Housing

I'm sure a lot of you have lived through the experience of looking for a place to rent. Some of you have even lived though trying to find a place to buy. And I think most of us would say that it is not something we'd want to do frequently. 

That's what I was thinking at the end of last month when one of my roommates said she was moving out. Then another one followed her shortly after, leaving the rest of us scrambling. This month has been a whir of working, school, homework, and house-hunting; not exactly the combination I would have asked for. Though there were countless moments in which I felt discouraged and wanted to throw in the towel on this whole ordeal, in the middle of it all God would remind me that He is the one who provides for all my needs. So I kept praying, I kept looking, and I kept waiting. 

And, just as He promises, God totally took care of the whole situation in His timing (which to me seemed really last minute, but that's because I couldn't see what He had planned). It was a back and forth issue for the whole month of June. I was under the understanding that as long as the three of us roommates stayed in our place and kept paying, it was ok if we stayed, even without the fourth roommate. But my roommates kept waffling between saying they were moving out and saying they wanted to stay. I was doing my best to just wait it out and keep my cool until they came to a final decision. 

Finally on Monday evening my roommate came home glowing! She had found a place, and as she described it to me, I could see that it was a perfect fit for her. That night I did my best to sleep, seeing as there was nothing I could do till morning, but my mind kept racing around trying to figure out what I would do, where I would live, what I should pack, what I could leave. The next morning, after prolonging the inevitable till lunchtime, I finally called the landlord and let him know that my roommates were moving out. I was about to ask him what date he wanted the house empty, when instead I asked what he was hoping for the house. He let me know that he was glad for the empty house since he was hoping to do some renovations, but then he asked if I'd be willing to stay in the house so it wouldn't be empty. So there you have it! For the next two months I get the whole house to myself for the price of one room! This'll give me the chance to organize and clean up the things left here by previous renters, and also will give me a place to rest and enjoy the quiet. 

In the end, I'd like to think that I have a relatively creative imagination, yet God worked this out in a way that had never crossed my mind. His thoughts are not my thoughts, and He does work all things out for good. 

Hope

If you know one thing about where I live, it's that I live in a desert. And if I were to tell you one fact about what deserts are like, it's that deserts are dry. Very dry. 

It takes a while for the body to adjust to life in a desert when you first get here. Your hair gets really greasy because your body is trying to compensate. Your nose becomes a mucous factory, yet still manages to get cracked and irritated. Your skin starts flaking every time you scratch it. It's quiet the ordeal. 

It might seem like moving to a desert would be the last thing on everyone's list because of the inconveniences: flaking skin, dust that gets into every crack and corner, temperatures so hot your pores expel all the water in your body the second you step out the door, winds that blow hard enough to give you miniature welts from the sand it throws against your body, and the list goes on. Yet there is one thing that makes living in a desert worth it: desert rain. 

For those of you who living in a place that has a rainy season and you get drenched, flooded, and all out sick of this water-falling-from-the-sky phenomenon, you might not understand. But when you live every day under the beating hot sun, day in and day out, there is a certain sense of excitement when there are rain clouds on the horizon. Even though most of the time the rain detours around us, there is a spark of anticipation when the dark clouds start looming. But what really stirs up hope is the smell. Though few and far between, clouds come and go. But when you can smell the scent of rain, hope blossoms. 

When it smells of rain, it hardly matters what you had been in the middle of doing, it draws you outside. The other day I had planned to go to bed early, but when I smelt the rain I ran outside and sat on the fence to watch the clouds darken the sky and wait for the rain. There is always the possibility that the rain won't come, and here in El Paso, the possibility that it won't rain is a lot higher than the opposite. But probability is of little consequence. When there is the smell of rain, hope is in the air. Even if rain doesn't fall, we are reminded once again that there is something other than dryness. We are reminded of the possibility of something different. We are reminded that dust isn't the end all and be all of life. There is hope. 

O God, You are my God; I earnestly seek You.

I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You

                   in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ~Psalm 63