renters are just horses

i'm feeling kinda poetic with all my metaphors these days...

so, i just need to share our 24 hour journey with renters. we've had renters for over two years now. well, two years in one house, and one year less a month in the other. i find the whole 'landlord' thing a bit stressful, and i don't technically do anything! but should we be able to keep these rentals for years and years and years, that would be great. and if not... then, not.

anyhoo, we had these renters in our mesa house. nice folk. they own a tattoo parlour or two here in the valley. the guy is also a photographer on the side. two businesses that don't exactly thrive in a recession. they were late with their payments once in a while, but always paid, so we were just fine.

but then came The Text, and panic reallyreallyreally wanted to set in, but chris and i tried (prayed) to keep all that at bay. we knew God had a plan. we really really hoped and prayed that God had a plan. we got the text message that our renters had already vacated our property at about 5pm on monday. monday night chris and i sat at our kitchen table and did our psalm bible study. so glad we did, cause we happened to be on psalm 20:

"May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!" v.1

that's how it starts out. so great. then comes verse 7, a personal fave:

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."

staying on the horse theme, it reminded me of another favorite psalm which goes a little something like this:

"A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our hope in you."
Psalm 33:17-22

renters are a vain hope for deliverance! as is money! we said that if we had tons and tons of money, this wouldn't be our issue- but we would certainly have a ton of other ones! we read these verses, gobbled them up in fact, and we decided there were lots of roads to take, we just needed wisdom to know what first step to take.

the next morning chris went to the house, took pictures of it (everything was left in great condition. those texting fools really took great care of our house.) and then posted them on craigslist. if you are looking to rent out your house- craigslist is your best bet! last year we paid to have our places on apartments.com and another site that i can't remember, but both our renters came through craigslist. so chris posted the house at about 12:30pm. he went to meet a buddy for awhile. i laid low at home, still trying not to worry about having to possibly prostitute myself, and my husband (but not the kids! that's just wrong.)

at 3pm, i got a call from a very nice lady who is living out of state right now. she was interested in our craigslist post! we chatted for about ten minutes or more and she sounded so nice and perfect! she was moving out aug 1st, she had 5 kids, her husband had gotten a job at the hospital 5 minutes away from the house, and she had a job at a hospital 10 minutes away. i told her to call chris when she started to ask specific questions about the rental procedure (remember- i am not really a landlord! why am i so stressed then???). chris was out, but as soon as he got home, he e-mailed the lady a rental application form.

at 5pm, we were eating pizza with barb and jerry, and the lady called back. she had filled out the form and e-mailed it back. she asked if it was crazy that she hadn't seen the house but was willing to take it. that's not crazy woman- that's prefection!!!! and she is renting it for the exact same price our previous renters were paying us. yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so, that was one of the more eventful 24-hours we have spent in awhile. and unfortunately it was probably one of the most God-saturated 24-hours we've had in a long while too, cause we were in a bind and needed Help. Divine Capital-H Help. we are so weak and pathetic and even insincere in our faith sometimes, and yet, somehow, the creator of the universe still loves us, knows us, cares for us, and helps us out, even when we don't deserve any help of any kind.

thank you God, for being the one who gave the horse his strength and for clothing his neck with a flowing mane. (Job 39:19) i could not have done that. and thanks so much God, for sending us a horse. and in 24 hours to boot!