Lost Cat: Found!

A few weeks ago, I saw a poster on the street that said this: "Lost Cat: Found!" And it made me really happy, because people don't usually tell you the end of the story. I see plenty of "Lost Cat" or "Lost Dog" posters; but I don't think I'd ever seen a posting letting everyone know their help had paid off and that there was, in fact, a happy ending to the story.

So I have my own little poster to "hang up" here.

"House Dilemma: Solved!"

I have this house in Philly, and for the last year it's just been a huge question mark. I haven't been sure if I should sell it, rent it, or what I should do. I will tell you that it has stressed me out, and you'll just have to understand that to be one of the biggest understatements of all time.

About a month ago, I was talking to my friend Laurie about this whole housing dilemma-- and I told her about my fears and about my overwhelmed-ness and how I was just feeling paralyzed by all of it.

"So what have you done?" she asked me. "What steps have you taken?"
That's just it-- I told her-- nothing. I feel like there are so many aspects of this decision that I don't even know where to start. So I haven't done anything.
"You've gotta do something. You need to advertise that it's for rent and just see what happens."

I took her advice and I posted it the next night. Two days later, I had two different groups of people interested in renting it out. By the next day, one of the groups of people had their security deposits in the mail to me. The girls even want to rent some of my furniture, so I don't have to pay to put any of it into storage!

I went down this weekend with Adam, one of my friends from Alice's. Tim drove down and my parents drove up for the day on Saturday to help clean, too. Adam and I packed on Friday; we all cleaned on Saturday. One of my friends even showed up Saturday morning with gluten-free muffins and helped me deep-clean the kitchen! We packed and cleaned, put some stuff in the basement, some stuff in my 'rents' car to go to Maryland, and the rest in the UHaul to come to New York. Tim drove up with us, making sure I could change lanes and that nothing fell out of the truck. He followed us all the way into Manhattan and helped us unload at my place, then followed us over to Brooklyn and helped us unload the furniture that was going to Adam's place, and then he followed me back to Manhattan again to make sure I was able to find parking for the truck (I couldn't return it until this morning). I think I have a pretty airtight case for having the best Big Brother in the world.

So the housing dilemma is solved for another year. And once again, my family and my friends supported me above and beyond what I expected or deserved. I guess I didn't make a huge "Housing Dilemma" poster; but I feel that I have to tell you now that the poster loomed large in my own head, and now the dilemma is solved.

I have felt pretty overwhelmed by this whole thing for the past two months. I know that God provides, but I still live in fear that his idea of provision may be different from mine. But he provided yet again-- not just tenants, but help and support for the move itself.

I'm not yet able to articulate the emotions of moving out of my house. I feel like I've failed; I feel confused; and I feel relieved. And I'm not sure what to do with any of that. And I'm really thankful that people love me anyway, even when I feel like the messiness and uncertainty of my life is seen most clearly in this housing dilemma.