FORECLOSED: The Beginnings of a New Dream (January Synchroblog)

       

        Notice of Foreclosure - the ominous words scrawled across the top of the letter we received from our mortgage company a few months ago. When my family moved into our house, we never imagined that we would be leaving under these circumstances. You see, we have always believed that this house was a blessing directly from God Himself, and blessings from God just don't get foreclosed on, do they?

        We purchased this house just months after I was released from prison and only about a year after I was forced to resign from my position as a federal police officer. In fact, at the time we moved into this house, I had only been working at my new job for a month and was making considerably less money than before. My wife and I agreed to let God work to give us this house if it was His will. We hid nothing from the bank, including work history, and we refused to do a stated income loan or a hybrid loan that was much easier to get. Instead, we insisted on a traditional loan, against the advice of the realtor, and somehow, in spite of all the seeming difficulties, our loan was approved.

        We recognized from the beginning  that our house belonged to God and have used it from the very first day as a means to serve Him. We have housed a clothing pantry, a biker ministry, and over the years several different homeless people or families. We in fact committed to use our house to love, in whatever way we can, whomever God brings to our path, and as we leave, our conscience is clear that we have done exactly that.

         So what happened? How can a blessing from God be taken away? Doesn't God care that we are using this house to serve His Kingdom? Why would God take away our house when we have done all that He asked us to do for Him? All these questions and many more were asked and asked and asked over the last few months. Sometimes accusing God, sometimes questioning His love and goodness, sometimes just crying out for a reason, but not answered. At least not in the way we thought they would be.

        When it became apparent that we would lose our house and that all the avenues for assistance had fallen short, we made the decision to share what was happening with some of our closest friends. We were not even certain what we hoped for, we just knew that we needed some other people to walk through this difficult time with us. We knew that they could not come up with the money to save our house, we knew that many of them were struggling as well. Ultimately, through this process we discovered that God was indeed at work through our community. Our friends spoke of love and truth, of God's goodness and faithfulness and they all spoke support for our ministry and for our family. We knew that if the absolute worst was to happen, we had a list of friends that offered spare rooms, garages, and even floors where our family could sleep indoors.

        As we began to hear God speaking through our friends, we began to understand that God was still looking out for us. We discovered that He was still providing for our needs, and that no matter what the circumstances around us looked like, He was still walking with us. Ultimately, God once again provided a place for us through extraordinary circumstances. So on the 8th of January, our house was sold at a foreclosure auction, and we are expecting a notice to arrive any day that we have to leave. Foreclosure was not the end of the world as we used to fear. In fact, the way God worked things out, there is not even much uncertainty. When we leave, we know where we are going, and it is close to some friends so we are already familiar with the neighborhood. 

       In many ways, our life is not changing much at all. Our children attend a charter school, so they will not  have to deal with changing schools. We will still attend the same churches that we attend now so our kids will still have the same friends. We are still committed to the ministry of Biker Church and Set Free and His Urban Presence, and others. We even intend to use our new house as a place to love all those God brings to us just as we have done for the last several years in our now former house.
         While many things about our life are not changing, we do feel that God is leading us to the beginning of a new chapter in our life and ministry and family. God provided us a place that meets all our family's needs; in many ways better than our old house did. Our new house also comes with plenty of space for people to be in our home and be loved there. God even put a bus stop right in our front yard so our friends with transportation challenges can get there more easily. Additionally, we have recognized that God is calling us to step out into full time ministry, or at least more full time. As we become more intentional about full time ministry, we can see that he is making a way for us here.

        Throughout it all, we are learning that God is good and that He does honor those who serve Him, but he does it in His own way and time not ours. We learned that the Body of Christ can truly be the hands and feet and voice of God in our lives if we will let them. And we learned that God's blessings are for a season, they are wonderful monuments to His love and greatness, but often, we are called to move on to different blessings. Sometimes they are greater or better, and sometimes they are just new, but God always wants us to be willing to follow Him and He will bless that. We just have to remember that those blessings are things that bring us closer to Him, not necessarily things that make us more comfortable.


Edwin "Pastor FedEx" Aldrich
               And
Karen "Charity" Aldrich


This post was part of the January 2014 Synchroblog - New Beginnings. Please read these other authors posts on this months topic at the links below.

Jen Bradbury - Enough
Abbie Watters - New Beginnings
Cara Strickland - Bursting
Carol Kuniholm - Acorns, King, Beloved Community
Done With Religion – A New Year, A New Beginning
Kelly Stanley - A Blank Canvas
Glenn Hager - Overcoming The Biggest Obstacle To Reaching Your Goals
Dave Criddle - Get Some New Thinking
David Derbyshire - Changed Priorities Ahead
J A Carter - The Year of Reading Scripture for the First Time
Damon - New Beginnings: Consider These 5 Questions Before Tying The Knot
Jeffrey Kranz - Where To Start Reading The Bible
Joanna990 - On survival – my one word for 2014
K W Leslie - Atonement
Happy - my One Word 365 surprise
Michelle Moseley - Ends and Beginnings
Matthew Bryant - A New Creation
Liz Dyer – It’s a new year and time to make some new mistakes
Edwin Pastor Fedex Aldrich - Foreclosed: The beginning of a new dream
Jennifer Clark Tinker - Starting a New Year Presently
Loveday Anyim - New Year New Resolutions
Loveday Anyim - New Year Resolution Dreamers
Loveday Anyim - New Year Resolution Specialists
Loveday Anyin – New Year Resolution Planners and Achievers
Jeremy Myers - Publish Your Book with Redeeming Press
Amy Hetland - New Beginnings
Phil Lancaster – New Beginnings
Mallory Pickering – Something Old, Something New
Margaret Boelman – The Other Side of Grief