Perfect provisions

Why am I surprised when the Lord provides exactly what I need, sometimes when I don't even know I need it?

Christine and I found out about 2 weeks ago that we would be moving out of our apartment. The new location was unknown, but I was tasked with apartment hunting while Christine was on a trip. The thought of trying to pick out an apartment was a little overwhelming, especially since Christine and I didn't have much opportunity to talk about what aspects were important to us. The first day I set out on foot with my friend Jessica, who was also apartment hunting, and we had absolutely no luck. You see, apartment hunting in Lima consists of walking or driving around looking for "For Rent" signs in the windows of the apartment and calling the advertised phone number. As you can imagine, it's hard to see up 7, 8 and 9 floors and especially hard to then read the phone numbers.

With no leads the first day, I drove around with another missionary the next day and we found 10 different signs/apartments in 2 hours. We didn't know anything about the apartments (size, number of bedrooms, rent, etc.) but started making phone calls and lined up 3 appointments.

The first apartment was in a great location, had roof access with a view of most of Lima and 3 bedrooms. It also had electric blue paint on the walls that was peeling off in chunks and all missing all together in other places. There was stuff everywhere which made it had to imagine Christine and I living there. It had a lot of potential, but needed a lot of TLC and a woman's touch.

The second apartment was smaller but brand new. It had one of the largest pantries I've ever seen in a foreign country. However, it was missing a place to put an oven and only had a two burner stovetop. When I get really stressed about something (usually some kind of big transition) I bake. I don't know how I'd cope without an oven!

The last (and best) place I saw that day, is the apartment that I choose for Christine and me. It is a three bedroom apartment, so we'll have a place to put and air matress for you when you come to visit! It has a place to put our oven, a great balcony, extra bathrooms, storage space and is in the most ideal location for us. We will just be a couple minutes walk from the guest house where most of the teams that we work with stay in Lima. In our current apartment it takes us an hour to walk there, so this is a definate improvement!

Monday is moving day. The big truck will come to move all the furniture and we'll start the process of getting settled again. Even if it is an inconvienence to move, the Lord has provided the perfect place for us. All of my doubts and concerns are gone and I have such a peace that this is where He has for us to live.

Please pray with me for ministry opportunities with our new neighbors, the building gaurd and others He will put in our path.

We'll post pictures once we get settled!