Sacred Mundane: The Blog

So much to say, so little time!  Just had to check in–we are home from Utah and now we move again tomorrow, to our little apartment. I’m excited for this next chapter, especially since it includes having a pool :).  Our trip to Utah was fabulous, and will write more on that later.  It was great to be away but also great to be home.  Missed so many of you!

Right now I’m sitting in room 103 of the Snowbird Resort Lodge in Utah.  Our balcony looks out at the breathtaking Wasatch mountains covered in snow.  It is pitch-dark and I’m listening to my son talk to himself as he falls asleep on the hide-a-bed. He is singing a song about every person he knows (Nae-Nae, Nae-Nae Daddy, Nae-Nae Mama, Nae-Nae Huh Huh, some of you know that translates to each of the members of the Dombrow family).  Now he’s talking about the owie on his knee, and now he’s talking about church and bulldozers.  Anyway, we are here in Utah, taking our first ever week of vacation in over three years (!).  We’re visiting my brother and his wife and daughter and soon-to-be-born son, along with my parents.

So we embarked on our 800 mile journey on Thursday evening around 6:30pm, with all six of us piled into our Honda Pilot along with all of our luggage, food for a week, water, snacks, a cooler, two bikes, double jogger, assorted dulldozers, a stack of library books, and two jumbo packages of diapers.  Jeff sat between the two kids in the middle seat and I squeezed into the solo third row seat, nestled between the grocery bags and the diapers.  We arrived in Ontario around 1:30am and crashed at a Super 8, all six of us in one room. Heidi slept in a drawer of the dresser (no joke, I have pictures!), and we put two chairs together to make a bed for Dutch. We slept in our clothes, took turns in the bathroom the size of a gym locker (you had to stand in the shower to close the door), and were on our merry way by 8am the next morning.

By the time we reached my brother’s house we were a stinky, sweaty, tired mess.  But you know what? It was actually so fun.  Dutch talked the entire way. He didn’t sleep a wink.  He talked. And talked. And talked.  And he repeats everything he says at least three times.  And because he’s obsessed with trucks, his repeated talking was a running commentary on every single truck we saw.  “Oh what’s that dozer?  What’s that dozer? What’s that dozer?  Blue Mack truck! Blue Mack truck! Blue Mack truck!  Where’d the PapaTruck go? Where’d the PapaTruck go? Where’d the PaperTruck go?”  Yes, 800 miles of that.

But what struck me as we drove was that we all jumped on board with making the trip fun for Dutch.  Dad, spotting a tractor way ahead, would say, “Hey Dutch, wanna see a tractor?” and of course Dutch would reply in the affirmative and moments later he’d squeal in delight as we passed a tractor.  And as our trip came to a close I realized that Dutch really probably thought that we took that trip as a special “Truck Tour” just for him.  We saw paving equipment and farm equipment, Hummers and Jeeps and Motorhomes. Of course we were on a journey of our own, but it was well-disquised as a special treat for our boy.

I’ve thought of that so often with this housing answer-to-prayer.  There’s so much more to it than just a place for us to live.  The trip is more than a Truck Tour.  We might think, “Oh fun! We get to live in our favorite neighborhood with fun neighbors and a safe place to play and new carpet and rooms to decorate!” But God is up to so much more.  And unlike Dutch, who is oblivious to the greater journey around him, I pray that we are aware that even in the our delight and joy in God’s gifts, we watch and pray and sense the activity of God around us.  Even as Jeff and I went into our “design appointment” where we got to pick our our carpet and cabinets and so forth, we prayed on the drive there, “God this is YOUR house, it’s YOUR money.  Lead us and make this home a haven for hurting people, a beautiful blessing that brings peace to lost souls. Use this physical dwelling for Your glory somehow.” And I pray that He does.  Even though I’m doing plenty of silly squealing along the way as I see trucks and dozers, so to speak, I pray that I can tune into God’s greater purposes.  Of course it’s ok to “just” bask in His blessings, the same way I love it when Dutch simply delights in our gifts to Him, but I also pray for a heart to be attuned what He’s doing behind the scenes, for His Kingdom, for His glory.

And, because of the Sacredness of the Mundane, we know that if anything matters, everything matters. So I’ll pray, raise my kids, and pick out carpet-color for the glory of God. I pray for the grace to both keep my eyes on the finish line of glory and also enjoy the trucks and dozers along the way.

I got some fun news today: There’s something new on amazon.com!  Go there and search “Karina Patterson” and see what you might find… 🙂 $5 to anyone who’ll leave a good review! Ok just kidding.

Update: here’s the direct link

Jeff and I just got back home from two of the most exciting and awe-inspiring events: Jeff’s first time preaching at Willamette and our viewing of a one-bedroom apartment we’ll be moving into June 7th.  Yes, I know that sounds strange. Of course hearing Jeff preach was a huge blessing to me, and I was in tears during worship just reflecting on the faithfulness of God.  There’s so much to share I hardly know where to start.

