Answered Prayers

SO much has happened in the last few days! It all kind of all fits together, so I will do the best I can to make sense of all of it.

First, my roommate, Jen, has decided to move out. She approached me on Sunday and told me that she realized that things weren't working for us to live together, so she is moving out this weekend. She will be moving in with her parents until she can save up enough money to get an apartment in Kensington. She will continue to work at the church, just commute. There is no animosity (on my side...and as far as I can tell on hers as well), its just better if we don't live together.

As you could tell from my last post, I have been pretty worried about Linda. Some people have wanted to write off her behavior as typical teenage stuff, which some of it is. However, it isn't her actions that bother me as much as her attitude and her turning from the Lord. In fact, she stormed out of church on Sunday and walked home because she was mad at me for asking her to put her cell phone away during church. That is the first fight we have ever had. It has brought me to a very desperate place before the Lord, crying out with no idea what to do.

Lent started on Wednesday. I have observed Lent a few times, but not every year. Its kind of a fad thing with me. This year, however, is a bit different. During staff prayer on Wednesday morning J reminded me that the Lord does not desire sacrifice as much as he desires obedience. That hit my heart hard and I immediately stopped praying for God to show me what to do with Linda, and started praying for the courage to simply be obedient.

Wednesday afternoon Linda, Lindsay, Bonita and I went to the Franklin Institute to see the Narnia Exhibit. It only took us about 30 minutes to see the whole thing, but it was really cool. Most of their exhibits are real props from the movie, including the real costumes that the actors wore. You even get to walk through the Wardrobe to get to the exhibit! Linda is really fun at museums, she loves to look at EVERYTHING, so we had a blast.

After the Franklin Institute; Bonita, Lindsay and I went for a 2 mile run (as part of our training for the Broad Street Run). Linda just hung out at the park while we ran. Earlier in the day, at staff prayer, I committed to the Lord that I would use my runs as a time to really focus on praying for Linda. So, that's what I did. As I ran, I plead for Linda. And, as I was praying I started to really see that perseverance is, and will continue to be, necessary in walking alongside people here in Philly.

I believed 6 years ago that God was calling me to a deeper, more personal and intimate...and much more challenging and stretching...relationship with Bonita and Linda. I am in it for the long haul with these girls. There will be periods of 2 mile runs, and periods of 8 miles. Whatever the distance in front of me, I have to keep running.

Bonita and I have both been very consistent with our training and we are seeing improvements. When we started, we did 2 miles in 28 minutes (14 minute mile). On Sunday we did our first 4 mile run, in 55 minutes (13:45 minute mile). Then, on Wednesday we did 2 miles in 26 minutes (13 minute mile). Now, we aren't in the position to be able to keep the 13 minute mile pace for 10 miles, but its still very exciting to see improvements. I also saw my need to persevere for Bonita as well...

Usually when we run, Bonita and I pass each other a lot. We tend to start and finish at the same time, but run at very different paces. She likes to sprint/walk while I try and keep a more consistent pace (although I still walk plenty as well). On Wednesday, however, Bonita decided that she just wanted to beat me. She didn't tell me this, but I figured it out pretty fast. She would constantly look back to see where I was, and if she saw me getting closer, she would speed up. This realization made me run faster, because I knew that would push her even more. And we finished in our best time yet (and yes, Bonita was about 15 seconds ahead of me). :)

When we finished our run, I was feeling very good. Not only did we run our best time yet, but I really felt like I was hearing from the Lord. I didn't have any answers for Linda, but I knew that I had to persevere and continue on.

On the drive home, Linda suddenly decided to be honest with me about things going on in her life. She confessed that she has been lying a lot, getting in trouble at school, not interested in God at all...and she doesn't like it. So, she asked me if she and Bonita could move in with me again. She went on to say that she really wants to get back on track, but its really hard in her house because she doesn't have the same rules that she does in my house. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. When I told the girls that if they moved in with me they would have bed times, homework requirements, chores and limited internet they said: "Good! We like that!! We don't have any of that in our house and its so hard to know what to do".

I was shocked!! But, I couldn't ignore the timing of all of it...right after Jen moves out and right when I feel the Lord calling me to simply be obedient to Him. When they first moved in with me 4 years ago, I had no explanation for why I was doing it, I just knew it was what God wanted. I felt the same on Wednesday. So, I said yes.

We talked to their mom, who was more than happy to have the girls stay with me indefinitely. They will still see her plenty and will stay with her whenever I need to go out of town...or whenever they want to. Their time at my house is completely their choice.

So, the girls are moving back in next weekend. I need a week to get the house cleaned after Jen moves out, and some time to get the house ready for the girls. They are VERY excited to get to move out of the basement and back into their "old" room upstairs. I am too!!! In fact, I am looking for a trundle bed to put in the room instead of the bunk beds. They got VERY excited about that too. They said it will feel more like a "grown up" room. Let's hope I can find an affordable one...

When I say indefinitely, I am not thinking years...but I honestly have no idea what the time frame will be. My house has always been a place of peace, love and sanctuary for the girls. They have always been welcome whenever, however that was very difficult when I had a roommate. It wasn't Jen's fault, it would have been a challenge with any roommate. So, we are all excited for my house to go back to being that place of peace...for all 3 of us.

I am under no delusions that this will solve everything. I am so thankful that God is teaching me about perseverance because I know that I'm not even half way through this race. I fully expect this time with the girls to include a lot of laughter, and a lot of hard lessons...for all 3 of us. Wednesday was a 2 mile run, Sunday will be 5 miles. And I have made this clear to Linda as well. Moving in with me is not the solution. She still has to make her own choices, and face the consequences of those choices. I am simply hoping to give provide for her an environment where the right choices are a bit more obvious. She will still have to choose, however.

So, we will see how it goes. I don't have any expectations, I'm just putting one foot in front of the other.