"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
One recent challenge which turned into a great blessing was the discovery that our house had suffered serious subsidence, and that the back part would need to be pulled down and rebuilt on new foundations. We originally found this out four years ago, and at that stage the plan was that we would move out for three months while the insurance company brought in contractors to put the house back the way it was before. However, as months and then years of negotiations with the insurance company went by, the idea came to us that we should take the insurance money, add some more to it by taking out a new mortgage and manage the building project ourselves. This would enable us to add a very useful extension to the house.
We had never done anything like this before, and although we were certain it was the right thing to do, it seemed rather daunting and risky. The building work ended up being done at the height of the recession, and for me it was an opportunity to overcome a lot of anxiety. During the period when financial institutions were collapsing I would wake up in the small hours of every morning, worrying about the huge sums of money which were moving around and which I feared might be lost somewhere during the process. I worked hard not to entertain these fears, and my husband and I always kept our conversations about the project positive. I kept praying to trust God more - to trust in His care for us and for everyone. I prayed for a better understanding of stability, support and supply. I held firmly to the verse "All things work together for good to them that love God..." (Romans 8:28) which I had seen proved true many times.
My trust in God was greatly strengthened through this experience. It became easier and more natural to expect good, and everything did indeed work together in a wonderful way. We were even provided at no cost with a house to live in during the time that ours was uninhabitable. Our neighbours three doors down the road were going touring in their camper van for a month, and very kindly offered us the use of their home while they were away. We were able to be useful to them, too, by looking after their garden and cats. When they came back, we were all packed up ready to go and camp in our own house, but they insisted that we stay on with them in comfort for another month!
Our family now has a beautiful and spacious new home, which we appreciate every day.
Shortly after the work on the house was finished, my husband and I were both put on notice of redundancy. However, we kept trusting God, and remained calm and expectant of good. After a few weeks my husband was reinstated, while for me, leaving my job turned out to be the best thing possible. During this time my fears of losing our home were finally laid to rest by the many inspiring ideas included in Fenella's webchat on spirituality.com - "Home: More than a place to hang your hat.”
In the last few months the way has opened for me to take up some temporary part-time work, enabling me to get back to Christian Science healing work as well as finding time for other freelance professional activities. This has really transformed my life, and I'm expecting more progress and more opportunities to fulfil God's purpose for me.