On temporary housing

So we have moved cities and said good-bye to our old home, friends, and church... but we are still waiting to move into the cute little duplex in a historic Jewish neighborhood that God seemed to lead us to when we were house hunting. We're in temporary housing a neighborhood or two away. An apartment that God is using to teach me lots of things. Here are a few of them:

*We are not home yet. Because of the somewhat displaced 'homeless' feeling of temporary housing, it seemed timely to make our family memory verse “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, Jesus replied, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” -Matthew 8:20 last week. And it is good to keep in mind as our lives are ment to emulate Christ's. He didn't have a home. He didn't focus his time and energy on the perfect furniture, neighborhood, or paying off the mortgage. I want to travel light as we move through this world and not get bogged down by worldly pursuits so as to make me not useful for the Kingdom of Heaven. Yes we are a growing family and so can only travel so light, but if we want to be a serving family, that means our lives shouldn't be about our stuff and our home.

*Contentment is sweet, but not easy. Where we're living now is 1/3 the size of the home we left. That means the kids share a room and that requires more parenting in the evenings. It also means there are fewer places to be and so we spend more time together in our smaller spaces. Since my husband has our only car during the day, it also means less going and doing activities and less busyness. And since we don't know many people down here yet, there's more time with just our family. Life is smaller and more intimate. And a sweet enjoyment of each other's company is growing as we work and play in closer proximity. For me as an introvert, I have found that sacrificing the 'solitude' I could more often find in our old home, I am repaid with a sweet intimacy with my favorite people.

*Transition can bring the important things into focus. As we have left old things, but yet to fully establish ourselves in the new (house, church, etc.), we find it is a good time to contemplate how we want our new lives to be different. For example, I want to be more intentional about hosting Bible Studies with our new Church friends and gatherings for our neighbors and that's lead me to also look into 'adopting' an international student at the nearby university through International Ministries Inc. As a SAHM with two little ones and another on the way and no car, it's important to think with focus about the service I can do in the midst of the many programs I can't do.  And then it's important to do those things which means having the right priorities when setting up our new life, so it's set up for service.  That meant finding a home that's easy to host in, and a church that's close enough people would come if we host them.

So just some thoughts as Summer is a natural re-evaluation and change time for many and life often runs at a simpler pace. We can all benefit from a little 'we are not home yet' in our lives.