We Didn't Plan For This!



Girls Walking on Lauderdale Beach

 Ft. Lauderdale, here we come! The day after Christmas, we packed up most of the stuff we had brought to my parents- and left Clearwater heading South to the Ft. Lauderdale area. We had high expectations.
We arrived at Garden Plaza, the place Lupe was working- and they had a lovely apartment on the 4th floor all set up and waiting for us. It was very spacious, with a full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies, and TONS of storage space that I wish I still had. Not to mention the computer room, pool, hot tub, workout room, and the dining rooms. It was beautiful, and Tenly and Gianna quickly made friends with all of the Senior Residents. They might as well have been celebrities the way they were recognized and loved on by every one of them.

In our Temporary Apartment

As pleasant as it was, we were really beginning to crave our own space, especially Lupe. It was difficult for him to be at the same place he worked at 24/7- he began finding every reason for us to run to the store, go to the park/library- anywhere but there!
We found our apartment and began all the steps needed to move in, I'm sure I do not need to emphasize how expensive it is- deposit, processing fee, electric on, water on, cable/Internet on- then we had that one more thing- getting all of our stuff here from Texas.

Taking Cookies to the Seniors

Someone had mentioned to us that it was pretty inexpensive to have a  moving company move the stuff for us since it was in storage. So, we began looking into that- at first it seemed PERFECT! Until....we realized we had been dealing with a "broker"- which, we learned, is not a good thing! Two days before our stuff was suppose to leave Texas our wonderful broker (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?), God Bless Them, sold our contract to another company- who suddenly doubled our price- that was NOT going to work for us! Our resources were beyond limited, and extra money is one thing we just didn't have- every penny  had a name. This is all happening while I'm in Clearwater, at my parents, getting the rest of our stuff (and in the ER with Tenly whose head was very swollen, and had a fever and sore throat). We chose to begin looking for another company, we found another company, who gave us a good price- it was still higher than the original price- but it was good. BUT, it was going to be a couple of weeks until we could get it all here and we were already moving in- so, we adapted- we had brought the girls beds, all of our clothes/shoes with us, and Lupe and I slept on a air mattress (UGH!). Lupe went to a couple yard sales and bought some plastic lawn chairs and tables so we could have something, besides the floor, to sit on.



See the yard chair in the corner, lol?



Our friends, Richard and Catherine, helps us coordinate this whole thing- we couldn't have done it without them and will be forever grateful! It took a couple of days longer to get everything because of all of the crazy ice and snow in Houston during that time- but finally the truck got there. Then we received the next phone call from Richard- apparently I had given the wrong measurements of our storage unit- and our price was about to be more than doubled again! We were getting close to desperate, so we just agreed to their price (which apparently was pretty good) and began scraping pennies together to make sure we would have the money when our things arrived.

We were ELATED when our stuff finally arrived, I fell in love with my bed all over again! I even managed to get this apartment completely unpacked and completely set up in less than a week- and it felt so good!!

That was a very trying few weeks for us. I remember driving back with my dad from Clearwater, in the middle of my crying because we were going a few more weeks without our stuff- my phone rang. It was my new friend, Mire, she's my little spunky dancing friend from Australia- in just  a few months she has also become a dear encouraging friend. We had only known each other a few weeks ten and she followed her prompting to call me. I cried and cried, and she loved me and reassured me of God's Faithfulness. Perfect Timing!

Gia's Bday- day after our things arrived!

We again, watched God's Faithfulness demonstrated, how much stuff we really don't need to get by, we also learned a lot about the moving business and never to use a broker, and much much more! As we are staring at another financial hurdle right now- we know, that we know, that we know- God IS Faithful and has NEVER forsaken us.

Stability, Safety, Securtity

Lupe and I were 38 and 29 when we got engaged. Although we were a bit 'older', we still thought it would be very wise to seek premarital counseling before we were married. It wasn't the easiest thing to do considering Lupe was in Texas and I in Florida- but Pastor Ben, one of my Pastors growing up, made it almost easy. He sent Lupe and I a set of the videos and the workbooks- a couple of times a week Lupe and I would study and watch the videos together. Pastor Ben would alternate having phone sessions with either one of us or both of us every week- it took a bit of work but it was so worth it! Towards the end, Pastor Ben asked us what things we needed from each other. Behind Unconditional Love, I remember my next 3 to be Stability, Safety, and Security. I am very blessed to have a husband who truly strives to make sure I, and the girls, have these 3 things and will do just about anything to make sure we always do and always will.
Change scares me, I guess it scares everyone to an extent, but I have literally been paralyzed with fear of the unknown at times- not knowing means you are walking blindly and have to survive on a pure raw TRUST. Change and the unknown brings no promise of stability, safety, or security. To Trust, means to let go and forces you to function without a plan- that takes me so far outside my comfort zone I can't even see straight- and at times makes me a difficult person to live with (I know, your shocked)!

There was a few times during our 3 year, never ending, wait to transition out of the ministry, that things were going pretty good. I would find myself asking God, are you sure we're suppose to leave. Starting wondering if I need to stop "rocking the boat"- if I stopped praying about it- maybe God would 'forget' that we were suppose to be preparing our hearts to leave, comical right? But, ultimately- I always knew the time was coming regardless of how great or not so great things were going. Looking back, it's so obvious God knew what He was doing. There were a few situations that took place after we gave our notice, those situations would of made it very hard to stay considering we just had a very different perspective. It wasn't exactly a matter of right/wrong- but it was becoming clear that our vision and perspective were different from the leadership. When you work in a ministry you must share the same vision or else you and your heart will always be in a tug-of-war with the pastoral staff and that can never be productive. Lupe used to counsel staff and students and tell them, "When it's your ministry- you can do it differently- but as long as you're serving this leadership you must line yourself up with their vision and support it". We were no different and had to hold ourselves accountable to that same counsel.
Anyway, I finally had to sit down and analyze myself and figure out what was making me so stir crazy about us being ready to give that resignation when we were give the green light from God. I was quickly taken back to those 3 words: Stability, Safety, Security. The ministry we were serving in definitely painted a picture of those- our beautiful big "rent free" home, no water bill, Lupe worked 3 minutes down the road, "free" full medical insurance for the whole family, "free" yard maintenance, "free" trash collection, go karts/huge water slides/horses/swimming pool on the property, meals at the camp (when I was to lazy to cook)- of course, although these things were "free"- they came with a price. But, it was so easy to look at from the outside (we call it the "Disney World" mentality- everything looks magical at Disney but you may get a different perspective from the employees and executives)and when we thought of all the things moving away were going to bring it even looked attractive to us. But, if you are not where you are suppose to be- listening to God's plan/voice- those things I just listed don't even make you feel Stable, Safe, or Secure anymore.
I began trying to trust- God, Lupe, and I knew that this was not going to come easy for me. I was honest with God and He was patient with me. My excitement and hope for our upcoming future and what we call "Our New Life" started to overshadow my fear of change. Looking back, it's amazing to see where God has literally carried us through the last 1 1/2 years- and of course I can't help but speak of His faithfulness and how I am able to trust a lot easier nowadays. I hate that God had to prove Himself to show me, I wish I could of just said "Okay"- but of course God does whatever He has to and always helps us where we lack. This last year hasn't exactly been Stable at times, but we never went without, we were always Safe, and we were always Secure, and everyday we are more and more Stable.