Miracles by Design

Well – it’s not looking too good right now. The offer submitted by the interloper has been accepted, conditional on the purchaser getting financing. 

So – tomorrow I go home (from the conference I’m attending in Guelph) to start a whole new search for a home. 

For anyone new, here’s the situation in a nutshell:

After my world blew up in 2006, I had to sell our beautiful home of 28 years and strike out on my own, settle in a rented apartment and go back to school to develop marketable skills. It was a huge challenge – one I certainly never expected at the age of 60.

For the past four years, I have loved the quiet privacy of my rented home. It has been a wonderful place to heal, run my dog and build up my business.

Recently, my landlord broke the news that he would be needing my space for three more children he’s inheriting as a result of his pending marriage!

At first, I hunted for another rental, not even considering the possibility of purchasing a home because I simply didn’t have a down payment. However, when I was unable to find anything suitable that would take a pet, I began to wonder if God wanted me to purchase. I knew that if He did, He would supply the means. So – I called my realtor friend, explained the situation, went out and found the PERFECT place. Then I met with a mortgage broker and found out exactly what I would need in order for it to happen. Then I wrote quotations for business that could potentially supply the funds and gave the situation to God for Him to work out. I was quite aware of the fact that He could supply from a totally different source than I had imagined – if He wanted to perform the miracle.

Now someone else has trumped me with a conditional offer. 

This is the “blah” stage of the miracle. Like the children of Israel who set out with lots of hype and great expectations but found themselves wondering where God was as they plodded through the desert, I’m not seeing any great move of God right now. I’m thinking that anyone who has been following my blog is going to be getting pretty bored with the lack of evidence of anything supernatural going on.

However, just as God’s plan was eventually revealed with the Israelites, His plan will eventually be revealed with me. You watch – in 41 days, the moving truck will pull up to my place at 8 a.m., load up all my worldly goods and take them to a place I’ll love! I know it will happen! Let it be so, Lord!

Tum de dum dum… still tapping my fingers, waiting for word on the progress of the interloper’s offer on “my” house.

Will the owner accept the offer, throwing my hopes and plans into a tailspin, opening the way for more clarity on God’s direction for me – or will the offer fall through, maintaining the possibility that this is God’s direction for me?

It doesn’t really matter because I have given the whole thing to God. It’s in His hands.

I’ve been down this road before. When the boys were little and we lived in Beaverton, I started to pray for a large home because we had outgrown ours. A house came on the market that I thought would be PERFECT for our family. We put an offer in on it on Valentine’s Day, conditional on us selling ours. I was SO excited – could hardly wait to get into our new place and start making it our own. On Good Friday, a firm offer trumped ours, giving us only three days to firm up our offer or lose the house. Well – ours didn’t sell in those three days and so we lost that wonderful place on Easter Monday. I was SO disappointed!

A few months later, a beautiful home that I had always admired in the country was partially burned. It went on the market under power of sale and we were able to purchase is, restore it and call it home for 28 years – at a fraction of its real value. Situated on 50 acres of land, that house grew with us through the seasons of life – raising our sons in it, running a vibrant youth group of about 50 kids, hosting many meetings and memorable functions, adding an apartment for Mom & Dad when they needed to come to live with us, turning the 1300 sq ft family room into offices when we started our production company, and then accommodating our grandchildren and their friends through their growing-up years. It was a wonderful home – vastly superior to the one I had imagined to be “perfect” for our family.

God knew what we needed far better than I. He has a track record in my life. I can trust Him.

I’ll be very disappointed if someone else’s offer is successful on “my” little house – but I’ll get over it – especially when I see what God had in mind all along!

Tum de dum dum… stay tuned…!

Well – today is not a high point in the anatomy of my miracle.

My realtor called and said that someone has put an offer in on “my” little house. She’ll call and let me know what happens – whether or not it has been accepted. I have to admit that the news made me a little shaky because I so dearly hope to be able to live on the water.

However – this is just a little more drama – which is as it should be in the anatomy of a miracle.

God loves drama. Some of the greatest examples of high drama are stories from the Bible:

• when the fleeing Israelites were caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army chasing them from behind
• when Joseph’s brother’s stole his coat of many colours and threw him into a pit 
• when Daniel was thrown into a den of lions 
• when Mary and Martha called on Jesus to come to the aid of Lazarus before he died
• when little David faced Goliath with nothing but a slingshot and a smooth little stone
• to name a few!

All of those stories not only had happy endings, but have been used in all of these intervening years to encourage believers in their faith in a mighty God. If there hadn’t been such high drama, would we have remembered the stories of faith?

In comparison to those stories, my little drama today is insignificant. It’s interesting that the same day by which I need to see a miracle happen to my bank account is exactly the same day by which James Robison needs to see a miracle for his feeding program for the children in Uganda. Now there is a drama worthy of great note – one to which I look forward to contributing.

But the amazing thing about our Father God is that every drama in our lives – whether big or small – is of great interest to Him. He is not a God who gets so involved in the great dramas of life that He has no time for our piddly little challenges – no – He is omnipresent – present in the needs of the children in Uganda and present in my comparatively insignificant need. His love overflows to His dearly loved children.

