Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Way Back Wednesday: Sailing to Seattle - Final Week

On April 30, 2013, we turned in our apartment keys and began to head to Conroe for our last Chick-fil-a sandwich with Derek's parents and sister. We had a 5' x 8' U-Haul cargo trailer hitched onto our 2004 Honda Civic. If you know anything about cars, you're probably making a funky face right about now and wondering why our 4 cylinder sedan is towing a trailer. Well, because the U-Haul rental store in Katy, TX said I could...
We didn't even make it to Fort Worth, and our car, which just had a full tune up, brand new tires, and was completely ready to drive across country, began to overheat and could barely get over small bridges without getting into the high numbers of RPMs. It was getting dark and and we were still 5 hours to Amarillo, which was our first hotel reservation.

We called a local U-Haul store which was 25 minutes away, and they closed in 15 minutes and refused to stay open for us and told us to just call roadside assistance if we broke down...

We needed to do something, and we needed to do it now. We didn't have enough money to stop there and we didn't want to turn back, but we knew, with this load, our car would not make it through the rocky mountains. So, we prayed.

We googled a Goodwill on our phone and found one right around the corner from where we were. We pulled into the parking lot and looked each other.

Me: "Is this what we are supposed to do?"
Derek: "I believe so."
Me: "Me too."

We both smiled and began to go through every box we had. We put in my keyboard and Derek's golf clubs in our car first then stuffed that car FULL of everything we could! Anything else that wouldn't fit, we donated right there. We did ship 3 boxes of pictures, and breakable frames and keepsakes, but everything else went away. We weren't joyful about this, but we did have peace so we stepped out in faith.

The next morning we dropped off the empty trailer and Sweet Ol' U-Haul charged us for our horrible drive from Katy to Amarillo. I called and complained with U-Haul. I even requested the copies of the recorded conversations where three different personnel said I should have never been sold the hitch and the trailer, but they just so happen to never send them to me, now they cannot be found. Merry-Go-Rounds aren't that fun, so I jumped off of this one. We believe'd we were being obedient and God will honor that. "Don't contaminate yourselves with plunder." Isaiah 52:11 (MSG)

Needless to say, I will strap my stuff to donkeys before I use U-Haul again though.

We are confident in God's provision. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3a). Now, that may look way different then we or others may expect, but we can trust in Him. He's a good Dad that loves us deeply.

We kept going. We ended up being so grateful we dropped the trailer when we did, because we drove right into a crazy blizzard while driving through the Rocky Mountains and had a hard enough time in that small car. God sees the whole picture. And I'm so grateful.
We pulled into Seattle, May 4th. We were greeted by the Winston's so warmly and we immediately jumped into community. We went to a Cinco de Mayo party the next day, and church Sunday. They even through a meet and greet party that night. Monday was prayer, which was awesome! Heard our pastor pray out loud and was like, "Yep! We are in the right place! That man loves Jesus!"

It was so neat. People were expecting us. They already knew our names, had been praying for us, and were so excited for us to be there. :)
As we met new people, Derek mentioned he didn't have a job yet. The owner of a local Segway tour company offered him an interview and actually offered him the job. That's right! Two days after arriving in Seattle, Derek, my Texan husband, got an awesome job as a Seattle Segway tour guide. He was really good at it too. God's grace is hilarious!
Derek is also an excellent, experienced poet and really enjoys writing music. He applied to be an intern at our church and was placed in the production team. He has learned so much, and has gotten clarity on what he wants to do professionally. Also through the internship, we were offer housing for 12 months with an incredible family.

The Plaschs love and encourage intensional community and discourages checking in and out of the church on Sundays but to be the church throughout the week by loving people. They have two beautiful babies, and they have gladly and graciously opened their home and lives to us. They have seriously become like family. We have been able to see and experience what raising your children according to the gospel looks like. Which is seriously revolutionary and has been began to prepare us for one day when we have little Maffetts. :)
  
Oh, remember all of our stuff we donated. Yeah, that would have been in a storage unit which was estimated to cost about $109.45 per month. We would have had to store our stuff for about 16 months equaling about $1751.20. Which was just about the cost of all of that stuff anyways. Jesus knows everything. Seriously.
In 47 days, we will have been in Seattle for one year and so much has happened since we first landed which I look forward to sharing as my blog continues. There has been many glorious sights, lots tears, tons of laughs, and a bunch of memories made through this whole process. I am so grateful for God's grace through it all and look forward to all he has in store for us.
 
 
I want to encourage you to note what is going on in your life. No matter how small or deep the events or experiences around you may be, take time to write what is going on. Write about the things that weigh on your heart, and what you believe the Lord is doing through you. I'm not telling you to start a blog, but I am telling you to build pillars to remind yourself of God's goodness. See the progression in what he has done in you. In the moment, it may not be evident, but overtime a transformed heart can't help but sing of God's incredible power, might, and love. God is not dead, and He greatly loves you and is highly active in your life. Tell someone about it.

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