Isn't it beautiful?

This is the first part of the story of God's Gift from Sue's perspective. Read the rest of the story as Katie recalls it in God's Gift II.





The story of how this all came about really begins years ago, but for brevity's sake, I'll keep to the basic points. Through it all I just pray that you will be blessed by the miraculous and mysterious ways our Father works.

Ohhhhhhh, I love this place! It is the perfect house for me, and for my friend and for her two kids. God picked it out, it's perfect!

It all started in the summer of 2000, well, actually in God's plans it started way back when, but I will spare you the picky little details. Last summer Katie left her husband. That is a story in and of itself and I'm sure it will be covered in her testimony. Anyway, when she left she stayed at a shelter for a few days and contacted some legal people. It was not wise for her to stay with me in my trailer. Her counsellors told her it would be best for her and the kids to stay someplace where her husband wouldn't find them. It was a scary time.

She stayed at the shelter for a few nights, then left there because the kids were frightened there. She then stayed with some other friends, but that became very difficult because it was somewhere different each night. She decided to move in with me, in my tiny trailer, until she could find a place all her own.

We were afraid to go to her church because we thought her husband would know to find her there, so we decided to visit another church one Sunday in late August. IT WAS THE CHURCH GOD WANTED US IN! I had been missing my church back in IA, and I wasn't really getting fed where I had been attending, so I was eager to try something new. When we arrived we were greeted by God's people, many smiling faces and I felt the Spirit of God there immediately! WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! Then, once the music started, I KNEW I WOULD JOIN THIS CHURCH! It didn't take me long to know that I was right where God wanted me. Unfortunately, Northbrook Church was an hours drive from my trailer.

Katie found a house to rent near the home she left. She wished to keep the kids near their dad and stay around the town she was familiar with. She moved into that house from my trailer in the beginning of October 2000. She hoped that after some time, and growth, and healing that maybe one day she would return home.

I loved this new church I was led to, and so did my friend, as well as her kids. We carpooled an hour each Sunday and it was always worth it! The drive however was long, and expensive fuel wise. I wanted to move closer to church, which would bring me closer to work as well.

Katie's financial situation grew very bad. She had accumulated much debt in her marriage and was paying rent, a HUGE car payment and simply providing food and clothing for her kids was a struggle. She got a part time job but that wasn't sufficient to pay her bills, and it certainly wasn't worth it to pay for child care.

Through her counselling and other things, Katie felt she would like to move closer to church as well and she and I decided that to help with her expenses, we could share a place. Big change for me, a single person, suddenly I have a good friend and her two young kids! IT CAN BE TRYING!!!!!!! But I love those kids, they are a blessing to me!

We started searching and searching...and searching. We had no luck at all...we had to find something in our price range, which is VERY limited, that would allow two dogs. It was NOT easy, in fact, close to impossible! We also wanted a place that would be good for the kids, you know, with other kids around, safe, and all that.

We had everyone in church searching for us...everyone I worked with was keeping an eye out...we watched the papers, nothing was panning out. We starting looking in late November and gave up in March. I was having a tough time waiting on God, but I tried, and to help my friend out, I moved in to share expenses in April. We continued to keep an eye out, but with summer coming, we felt it necessary to find a place. Her rental house was falling apart and the landlord was very inattentive. It was getting dire as far as expenses and we weren't exactly sure how long the roof would hold, LITERALLY!

I WAS GETTING VERY STRESSED OUT ABOUT THE WHOLE THING!!!!!! It is difficult to wait when I want something NOW! Know what I mean? Admit it! One day in the car I said to Katie "You know, we just need some missionaries to be called away suddenly and we can rent from them and live in their place."

That was the beginning of a new adventure. A few weeks after that my aunt died. My heart broke. This begins the story of how God used my aunt in my life and the life of my friend for His Purpose.

The week I went home for my aunt's funeral was heartbreaking as well as awesome. As I was learning more about how my aunt touched the lives of people I didn't know, I realized how special she was to me. I wish I had known her more intimately than I did, but I'm glad I now know what I know. My aunt provided for my family, her family, in her death. As I was discovering exactly how, God was making plans for my new house, and it was all beginning to unfold.

My aunt gave me and my sisters a retirement. I am so blessed. I visited my friend Deb that weekend and she mentioned to me that since that was taken care of, I should look into closing out my old teacher retirement since I don't plan on returning to that field.

In the meantime, Katie met those missionaries I said we needed earlier!

I'm gonna let Katie take over from here...