Never Homeless with the Lord!

I have been a really bad blogger recently. I am so sorry. But to be honest with you I am just processing so much in my life. We have our house on the market now. It is stressful. But all in all, I am reminding myself of perspective. I live in a huge, gorgeous house that we worked really hard for. It is almost 6800 square feet. Our business slowed down and now we have to downsize. When I put the ‘for sale’ sign up one of my neighbors called me. I have had only 2 conversations with this woman in the two years we have lived here. She said “Deanna this is really disturbing!” I have to say that I acknowledge that for those people who live in the type of suburbia that our NC town offers, well she may consider a neighbor with a large house selling…’disturbing’. But in all honesty with this economy the way it is, it is really the norm. And it is more disturbing to me to know of all of the homeless people in Haiti without water or a toilet or food or parents. So, I tell my kids that we have to count our blessings. We will still have blankets, food, water and a roof that doesn’t leak even after we sell. It is interesting though talking to my kids about moving. When children have lost parents and watched them die, been uprooted tragically, moving means something different. So, everyday I have to remind them that the move doesn’t mean that we will not be a family anymore or that someone won’t be coming with them. I tell them that it is just a house. Still, Grace cried today thinking about how much she misses her brothers in Ethiopia. I can’t help but think that this move has fed into her insecurities and fears of losing a loved one or disconnecting from family. So, how do we get through a move with children previously orphaned? We pray and daily focus on the positive. Still, there is a grieving process for all of us. We thought we would be here forever….still God is on His throne . We feel Him more, perceive Him more and are hearing Him more than we did when we first laid out the blue print for this house. I have written a song that I spontaneously sing around the house.

This is my home,
And its where I wanna be,
Living in your presence,
With your grace upholding me….

This is my life,
And the only thing I own,
Is faith you’ll walk beside me,
No matter where I go,

There are many mansions,
In my Father’s place,
There is always room,
There’s always space…

This is the world,
And when it all just disappears,
I will not be homeless,
For my Father holds me near,
I will not be homeless,
For my Father holds me near….

The house is irrelevant. All of my professional life, I have been longing for a deeper perception of the Lord. During those times, I had no money problems, no struggles and could buy whatever I wanted…but I also lacked the intimacy I now have with the Lord. “Living in His presence” is what I am striving for at this point in my life. And none of the mortgages, or room colors or square footage matters. In the Heavenly places that God resides in, my earthly house means nothing. I long to live my life while I am here so that I can hopefully, be allowed to live eternally in a place where there are many mansions and lots of beautiful sunshine and music. So, I choose to invest in His plans for me whether that means to be living in an apartment, in a mansion, in a bungalow or a hut or out in the open air….all that matters is that I am enveloped by His love and basking in the shelter of His arms. I am okay with that and know that there is nothing disturbing about residing in the presence of God….Praise Him for this amazing time that we are living in!!!!