Prayers Answered

God, forgive me for the unbelief that creeped in and creeps in and weaves itself around my faith; You provide, my Lord, You provide abundantly and the best provisions and blessings.

Since the beginning of this year I have carried on the idea that I would find a good job and a place to stay in Western Washington when my stepfather and mother moved to the Okanagan Highlands eastward in a small town where the land is grassy and blue skies seem magnified. They plan to move there with my 11 year-old sister and 3 year-old brother in June. As the general time has grown near, the possibility of finding those two things (a job and apartment or room) has, I will admit, once seemed narrow. Back in March, however, the Lord put the ambition in me to apply around Fife and Tacoma, and that was the plan and that was all this was to it.

God brought along an ad in the Little Nickel classifieds to the attention of my mother last week, and it displayed a relatively inexpensive $475 a month rent which, compared with the spanking steep $580-700 rent prices that other apartment managers set in stone (and do not generally make deals) in the rest of Puyallup and general area close to my work, is ideal. That caught my attention, too. I took a short tour of the place with the manager, and it's nice being on the top story of a two story house. Complete with a kitchen, bath room, living room, and bed room, I've got my first abode. Worked out a deal with the manager concerning the security deposit ($500), so instead of paying it all upfront I am blessed to make installments on it--basically, it allows me not to go broke right from the start of my adventure into bachelorhood. My mom has decided since she has about a dozen of everything, such as kitchen utensils, a few pieces of furniture, towels, Bat-Mobiles (just kidding folks), and other practical things, she is going to give me some good stuff to start me on my single-independant way. With a thumbs up, I say "Thanks, Mom."

I pray that I am not the one to embark on a false start, to be defeated very easily, to faint before the day of adversity, and to succumb to pressure. Lord, I pray, give me this time of newness and enormous responsibility to be the point in time when I will grow "further up and further in" if that is the correct expression; enable me to step farther steps in my service to You, and let me not be troubled in times of trouble. I call to You now, in good times, as this is good to do. For in the future I may experience difficulties that I now could not face, but then I know, under Your arm, in the exposure of reality and the tasks that go with it I will succeed.

Took a drive down to the Puyallup River to take pictures. I got a couple good shots and some video footage while I walked about a mile down the gravel road next to the flowing, clear water. The cottonwoods are full of moisture and color, healthy and beautiful; the Scott's Bloom has progressively grown in a wide range, filling up most meadows with its yellow buds and green stalks. Tiny snakes and lizards slither and crawl in the brush, under the alders down by the river's side. I have been almost tempted to cross a shallow, less hasty part of the stream to the middle sand bar to catch the view and explore there, but I haven't given in to getting wet just yet. I'll think more seriously about that in June, and possibly with other people when the camaraderie makes such an activity more fulfilling and fun. God, please enter some people into my life here, for decent relationships and Your glory's sake through my example of life, I need the accountability and companionship!