God is a Miracle Working God

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in and let you know what has been happening. In February Chris and I went to a Preparation for Marriage Course at Waverley Abbey, Farnham – the headquarters for CWR. It was a very emotional weekend, where we faced with issues that we didn’t realise needed to be addressed. But it was worth it, because we have come out stronger because of it and our relationship has definitely benefited. In my life, I have finished writing my thesis. I am now reconstructing my conclusion as my supervisors said that it needed to be more coherent and ‘robust’. That has been almost as painful as writing the thesis itself! But I am proud to say that I have surpassed my 80,000 word limit and still have lots more to write. I have also been doing intervals of editing, but my lead supervisor suggested that I make editing a separate task and concentrate on the conclusion.

I also applied for a job as a clerical assistant at the University of Derby. I didn’t get the post, and even though it wasn’t going to pay me a lot – but it was money that Chris and I both need as we start our married life together. We’ve also been house hunting. That was an exhausting ordeal. We decided to take on the task in a week and booked as many viewings as possible. First miracle: It was the week that Chris’ mom was on half-term so she could come with us to the viewings. The first place that we booked the viewing for, I thought was perfect for us. It was in the middle of town. It was walking distance to the shops, good cycling distance to the station as I would probably have to commute to work. Perfect huh? The place had no windows! Even prisons have windows! The only lighting it had was 2 skylights about 6ft above that we would have to use a stick to open. So that was written off. Disappointed, but I would be more disappointed having to pay rent in a place like that. In the house hunting week, we viewed 10 properties between us. Chris found a house online that he said he fell in love with the moment he looked at the pictures. We were booked in to view it the next day and when we pulled up to it, Chris, I and his parents all fell in love with it. It was a one bedroom detached cottage, with an iron-cast spiral staircase going up to the mezzanine bedroom.

When we left the place to look at the other properties, it was as if we left our hearts there. We both wanted that house, because we could see ourselves living there. Second miracle: no one else booked into the view the house that week. So we decided to put in an application for it. Third miracle: the estate agent who handled our case was wonderful – he really wanted us to have it, so he did everything in his power to ensure that our case was strong enough so that the landlord would think we were worthwhile tenants. Then we had to meet the landlord, who had the final say on whether we lived there or not. The estate agent said to us that the meeting with the landlord would last no more than 10 minutes, because he never knows what to say to the prospective tenants. The meeting lasted about 50 minutes. Why? Fourth miracle: Because they were Christians and they knew people that we knew. It was as if we were talking to friends. We got into talking about family life and what Chris and my future plans were. It was amazing!

On top of it all, this would not have been possible if Chris’ parents had not offered us 6 months rent as our wedding present. In addition to this, the rent was on the lower end of our budget. God knew where He wanted us to live. We had been trying for a couple months now to view houses and nothing would happen. A door always seemed to be slammed in our face. It just never happened. I believe that is one of the ways God was guiding us to this place. As soon as we stepped into it, we felt like it was home. Throughout this journey, I can see God’s handle gently guiding us, nudging us in the right direction. Getting this house was a miracle, because we serve a miracle working God.