations in accomplishing them, i want to draw near to my Creator and ask if He'd make me new, once again, and then show me what He'd have me do with this year.
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