she who laughs

This morning I woke up wide awake at 5:00 am, nearly laughing. And I thought immediately of Sarah, Abraham's wife, who laughed when she was told that God was going to do a miracle. Her laughter--and her husband's--was so prominent that when God gave them the son He had promised, they named him "he who laughs."

I'm laughing this morning because every now and then, God completely surprises. Yesterday afternoon in a flurry of email and phone calls, we received word that the 2-family on Henry Avenue is moving in the right direction! We're going today to sign a Purchase and Sale on our offer. The seller loves our offer, but because it's a short sale, the seller's bank needs to approve it still. But the bank has had another appraisal done, something for which our broker told us many buyers wait months and months in this market to happen. And we waited just one week!

Thanks for your prayers. I love it when God surprises us with a "yes." Mostly, I love praying directly, because then the answer...be it "no," or "maybe," or "wait" is always so clear. Prayer is such a gift to my awareness of God's activity in this life. And yesterday evening after these phone calls and a retirement party at which so many Spirit-moments touched me, it was so evident that He is involved here in our life, and in our city.

And we continue to pray daily for Eddie...

"Is anything too hard for the LORD?"

This morning in our house church we continued our reading of the book of Genesis. Today we read and talked about chapter 18, in which the Lord appears with 2 angels to tell Abraham (and an eavesdropping Sarah) that within the year, they will have a son. Sarah laughs, to herself. And the Lord overhears and asks, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?"

I was inspired by our reading this morning to dedicate this week to faith-prayer, the kind of prayer that trusts that NOTHING is impossible for God. Would you join with me this week in praying for two seemingly-impossible requests?

Nothing-too-hard request one. Pray for our transplant friend, Eddie. He had to go to the hospital unexpectedly on Friday, and continues to suffer from being unable to come off of his immuno-suppressants. When the doctors lower his dose, he gets very sick, and his body flares up with transplant rejection disease. This specifically affects his skin and his ability to eat and gain weight. Would you pray with us for Eddie this week, that his recent days of pain would end, AND for the miracle of healing he so desperately needs?

Nothing-too-hard request two. We made an offer on a house last Monday. Yes, we already have an offer on another house, but I think that this more recent offer is the one we actually are praying will work. The house is closer to the heart of the city of Lynn, at the feet of a difficult neighborhood, which is part of our heart...to live intentionally in such a place as learners and peace-makers. It's a two-family with a ton of potential--both for our family and for our dreams to do community work. Because it's a short sale, it could take MONTHS for the bank to even let us know if our offer is acceptable or not...would you pray with us that we would hear something THIS WEEK on our offer?

Thanks for all your prayers...we are so amazed at all God has done for our family, and there is a growing sense among so many of us here in Lynn that despite a bloody many weeks here in our city, shalom is at work. A subtle, but poweful, force for love and change. We pray for this healing to continue for all who need it.

In family news: tonight we are welcoming a boarder to our home for the summer, a student at UMass Lowell who is interning at GE in Lynn. And this week is the last full week of school for Orilus and Jackson. A week from Wednesday, they will finish 4th and 3rd grade! Jason and I are finished on June 20th (World Refugee Day, as a matter of fact, a day I hope to mark by going into Boston to hear many of my students speak at the State House). Welcome, summer!