Our home is packed . . .

well . . . almost. I am amazed at how much we fit into 900 sq ft.

I am in awe of how much I could move the week before because 80% of our belongings are not needed on a daily basis. Life in America.

Seriously. :-)

This all seems very bittersweet right now. I know beyond all doubt this move is what the Lord has for us (more on that later) but this was Luke and my first home. And I have really loved this place.

Before we were married, my friend and I spent a whole day putting curtains up and making this place look like a home.

It wasn't all that long ago that Luke carried me into this sweet little place on our wedding night.

We knelt in the hallway to thank the Lord for arranging our marriage.

We have struggled here. Rejoiced. Cried (ok, so, only me and the kiddos. :-)) And watched the Lord do awing things, showing His great love for us.

A small place is good for early marriage disagreements. There is no where to go. No place to hide. So you work it out. :-)

Both Ezekiel and Chairs were born here. Yup, because I am one of those crazy "have your babies at home" people and so my babies have both been born in my bedroom.

We have signed the lease a few times over while we wondered what the Lord had for us and how long we would be here. I remember the last time we signed a lease so vividly.

We had been looking at homes to buy and saw nothing but closed doors. The lease was coming to an end and we had the option of a 3, 6, 9, or 12 month. We prayed. We had no idea! How does God speak to us about those practical things??

Luke came across Proverbs 16:33 and seemed enthralled with the concept of the depth of God's providence. "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." One evening, he suggested that we roll dice to see which lease He wanted us to sign. We would roll for each option . . . the highest number would win.

At first it seemed crazy to me. We both were weary of it because we didn't want it to be a "testing the Lord" thing where we flippantly rolled dice and then claimed it was the will of God. It's one of those things that we decided to do together and then didn't tell a soul! We felt crazy.

We told the Lord of our desire to do whatever would be pleasing to Him, acknowledged His sovereignty over all things, and then plunged forward.

The 3, 6, and 9 month leases were all pretty close together in the lower numbers. Then we rolled for 12 month. The dice read "11." A very clear win. I started laughing hysterically. Luke looked depressed. :-)

In February, my Grandpa married a wonderful lady who we are all glad to welcome into the family. This marriage resulted in an "extra" house. It was offered very generously to us to rent. He would leave the home in the middle of February. There were things to go through, furniture to sort, the entire interior to paint . . . about two months worth of work.

That brings us to April. The end of our one year lease.

"The lots is cast into the lap, but its every decision is of the Lord."

This is perfect timing.

Because our God is not only sovereign over the dice we roll in the present, but over every event in the future.

The topic of last Sunday's sermon? God's providence. The verse that our pastor began with? Proverbs 16:33.

We are leaving our first little home. But I am so excited . . .

He wants us in that home for a reason. Maybe just to bless us even though we don't deserve it.

I don't know.

My sovereign God knows all things.