Hither by Thy Help I've Come...

Hey everybody!

I (Alex) am currently sitting on the bed in the room of the house that Father gave us 6 months ago.  I am overwhelmed by His faithfulness and the fact that He is the giver of very good gifts.  The last 2 years have been such a journey for Cam & I.  Abundant grace has allowed us to see Father's direction, hear His voice clearly, and be obedient to follow His lead. 

Throughout the process of preparing to answer His call to our new home, I have kept a journal of the many ways He has proved to be faithful.  I know that it will be important to meditate on His goodness in the past so that I can rest and trust Him with my future.  However, I don't want to keep Father's faithfulness and incredible works to myself during this time.  Isn't the whole point of faith to experience Him personally and then share that with others?

I want to share with our friends and family all of the sweet stories He gives us that together we might ALL worship and trust Him more.  Father put on my heart several months ago the idea of an Ebenezer.  It is the name of the stone Samuel set up as a reminder of the victory and deliverance Father gave to the Israelites in 1 Samuel 7.  The word Ebenezer is derived from Hebrew words which mean "stone of help"; therefore, an Ebenezer is something which reminds us that we have a faithful Helper.  In a sense, I want this blog to be for everyone what my journal has been to me, a reminder that we have only made it this far by His grace, and we can trust Him with our future. 

Father has had so many opportunities over the last couple years to show off His faithfulness, and I know that moving will only increase the struggle, therefore, allowing us to experience His power more and more.  One of the greatest struggles for us throughout this process was moving out of our apartment long before we planned to.  Our lease was up in August 2014, and we intended to sign another 6 month lease so that we could stay in our apartment until a couple of weeks before moving; however, we found out that the complex was raising our rent beyond our means.  We could afford to stay, but it would take every last penny we had.  Although I knew leaving the apartment and storing/selling our belongings was going to happen, I was not prepared for it to happen so soon.  Together, Cam & I struggled with which decision was the right one.  Should we renew our lease or put in 30 days notice even though we didn't have a clue where to find a cheaper place?

After many days of pr@yer, we knew that Father was leading us to put in our 30 days notice.  I cried many tears throughout the process of making the decision and I DID NOT want to move, but Father made it very clear that this was what we were supposed to do.  Once we let the apartment complex know we would be moving, we began calling everyone we knew to ask about M housing or just something in town that might be more affordable.  The more phone calls we made, the more discouraged we became as we reached one dead end after another.  I think I cried multiple times a day because I had not been emotionally prepared to leave our first home together.  Plus, I was afraid I would be leaving it for and RV parked in an alley (seriously.....it really was an option we were considering). 

I knew that even if Father called us to live in an alley RV, He would sustain us, teach us, and grow us; however, I have to admit that I wasn't necessarily happy about it.  Cameron kept telling me, "God gives good gifts, you just need to trust him."  Boy oh boy, was he right!  One day, I was having lunch with Cameron at work when a pastor from PaulAnn sat down to eat with us.  He asked what our needs were during this process, and we shared our need for housing with him.  About 2 days later, he invited us to live with him and his wife for the remainder of our time in SA!  We were unsure about it at first.  Cameron had never met his wife, and I hardly knew either of them, but we could not deny that it was Father's provision.  In September, we moved into their home; little did we know, we were inheriting a new set of parents.  Words cannot express how quickly we grew to love our new home and our sweet roomies.  Despite the fact that we hardly knew each other when we moved in, our personalities meshed perfectly, and we LOVED spending time together. 

I continue to be amazed at the INCREDIBLE gift we were given through our house parents and our new home.  Not only were we able to save money to put towards fundraising travels and enjoying the States, we had the opportunity to watch Godly people love each other, their kids, and their church family.  What an example and encouragement they have been to us! 

Now that we are 6 days away from leaving, I'm setting up an Ebenezer in my heart.   Thus far He has helped us....I know without a doubt that He will continue to do so.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, 
tune my heart to sing thy grace; 
streams of mercy, never ceasing, 
call for songs of loudest praise. 
Teach me some melodious sonnet, 
sung by flaming tongues above. 
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, 
mount of thy redeeming love. 

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; 
hither by thy help I'm come; 
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, 
safely to arrive at home. 
Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
wandering from the fold of God; 
he, to rescue me from danger, 
interposed his precious blood. 

O to grace how great a debtor 
daily I'm constrained to be! 
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, 
bind my wandering heart to thee. 
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
prone to leave the God I love; 
here's my heart, O take and seal it, 
seal it for thy courts above.