My Home Away from Home

I couldn't be any more grateful for this beautiful family and how they have welcomed me into their home....

Isaac & Chloe getting dirty

Marcus, a.k.a. "Bug-a-boo"

Chloe behind the wheel

Play time

Celebrating this amazing woman's birthday

Andre & Gaby: mentors, housemates, friends

Promise for the Solitary

A few days ago, I was practicing some "Lectio Divina" with Psalm 68, particularly verses 4-10, and the Lord met me in a powerful way. As I rehearsed and listened to these verses over and over again, and paused in between each phrase I was particularly struck by verse 6.

⁴Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
    lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
   exult before him!
⁵ Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
   is God in his holy habitation.
⁶God settles the solitary in a home;
   he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
   but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
 ⁷O God, when you went out before your people,
    when you marched through the wilderness,
⁸ the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
   before God, the One of Sinai,
   before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
   you restored your inheritance as it languished;
¹⁰your flock found a dwelling in it;
   in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

This passage reveals that God has a special compassion towards the fatherless and the widow. He not only sees them, but He promises to provide for them at their most vulnerable and desperate place: "God settles the solitary in a home."

I completely resonate with being a solitary person. I grew up with an absent father. I am single. I am living on the complete opposite side of the country than my family.

This promise speaks deeply to me. Both the word "settle" and "home" are powerful words for a solitary person. The last thing we feel at times are settled or a sense of at-homeness in this world.

Where do we call home? Who do we belong to? Who is our family? All questions which lie at our deepest core as human beings.

In reading this passage, I was reminded of ways that my Heavenly Father has so graciously revealed this promise to me in this season by not only providing a physical roof over my head and a family that has completely adopted me, but He is also settling me emotionally and spiritually in a home more deeply with Him.

I am grateful to know that in God's family, I am promised that I will always have a place to call home. Sometimes, God allows us to experience a taste of home on this side of heaven in a physical location, a church, or relationships.

But I believe this promise speaks to something deeper in our souls. It speaks to who we are at our very core: We are His. Therefore, we belong.

"God settles the solitary in a home," or in other words, "in Him."

My New Crib

As of Saturday, June 17th, I made the big move from the concrete jungle of La Mirada to the family friendly world of Bixby Knolls in Long Beach where I am living with a beautiful family from my church. They so graciously are letting me stay with them as I am in transition and looking for a job. In the meantime, I get to enjoy simple pleasures like runs in the neighborhood, waking up to 3 lovely children (Isaac, Chloe, and Marcus), and living only minutes away from those I consider my California family.

World, meet my new crib.

a huge closet packed to the brim.

 a huge window and keyboard on loan.

fresh flowers and welcome pictures from the kiddos as wall art.

more to come...