Some people have asked how I feel about selling my furniture and moving to a single room in San Francisco.  God is doing stuff, ya'll.  The journey continues...

My friend Jen from YWAM San Francisco (and, in the past, a YWAM-er in Madison) said, "When you decide to do something you believe God wants but seems too big or too hard or....then you get to see God do miracles."
And, the wise and much beloved Bill Johnson (ibethel.org in case you are a newcomer to this amazing man and Bethel Church in Redding, CA) said, (in the words I sort of remember), "If you do what you can do, then you get what a human being can do.  But, if you set your sights on the impossible, then you get what God can do."

This week wasn't impossible, but it sure has been sweet and filled with what God can do.

I'm going to return to the YWAM base in San Francisco. My personal living quarters there is a room with a small bath and kitchenette.  Years ago, this building housed an SRO (single room occupancy) hotel for poor folks. Now, it houses YWAMers of all ages.  Those YWAMers have sacrificed space (they all share rooms) so I can have my own room.  I don't take that for granted!

Some people might look at the YWAM base as kind of dumpy.  I think of it as "simple...well, maybe dumpy... and filled with amazing people and God."  And, I don't ever want to forget that, outside that door, people sleep on concrete and under bridges and in cardboard boxes.

And, I know that I feel more peaceful and healthy when I'm in quiet, physically "nurturing" surroundings. Order. Peace. Beauty. All are important to me.  So, where's the balance?

This is a particularly important question as I sell the furniture I bought to furnish my apartment. The first place I ever decorated (from scratch) for me. To meet my needs and create a safe, beautiful, nurturing environment.  Now, storing the stuff makes no financial sense. I can take a few things, ship some, store a few precious items like my mom's china or a piece of art at a friend's home...but the rest must go.  (any Madison-area peeps looking for some good quality, not-garage sale furniture? let me know)

So, what does stuff mean?  What should be sold and the money used to do great stuff (like buy better hearing aids or get furniture in SF) ?  What should I joyfully give away (so...if your unemployed friend needs a bed and you have one...what's the question here?).  Thinking.   Remembering Heidi Baker touching her head and saying "Smaller...."  Then her heart and saying, "Bigger..."   Smaller....bigger....smaller...bigger....

So, back to SF and the great moving adventure:
The carpeting in my room there is pretty bad (read: awful, moldy, weird and made my allergies stand up and scream).  I knew it wasn't good for my health to be in the space. I also knew that YWAM had no money for upgrading the building (which they rent), so I asked the YWAM "management team" if I could pay to pull up the carpeting and replace it with laminate.  "Sure."  Great!  I was happy...

Just as I left, the BJM director said she'd received an email from someone with extra wood flooring who wanted to know if they could donate it to the women's center.  She hadn't replied yet - but had planned to say the flooring was already installed there and their kind offer wasn't needed.  She said...who knows....maybe they'll donate it to YWAM specifically for your room!

Who knows?  I didn't... because I returned to Madison the next day and haven't thought a lot about the whole thing.

But this past week I was looking at my budget.  like "Okay, new hearing aids..$$$$, road trip costs $$...car insurance $...chiropractor for whatever I did to my shoulder and jaw $$....now...how much will the floor thing cost in SF?"   

I wrote the BJM director, Ruthie, to ask whether that lovely person really did donate the flooring. And here's her reply, "Don't worry. Your flooring is being taken care of by us. You'll return to nice, new wood floors!"

Whoa!  It's already done?!!!  I don't have to do it?  I was speechless.  Then I laughed!

I feel loved and cared for!  Honored and loved by the YWAM community there.  I don't know who actually did the gross job of pulling up the moldy, dusty carpeting.  I don't know who washed the  years of filtered dust, mold and "stuff" from the sub flooring, hauled the wood upstairs, and did the labor of installing the floor.  I'm imagining those wild, beautiful, Jesus-loving, visionary "kids" (as in I'm old enough to be the mom of about 90% of the YWAM San Francisco staff).  What I don't have to imagine is the love.

The last thing I'm imagining is walking into that room, over and over and over. Seeing the lovely, clean wood floors...my beautiful small area rug with the deep, cobalt blue that matches the prophetic painting my friend Mary Ann did for me  (gotta fit those two things in my car!) and a couple of comfy small "sit and talk" chairs.  A little coffee table (cause you need coffee to talk, of course) and some of my beautiful art hanging and making things beautiful.  I imagine thinking, "They did the floors just for me!  Wow!  God, you are so good....I feel so loved and taken care of."