The name: to lavishly love (and an update)
God is so funny. Not two hours after I posted yesterday about not yet having an apartment did He bless us with a place to live. He always does that kind of stuff. Oh how thankful.
Seeing God's provision so far in this move (and in my life) just amazes me. He gives us exactly what we need exactly when we need it. And He does so in great abundance. Hence the name "to lavishly love."
It comes from the verse found in 1 John 3:1. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God..."
It's one of the first things I put on our wall when we moved into the Chambersburg home.
I put it on our wall because I wanted to be reminded everyday that God has lavished His love on me.
Lavish: expending or bestowing profusely, expended or produced in abundance, marked by profusion or excess. Synonyms: exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, fancy, insane, excessive, overmuch, unconscionable. Credit
Wow.
Did you see that? Abundant. Excessive. Extravagant. Insane. Unconscionable!?
Two antonyms of "lavish" are "moderate" and "reasonable."
God's love for me is never moderate and it sure as heck isn't reasonable.
The God of the universe loved me so much that He sacrificed His only Son for me.
My human self has nothing to do with God. I'm selfish, arrogant, jealous, prideful (that deserves repeating), and vain. And that's only the beginning.
God is perfect. In every, single, last way... always. So what does He want to do with me?
I have no idea. Nothing in my earthly brain could ever conceive of a logistical reason for God to love me. Because there isn't one. That's why there is so much to be thankful for.
You know, Jesus dying for me is more than enough for God to show me that He loves me. He didn't owe me that and He doesn't owe me any more but God just. doesn't. stop.
He shows me how much He loves me in the big things and in the little things. I could give many examples but since His provision of an apartment prompted this, I'll just tell you how He's provided housing since the hubs and I have been married.
I don't have any ridiculous, crazy stories. I just know that God knows my heart (down to the things I think are frivolous) and, not only provides period, but provides in a way that I know He knows me.
When the hubs and I were first married, we literally left our honeymoon to move into an apartment in Chambersburg. We basically had one weekend right before the wedding to find a place to live. We had a map (like paper, no GPS. Those were the days.) and a sheet with addresses on them. We had no idea where anything was in the town and it seemed like the more we looked the more we couldn't find anything. We were seriously discouraged.
Fast forward to (literally) the last hour we were in Chambersburg. Brad's parents had seen an ad in the newspaper (in Carlisle - 45 minutes from Chambersburg) about an apartment. It was in a good part of town, ridiculously bigger than anything we had seen and the landlord actually rented it to us for less than what it was listed for.
For us, that apartment was lavish. We didn't need that much space but it allowed us to have plenty of high school kids and Young Life meetings at our own apartment. We could have technically afforded to live there at the landlord's original price but Brad's house in Saranac didn't end up selling for another year and a half. Even with two house payments, we didn't have to dip into savings once.
As our lease came to a close, the hubs and I started praying for a home. We prayed for a place that was by the high school. We wanted to live somewhere where kids could walk to our house. We were also praying for a certain price range so we could live within our means. The landlord of our apartment also happened to be a realtor. We found a small house within walking distance of the high school on auction and showed up on bid day. We won the auction at less than we had even anticipated. It was a little house on a quiet street that just needed some non-70's love.
The hubs and I have loved this house. We created a home out of it. It was a place for people to walk right in. Don't ever knock or ring our doorbell, the door is always open. High schoolers hung out here, ate here, laughed here, and played ridiculously loud music that probably ticked off the neighbors here. It's literally 2 minutes off the interstate so many traveling friends were able to get a good (I hope) night's sleep here. Brad and I started a family here. It will always be Abilene's first home. I'd pick it up and move it to Saranac if I could. It was just the right size in just the right place at just the right price.
Because we got the Chambersburg house at such a low price on auction, we were able to list it at a reasonable price just last month. You guys know the story since then. We had a buyer after just two weeks with an offer that will give us a good head start for a down payment on our next "one day" house in Saranac.
Because we want to use that down payment wisely. The hubs and I had been praying for an apartment. We prayed for something small so we can add to that down payment. We prayed for something on the first floor and good parking since I will have a 15 month old and a newborn in July. We prayed for a good landlord. And we prayed for a certain price range.
The apartment God's blessed us with is small but not too small. It's in our price range. It is on the first floor. It has two parking spots.
Now that's more than enough but, because God knows my heart, here's how He's lavished His love on us in the little things.
So undeserving.
What a huge blessing it is to have a home crossed off our list. And just in time to take a load up from the Chambersburg house before we have to be out of it next week.
For those that prayed, thank you for your prayers. I cannot wait to show you pictures of God's goodness when we get to Saranac.
Seeing God's provision so far in this move (and in my life) just amazes me. He gives us exactly what we need exactly when we need it. And He does so in great abundance. Hence the name "to lavishly love."
It comes from the verse found in 1 John 3:1. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God..."
It's one of the first things I put on our wall when we moved into the Chambersburg home.
 |
| I hope you can see that okay. |
I put it on our wall because I wanted to be reminded everyday that God has lavished His love on me.