God knows my heart. He knows that the movers are booked for the 28th of July because I have to be out of my present logings by the 29th. He has a plan. The fact that there is an offer on the house I hope to be able to purchase is no big deal. If He wants me to have that house, the offer won’t be accepted. If it is accepted, He has a better plan for me.

Irregardless – my life is in His hands and I trust His working in my life.

Hmmm… Only 44 days to go now, huh?

This is getting more and more exciting.

In my past experience, it has often been the midnight hour before there is any breakthrough to a miracle. The interesting thing is that I used to get all stressed out wondering where God was in difficult situations. The further I go down this road of faith, the less stressed I get – because I know from so much experience that God will make a way where there seems to be no way.

I know that the moving truck is going to pull up at my door in 44 days. What I don’t know is where I’ll direct them to take all of my worldly belongings. But am I stressed? No… now, I have to be honest and say that I have had a couple of down days, feeling the insecurity – but Peter had some down times, too – like when he took his eyes off of Jesus, stopped trusting, got his eyes on the circumstances and started to sink!

I find that if I start to look at my circumstances with eyes of this world, I start to sink too. I’m a goner. Done. Toast. History. The natural way of this world would be to scramble around with fear biting at my heels and randomly take a place where God never meant me to live. But I have not been given a spirit of fear: I have been given a spirit of power and love and a sound mind! (IITimothy 1:7). Yay!! I don’t have to be afraid, even in the times of greatest insecurity. My circumstances might be insecure – but my positioning in Christ is as solid as a rock. He is My anchor. He is my supplier. He is my realtor. He is my mortgage broker. He is my Father and He loves me. He will not see His child left stranded.

And so – this day is almost over. Tomorrow it will just be 43 days until the movers arrive.

I can hardly wait until I can post to you, “It happened! God broke through and He has cleared the way to my new home.”

Countdown to a miracle:

Need – $40,000.

Total accumulated – $4,350.00

Still to go – $35,650.00

It’s coming!!!! Thank you Lord.

Another quotation went out today. I’m waiting on You, Lord! The only way this can happen is by Your hand. 🙂

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland…because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland…that they may proclaim my praise.” Isaiah 43:18,19

This scripture has been given to me over and over again over the past four years – and was given to me again a couple of days ago. As a matter of fact, when I was packing to move from my home four years ago, as I took some things out of a cupboard, a scrap of paper fluttered to the floor with that verse written in pencil on it. A friend who was helping me pack picked it up and said “Look at this!” I did not recognize the handwriting and did not remember ever having seen it before. We were mystified. Where had it come from? I still don’t know! But why has this verse been given to me over and over in the intervening years at moments I least expect it?

Maybe God thinks I simply need reassurance of His presence sometimes. I know that this move is all part of His plan. What is He doing? I don’t know. But I am excited about what is ahead because He knows what He’s doing and that’s all I need to know. I’m not alone.

Yes – I may be going out on a limb telling everybody that I’m on the edge of a miracle and that I believe God is going to provide a down payment for me to purchase a home. But what is faith if you don’t really believe that God is doing something?

There are times in my life when I’ve been wrong – big time. There have been times that I’ve looked pretty dumb when I’ve been wrong – like the time I wrote a book on Y2K because I really believed that it was going to happen.

SO – because there have been times that I’ve been wrong, should I just keep quiet now about believing that I’m on the edge of a miracle? Maybe I should, but if I can’t reach up to God in a time of need and really expect Him to respond, I might as well curl up in a fetal position and suck my thumb. If God comes through this time, as I really believe He will, I want every one to know about it! I want people who have mocked me to see that God is real and wonderful after all! I don’t care about looking foolish anymore, but I get so tired of people not understanding how big God is and how He longs to be part of their lives. I want Him to be appreciated and praised for who He is and how He loves us. I don’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to see His reality.

And what if I’m wrong? I need the full down payment (about $30,000.) in the bank by the 26th of June because it has to sit in the account for a full 30 days prior to closing. Plus I’ll need another $10,000. or so for closing expenses, etc. I know of several possible sources for seeing this become reality. There are several people who have expressed a desire to have me produce books for them and I’ve offered discounts to them if they prepay their projects by June 25th. On the other hand, God may have a resource planned that I know nothing about. But I know it can happen – and I have a rock-solid feeling inside that it’s going to happen.

So what if the 26th of June comes and the down payment is not there? Then I may be mocked again, but I’ll know that God has a better plan and I’ll eventually get to tell you all what it is! 🙂

“Morning has broken like the first morning; blackbird has spoken like the first bird … mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning…” From an old hymn.

Those were my granddaughter’s words on facebook yesterday moning. 


Each day is new and holds the promise of fresh wonder. Miracles are like snowflakes on a wintry day. They’re all around us, appearing normal – but if examined – revealing the careful crafting of God’s hand. 


If God can put such sunshine in the heart of my beloved granddaughter – if He can gift every snowflake that falls with an original design – then I know that He can prepare a home for me.


I trust Him.