Wow, what a whirlwind the past two weeks have been for my family! As I glance around our new “miracle house,” I feel overcome with joy, gratitude, and a desire to share how God did the seemingly impossible to answer our prayer.
It all started two weeks ago when my husband, Roger, and I were having Friday night worship with our kids. We invited them, as we always do, to share whatever’s weighing on their hearts so that we can talk and pray about it. This time, their response took me by surprise.
“We don’t want to live in Guam anymore,” Alyssa said quietly, staring at the floor. “I wish we could go back to the States,” Nathan added.
“What?” I asked, swallowing hard. Roger had just committed to teach for another year at Guam Adventist Academy (GAA). And I loved living here. I loved the weather, our friends, and working with our church doing Bible studies and outreach. How could they not love it too?
As we talked with the kids about their struggles, we discovered that they really missed being able to spend time in nature. Roger and I missed that too. We enjoyed the camaraderie of living on the school compound, but we feel closer to God when we’re surrounded by His creation.
We’d also been concerned about the amount of time our children were spending on the Internet. We wanted to provide them with the alternative of enjoying the outdoors. But we’d priced rentals in Guam. A four-bedroom home for less than $1,000 was unheard of, and the school’s budget was $800. Finding a place in our price range seemed impossible.
But God’s specialty is the impossible, I reminded myself. Roger and I prayed about finding a home in the country and felt impressed to start looking right away.
I decided to step out in faith by calling my friend Patti to see whether we could borrow her huge van when we moved. “By the way,” I asked, “you don’t happen to know of a four-bedroom house available to rent for $800 a month, do you? I’ve been searching, and all I’ve been able to find are two three-bedroom homes at that price on the entire island!”
“Wait a minute,” Patti replied. “There’s a gentleman here working on my air conditioner. Maybe he’ll have an idea. I’ll get back to you soon.”
A few minutes later, Patti called with the phone number for a landlord who travels a lot and just happened to be on the island. When I called him, he was willing to show us a four-bedroom home that very evening! Even though it was across the street from the beach, the price was only $900; it also meant that we would need to help with some maintenance, which we were happy to do.
As soon as we got the OK from GAA, we started the process of moving. It was a lot of work, but two weeks later we spent the first night in our new house.
I’ve wondered whether perhaps God saw that I was becoming so involved in my church outreach that I wasn’t spending enough time with my kids. I’m delegating more now so that I can focus on helping them prepare for Jesus’ soon coming. For me, this experience has been a clear demonstration of Ellen White’s comment that all God’s biddings are enablings (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 333).
When I started looking for transportation to move even before we’d found the house, Alyssa asked me, “Mommy, do you really think God will find us a house that soon?” Although I couldn’t see how, I answered, “He’s the One who impressed us to look, so I believe God has a house for us. I don’t know where yet, but I want to be ready.”
Has God impressed you to do something that looks impossible, maybe because you can’t afford it or don’t have the time? He can do the impossible for you too. Will you step out in faith?
Adventist Volunteer Service facilitates volunteer missionary service of church members around the world. Volunteers ages 18 to 80 may serve as pastors, teachers, medical professionals, computer technicians, orphanage workers, farmers, and more. To learn more, please visit AdventistVolunteers.org.