Dear friends, Ann here.
Today I'm going to share a very special story. It is a story that is important for our community. It is a story that is breathed by God's mouth.
I always try to write exactly what God wants me to write. He picks the topics. So today this is what he has picked: It is a story of a seed that was planted for us — the SUM community — seven years ago.
As I often say, grab a hot drink and make yourself comfy. Now I'll begin
Once Upon a Time there was a House in Florida
SUMites, did you know that there is a special house in Florida that stands as a memorial for us? Those of you who have followed this blog for years will know about it, but many of you won't, so let me tell you about it.
In 2016, this ministry was being led by Lynn Donovan and Dineen Miller. These two laid down their lives. Ministry is not easy at the best of times, let alone when you have an unbelieving spouse who is being dragged along in it and who is the topic of one's writing (Gah!!!) So, I really am grateful for the foundation that these two women laid.
But the story I'm going to tell today involves an actual foundation that Dineen laid in a house in Florida.
To begin, I'm going to start by sharing the story behind the house. Here's what Dineen shared about it on the blog in 2016:
"Roughly 26 years ago we moved away from Sarasota and family to find a better place for our growing family. At the early buddings of our careers, we couldn’t afford to buy a house. Though we loved being near our families, we didn’t see much of a future here. We moved away and lived in many places, including Switzerland for a short time.
Fast forward to the end of 2010. We (me, hubby and our girls) drove to Florida from California to spend Christmas with family. One day as I sat with my mother and my youngest daughter, we prayed a prayer that God answered so fast it made my head spin, yet would take four years to fully manifest.
I wanted to move back to Florida. My husband adamantly did not. Yet that day my mother, daughter and I prayed for God to soften my husband’s heart about moving back. Three days later hubby and I left the kids with the grandparents to run an errand and have a few minutes alone. Mike’s unusual silence told me something was on his mind.
Suddenly he asked, “How would you feel about moving back to Florida?”
I was so stunned I couldn’t speak a coherent word for about three minutes! Little did I know that the next four years would be filled with some tough times for us financially and would just about make me lose hope in that dream becoming a reality. Then everything “suddenly” fell into place."
So, Dineen and Mike ended up building a house. In Florida. A dream house. And that was all a nice personal miracle; but little did we know what God would do next.
Indeed. God had an instruction. As the house was going up, the Lord asked that the SUM community write in with scriptures about his promises for our families, and Dineen was to write those scriptures by hand onto the beams of the house.
I'll interrupt here to say I can't imagine what her husband thought LOL.
I seem to remember he did walk past one of the scriptures and muttered "Is this one of yours?" "Yep" she smiled back, and no more was said.
Funny.
Anyway, the builders duly plastered over the beams, hiding these scripture promises. There these promises sat, sealed forever, in a seemingly ordinary house, on a seemingly ordinary housing estate, in Sarasota, Florida.
And there this house proceeded to stand as a monument to SUM, for the next seven, eight years.
Oh what a delicious story this is. Wait till you hear what God asked next. Stay tuned for the next instalment on Monday.
SUMites, do you remember this story? What does it make you think of so far?
Ann
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