Hello Canada and beyond,
It's been a while since I've given an update on our new life in Ottawa, mostly due to the fact that nothing new was happening. That changed two Fridays ago. A few months ago we talked with the friends we are living with and we came to an agreement that my wife and I would move in February. That seemed far off so we expected things to change before then. We had expected that I would move on from my internship to a full-time position, and as a result, would be in a position to move into our own place. Not so.
For some reason we were under the impression that we would be staying where we are until mid to late February, but two Fridays ago, we realized the agreement was for February 1st. So February 1st we needed to be in our own place, which gave us two weeks to find an apartment, and we had NO money. At work that day I immediately felt pressure. What are we going to do? I told my co-worker, who is an elder at our church, about the problem so we decided to pray with my wife on speaker phone. From that moment forward we felt a supernatural joy that we couldn't explain. We didn't know where we would be living in two weeks but we couldn't stop laughing. My co-worker gave me a Scripture that would take my joy to the next level.
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." Isaiah 55:1-2.
This Scripture is important for a few reasons. First, God began to teach me some important lessons. What stuck out to me was "you who have no money". How can people buy without money? In the world's system you acquire through money, but in God's system you acquire by his word. The world says, "You can have what you can afford", but God says, "You can have what you say" and what God says. This would prove to be a life changing lesson. In God's economy you don't need money to acquire; all you need is a promise (or word) from him. If God says it's time to acquire or do something you don't need the practical means; you need a promise and faith to believe it, and the practical means will follow.
The other reason why this Scripture was important for us is because since we arrived in Ottawa God has been using the number 5 to communicate with us. In the Bible "5" is the number God uses to communicate his grace. When we first arrived in Ottawa we met with some friends and while we were praying it was 5:55pm and our friend told us that God was saying that there was a great grace over our lives. For the next few days after we met with them I kept waking up at 5:55am. Our exit on the highway is 55. My wife's first day on Parliament Hill was on our 55th day in Ottawa. On the Hill I'm on the 5th floor, office 550. Every time I'd be down and depressed the number 555 would appear communicating God's grace, so Isaiah 55 meant a lot to us.
As God began to break down Isaiah 55, showing me that the key to acquiring is our words and God's words (promises to us), I was alone in my office. As this revelation hit me the presence of God came over me. I began to dance, twirl and celebrate that though we had no money God was going to provide a place for us to live. After a few seconds the power of God became so strong that my knees gave out and I fell forward on the floor. I kept laughing, praying and celebrating; it was what we would call being "drunk in the Spirit". I got up and began to pray about our housing situation; not supplicating prayers, but confident prayers. At that moment I was in such a spiritual place where I was above my circumstance. Every time I'd call my wife that day we just kept laughing eventhough in two weeks we'd have no place to live. We were so sure that God was going to work it out that we decided we'd go home and start packing eventhough we didn't know where we were going. We felt like Abraham and Sarah from the Bible. We also felt like Adam and Eve in that we knew wherever we'd go it would be a perfect situation like the garden of Eden.
Throughout the week we'd go back and forth feeling all kinds of interesting emotions. My wife cried, not as much for us but for the many single mothers out there who are barely making it. God spoke to her heart and said, "Watch what I'm going to do."
Over the next week we'd receive quite a few offers to stay at people's houses. We received so much love and support. Instead of taking any of the offers outright we said we wanted to take the week to receive confirmation from God on where we should go. So yesterday came and nothing. Not one piece of confirmation. We reasoned where we thought we should go, but no parting of the heavens, no voice from above or within telling us where we should go.
So I went to my wife's office yesterday after work to discuss where we were going to go. As we were talking about it my wife received an e-mail from someone who works on her floor. Earlier on in the day my wife had driven him to the airport. He would be working in the constituency for the remainder of the prorogation so we could live in his apartment free of charge for the next month. They live five minutes away from Parliament Hill, and our church, so we can walk to both for a full month, saving gas. And Winterlude starts in February so we'll be living in the midst of the festivities. All of the prayers and words from God that we heard in our hearts had come to pass. "...you who have no money, come, buy and eat." Indeed, the world says, "You can have what you can afford." while God says, "You can have what you say." On January 1st he also told us that we were "the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath" and as a result he didn't want us living in someone's basement anymore.
There were other smaller problems we were having including that the City of Ottawa's prenatal/birthing classes were cancelled during the H1N1 scare and now that they are reinstated we are too far along. They gave us a list of classes offered by companies that we would have to pay for and we couldn't afford it. Earlier yesterday I happened to meet somebody on Parliament Hill who was a Doulah and Midwives' Assistant for ten years. She had some free time so I brought her over to my wife's office and she sat down with us for 2 hours giving us an impromtu class. She lives out of town so she offered to come from out of town to give us a free prenatal/birthing class in March. After I returned to my office the chief of staff approached me with a Parliament of Canada Employment Form and just asked me to fill it out, and got the MP to sign it. Up to now I've only been an intern working for free. We're supposed to be sitting down on Monday to discuss my future in the office, and what they would be able to pay me.
Last Friday we didn't know where we were going to be living in two weeks and in one day our prenatal/birthing classes, employment, and living needs were taken care of; at least for the next month. I was telling a friend yesterday that God sometimes allows us to get backed into impossible corners just so we can see what is possible; just to experience the miraculous.
Conclusion
This time last year my wife and I were living in our Richmond Hill apartment, with great landlords who absolutely loved us, and I had a stable job. I was thinking about what my life would look like if I had stayed in Toronto. I would have a nice basement apartment in Richmond Hill, I'd have a stable job, my wife would've been finished school and working full-time, and we'd be expecting our first child. Doesn't that sound ideal? But our dreams would've died. I wouldn't get to walk the halls of Parliament Hill everyday where great Canadians have walked, and I wouldn't get to see a miraculous God doing mind blowing things in my life.
I've been questioning what stability is. Since last June, when we decided not to renew our lease ahead of our move, we've been living under someone's roof- family and friends. We've gone from a "stable" two years in our apartment to now our fourth living space in a year. But to be honest, I've felt move stability in the past 8 months, not knowing what's around the corner, than I did in the two years of being "stable" in Richmond Hill. How can that be? It's because there's nothing more stable than being where God wants you to be at a particular moment in time. When Jesus told Peter to join him in walking on the water, at that particular moment the water was more stable than the boat. There's another story in the Bible where Jesus and his disciples are crossing over to another land in a boat and there's a storm. The disciples started to freak out because they were close to death. When they went downstairs in the boat Jesus was sleeping. They said, "Don't you care that we're about to die?" and he asked them where their faith was.
In life all kinds of storms threaten to bring us down- evictions, being fired, not having any food to eat- but we need to understand that God is with us in the boat and he won't let you go down. Even if he shows up at the last minute. He did it for me and he'll do it for you.
Homework
I want to give you a homework assignment. The next time you get bad news, especially a pull on your finances, don't overreact, just pray. Connect with God immediately before a worrying thought has the chance to grip you. This is a discpline that brings my wife and I through trying times and it will work for you!
Kevin
Entrepreneur. Minister. Administrator.
www.businesschurchpolitics.ca
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