Lavish: expending or bestowing profusely, expended or produced in abundance, marked by profusion or excess. Synonyms: exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, fancy, insane, excessive, overmuch, unconscionable. Credit
Wow.
Did you see that? Abundant. Excessive. Extravagant. Insane. Unconscionable!?
Two antonyms of "lavish" are "moderate" and "reasonable."
God's love for me is never moderate and it sure as heck isn't reasonable.
The God of the universe loved me so much that He sacrificed His only Son for me.
My human self has nothing to do with God. I'm selfish, arrogant, jealous, prideful (that deserves repeating), and vain. And that's only the beginning.
God is perfect. In every, single, last way... always. So what does He want to do with me?
I have no idea. Nothing in my earthly brain could ever conceive of a logistical reason for God to love me. Because there isn't one. That's why there is so much to be thankful for.
You know, Jesus dying for me is more than enough for God to show me that He loves me. He didn't owe me that and He doesn't owe me any more but God just. doesn't. stop.
He shows me how much He loves me in the big things and in the little things. I could give many examples but since His provision of an apartment prompted this, I'll just tell you how He's provided housing since the hubs and I have been married.
I don't have any ridiculous, crazy stories. I just know that God knows my heart (down to the things I think are frivolous) and, not only provides period, but provides in a way that I know He knows me.
When the hubs and I were first married, we literally left our honeymoon to move into an apartment in Chambersburg. We basically had one weekend right before the wedding to find a place to live. We had a map (like paper, no GPS. Those were the days.) and a sheet with addresses on them. We had no idea where anything was in the town and it seemed like the more we looked the more we couldn't find anything. We were seriously discouraged.
Fast forward to (literally) the last hour we were in Chambersburg. Brad's parents had seen an ad in the newspaper (in Carlisle - 45 minutes from Chambersburg) about an apartment. It was in a good part of town, ridiculously bigger than anything we had seen and the landlord actually rented it to us for less than what it was listed for.
 |
| We were the top floor, corner apartment. |
For us, that apartment was lavish. We didn't need that much space but it allowed us to have plenty of high school kids and Young Life meetings at our own apartment. We could have technically afforded to live there at the landlord's original price but Brad's house in Saranac didn't end up selling for another year and a half. Even with two house payments, we didn't have to dip into savings once.
As our lease came to a close, the hubs and I started praying for a home. We prayed for a place that was by the high school. We wanted to live somewhere where kids could walk to our house. We were also praying for a certain price range so we could live within our means. The landlord of our apartment also happened to be a realtor. We found a small house within walking distance of the high school on auction and showed up on bid day. We won the auction at less than we had even anticipated. It was a little house on a quiet street that just needed some non-70's love.
The hubs and I have loved this house. We created a home out of it. It was a place for people to walk right in. Don't ever knock or ring our doorbell, the door is always open. High schoolers hung out here, ate here, laughed here, and played ridiculously loud music that probably ticked off the neighbors here. It's literally 2 minutes off the interstate so many traveling friends were able to get a good (I hope) night's sleep here. Brad and I started a family here. It will always be Abilene's first home. I'd pick it up and move it to Saranac if I could. It was just the right size in just the right place at just the right price.
Because we got the Chambersburg house at such a low price on auction, we were able to list it at a reasonable price just last month. You guys know the story since then. We had a buyer after just two weeks with an offer that will give us a good head start for a down payment on our next "one day" house in Saranac.
Because we want to use that down payment wisely. The hubs and I had been praying for an apartment. We prayed for something small so we can add to that down payment. We prayed for something on the first floor and good parking since I will have a 15 month old and a newborn in July. We prayed for a good landlord. And we prayed for a certain price range.
The apartment God's blessed us with is small but not too small. It's in our price range. It is on the first floor. It has two parking spots.
Now that's more than enough but, because God knows my heart, here's how He's lavished His love on us in the little things.
- One of the parking spots is covered. This will be so significant for me when the snow comes (for half the year) and I will have two little ones in tow. I won't have to worry about clearing snow off my car.
- Snow removal is provided. The hubs will be doing enough of that for his job at camp. I'm so thankful he won't have to do it at home.
- There are a lot of windows. Natural light is essential for my soul. Since being a mom keeps me inside most of the day, it would hard to live in a dark place. Would I have done it? Absolutely. But God knows my heart.
- It's the only apartment we saw that had high ceilings. The square footage is the same as other apartments but high ceilings just makes it feel bigger.
- The apartment is clean and painted white. This goes along with my need for natural light. Everything is brighter when the walls and molding are white. Most apartments we saw in the Adirondacks were covered in wood.
- The apartment has one coin-operated washing machine and dryer... located right outside the first floor apartment we'll be in. I won't have to go up and down steps or far from the kiddos to do laundry.
- Lastly, the apartment has a fireplace. Oh how I love them. They are especially appropriate for living in Saranac. What a little gem of a blessing He has given me.
So undeserving.
What a huge blessing it is to have a home crossed off our list. And just in time to take a load up from the Chambersburg house before we have to be out of it next week.
For those that prayed, thank you for your prayers. I cannot wait to show you pictures of God's goodness when we get to Saranac.
Yay!!!! Where is the apartment?
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