I climbed, exhausted, onto the camping mat that cushioned the hardwood floor beneath the Sleepy TEA'pea in the Cosy Christmas Cottage, the little house that I rent for my massage and prayer ministry. "You have not because you ask not." His words came to mind as the weight of my body sank against my mat and pillows and tears poured down the sides of my face. "Every animal of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills." I heard His Word again. If everything is His, and He is my Father, why not ask and leave it up to Him? I pondered, and then I prayed, "Heavenly Father, I am so tired. I know You are leading me and have given me this beautiful vision. I know in Your time, everything will come together and come to pass. I am so weary of feeling like I am living on top of myself and in my own way and keeping all my personal things tucked out of sight. Tired of traveling to someone else's house to shower. Please, give me a little place to live apart from my ministry or give me more grace to carry on. I have no idea what that would even look like, but I trust You." I fell asleep praying for my friends who had just moved to Africa from Arkansas and didn't have air conditioning or a comfortable place to sleep yet, and had 7 young children, including a baby that wasn't adjusting well in those conditions. My friend wasn't getting much sleep. She was constant on my mind and in my prayers. He gives more grace. Enough for her. Enough for me. Enough for you.
That was the night of March 14, 2025. 5 weeks later I stood in the middle of the Cosy Christmas Cottage and prayed Romans 4:17 since that Scripture matched both the date on the calendar and my need to remember the faith of Abraham and the power of God, "As it is written: I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being the things that were not."
I prayed, as I always do, for clarity so I could share my vision, and for so many people and other things, including a little place to stay.......My phone rang. It was my friend who had also been my landlord once upon a time. "I am driving," she announced, "and just passed a yellow truck and since you have a yellow truck, I thought of you. I need someone to pray with me for God to send the perfect renter for my little tiny apartment on the lake." My heart nearly burst and my excitement jumped through the phone. "Do you know why you saw that yellow truck?!" I shouted, "I am right now standing in the middle of the Cosy Christmas Cottage praying Romans 4:17 for lots of people and things---because today is 4/17---it's the Scripture about God calling the dead back to life and things that are not as though they are, and I just asked for a little place to live away from here!" We laughed and cried and prayed and agreed to pray together every day until God provided an answer for both of us. We agreed that we would wait at least over the weekend before we mentioned it to anyone else.
As that Greatest Of Stories demonstrates, a lot can happen in 3 days, and Resurrection Sunday happened to be 3 days away! We prayed together Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Resurrection Day I woke up very early while it was still dark to watch the sunrise, read the story of Jesus' Resurrection, pray and sing. Later that day, out of the blue, I received the exact amount needed for one month's rent. I was astonished but not surprised. This was my clear answer. This would assure us both that God was going to provide, "moving forward".
I made a visit to my friend the next day, April 21st, with a carrot cake and a card with cash. It was John Muir's birthday AND the 111th day of the year! When she opened the card, she too was astonished but not surprised. What a party we had that day! We knew God was doing something significant. I brought my camping mat, blankets, pillows and toothbrush later that night and made it my first night there, though the official move in day was the 1st of May. She gifted me the last 10 days of April. God is so good and so is she!
The next morning I took a shower, for the first time in over 2 years, in the same space where I had slept the night before. One of my friends observed, "Ah!! Showers of Blessings!" and I burst into tears of relief and joy. Indeed. "Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the SHOWERS we plead! "
I drank from the cupp I had been sure to bring with me, the one with the words EVEN THE SPARROW marked on the front. One of my favorite promises from one of my favorite Psalms. Psalm 84:3, "Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself..."
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Tears poured down my face, Thank you, God! "You are worth more than many sparrows," I heard His Words. They echo in my heart to this day.
