God is an insomniac.

That may sounds like a strange blog post title, but it is so apropos for our lives lately.  Dr. Ralph Davis was the guest speaker this year at our church's Spring Conference which we missed most of.  I am really quite bummed about that after hearing his sermon Sunday morning titled "God is an insomniac" (beginning at minute 2:00).  With all the craziness in our lives trying to prepare to move and get the ducks in a row and trying to line thing up in Alaska, I sat through the sermon with tears in my eyes.



He walked us through Esther, a story I know well, but Dr. Davis gave me a better appreciation for that book.  Did you know that in the entire book of Esther, God is not mentioned once?  That is true.  You may wonder as I used to: why on earth is the book included in the Canon (bible) if God is not mentioned?  Esther is a beautiful story of God protecting and providing for His people.... even when they are completely unaware.  Just at the moment when the Jews are a bout to be wiped out by the hatred of the King's right-hand-man, Haman, the King is unable to sleep.  It seems like a small phrase "the King was unable to sleep."  Very natural, I suffer insomnia at times  myself.  I never consider it a God-send, but in that moment of history, it was.  And the King just happened to have his scribes read to him from the royal history, and it just happens to have been the section of his life where the guard Mordecai thwarted a plan of assassination.  That wasn't a coincidence... they were orchestrated by an amazing God who does not slumber while caring for His beloved children.

The sermon Sunday was a soul quenching experience for me, but I had no idea that God was going to give me a very real life experience of that very thing on that very day!!!  Sunday afternoon we felt adrift concerning the housing situation in Alaska.  We had nothing, and we are a month away from stepping onto Alaska soil.  We put a bid in on a house that was above our housing allowance, something we had tried very hard not to do because everything else is so expensive there.  We have been told that with our large family we were going to need all the Cost of Living Allowance to cover the higher cost of groceries and insurance and utilities and gas.  We also knew that the old family van was just barely eking along and we already had family that was very nervous about us driving it  across the Rockies.  But we had nothing!!!  So bid we did on the lake house that needed work because we wanted a house.  Just before one of our rebuttal offers, my husban's phone rang.  It was the owner of a rental home in Alaska that chose to rent to us, take our offer, and wanted to discuss a lease.  We were thrilled!!  Not only does the rental house have 3 full bathrooms, a cool loft for my oldest, space for the guest bed, a very nice kitchen.. but it sits on just over an acre at the top of a hill, with amazing views and a huge heated garage thing.  I mean huge, like big enough for us to put the trampoline in there during the crazy cold winter months to allow 5 energetic kids to burn their energy.  Oh, did I mention the bathroom that is in the garage??  But the best part of the rental house is that it is well under our housing allowance.  Amen!!!

We were able to walk away from the lake house, we were able to take a deep breath concerning the housing situation, we were able to purchase a new family van before the trip across country, and we were able to set up a good budget for our two years in Alaska.  And God did that all while we were completely unaware of it all.

Thank you, Lord, for providing for us.  Thank you, over and over, for your faithfulness and for your grace.  Thank you for your patience with us when we are impatient.  Thank you for being in control of our lives, because we know we are not.  Thank you for ordering the details just right.  And thank you for giving us the sermon we needed to hear Sunday... and then acting it out for us that same day!  Please forgive us for our weaknesses and frailties.  Amen.