But the second part of that sentence probably seems odd: Excited and awe-inspired by a one-bedroom apartment? I cannot tell you how beside myself with joy I am to be moving into this one-bedroom apartment!!!!!!!!  And no, I haven’t completely lost my mind.  And no, the apartment is not filled with gold. It’s just an apartment. But oh so much more to the story.

You see also tonight I looked out our window and watched Jeff and Dutch playing in the dirt in the lot just up from us, where they poured a new foundation the day before yesterday.  Last week Dutch and I watched out our window as excavators came, moving massive amounts of earth, loading countless dump trucks, smoothing out an even pad for the pouring of a concrete foundation which will soon support a house.  At that time Dutch and I knew it was such a blessing that they were working right outside our window–because that meant hours of fascinating and educational entertainment for Dutch as he stood on our couch and watched them work. What we didn’t know was that the house being built was ours.

As most of you know we left our own home two years ago to move in with my parents in order to live on our savings and finish seminary.  It was the biggest leap of faith I’ve ever taken, and exactly a year ago we had no job, no place to live, Jeff had no car (his died), and we were about to find out that –surprise!– we were expecting our second child.  Everytime I go back and read my blog from a year ago I am reminded afresh of the tears and crying out to God, please, provide a job, please provide a home, please provide a car.  And just weeks later I’d be praying, please provide health insurance for the delivery of this baby. Though temporal things to be sure, I was longing and pleading with God to come through.

But I never dreamed…

In my Old Testament reading I happen to be in 1Kings where Solomon builds a house for the Lord and for Himself. The account details the precious metals used, the types of wood, the dimensions–painstaking detail that’s always sort of caused my eyes to glaze over.  Apparently all the details of the building process, both of the temple and of Solomon’s house, were worth preserving in the sacred scriptures. Every detail.

And I believe that every detail of this story matters. It matters because God has painstakingly orchestrated every single detail for His glory. He has magnified Himself, done what only He could do. Because of this I’m giong to write out the “long version” and post it in chunks, but for those of you who just want to know what’s going on (!), here it is…

After living with my parents, we moved into a house my brother and his wife owned that they were trying to sell.  Well, in what seemed like the worst timing it sold just days after Heidi was born.  With noplace else to go, Dombrows graciously let us move in with them for two months until we could figure something else out.  During that time, the house we really wanted was sold to someone else.  We prayed and set the date that if nothing else opened up by May 15th (we were supposed to move out at the end of May), then we’d have to just find a place to rent.  May 15th came and went. Still nothing.

Now you have to understand something about living at Dombrows. Their new house is in the most beautiful, wonderful, perfect neighborhood. Walking distance to the church, trails, a farm, a creek, the park, the grocery store, starbucks; and there’s even the beautiful country sound of crickets at night.  However, the houses in this neighborhood are all brand new and WAY out of our price range.  So with every day that passed of course I fell in love with this location, but knew there’s no way we could ever live there.

May 16th. We stay up playing Dutch Blitz after Saturday night church, and as we crawl into bed, I decided to check online real quick to see if there are any houses just added on the market. One pops up.  I look at the price–perfect.  I look at the bedrooms, size–perfect.  There’s no picture.  Scroll down–new construction.  Address?  My jaw drops.  It’s THE LOT we’d just watched be excavated the day before.  Right outside our window. The house is two doors down from Dombrows, with only one lot in between.  You’ve got to be kidding me.  Jeff and I look at each other and it’s like in an instant we know with every ounce of our being–this is it.

So apparently the builders decided to build some lower-end homes in this high-end neighborhood.  Now understand, what they consider “lower end” is still a stinkin’ mansion in my opinion!  And we even get to pick out our colors, flooring, cabinets, etc.  We still get to stay in this neighborhood! I still get to visit with Joy and our kids still get to play with the Downs who live across the street and have kids our same age.  In fact, there are so many amazing things I can’t even begin to list them all.

So then we still needed a place to live for four months until the house is completed. And we couldn’t find anywhere that would rent for such short term. Plus we really wanted to be near the church since we practically live there. There are great apartments right next door to the church, but in order to do less-than-a-year lease it was outlandishly expensive.  So tonight…I’m praying for Jeff;s message  and I prayed that God would just be gracious and allow us to find a place to live before we leave on Thursday to go visit my brother, that way we don’t have it hanging over our heads all while we’re gone. I get on Craigslist and once again my jaw drops–a large one-bedroom apartment at the complex right next door to the church.  Someone needed to find someone to take over their lease for them for … you guessed it–four months.  The rent is super cheap, no deposit required, and they’ll be out May 31st; exactly to the day the perfect timing for us.  You’ve got to be kidding me.  We went and saw the apartment tonight and it’s perfect–a bedroomfor Dutch, a walk-in closet where Heidi can sleep :), and a great big living room with room for a couch and our bed (we’re sleeping in the living room!).  It even has a little yard for Dutch and a community swimming pool! Hello!

Oh man this post has gotten way too long but there’s just so much! Tonight during worship a slideshow just played in my mind of the past two years and how faithful God has been.  He provided an amazing job, a church we LOVE, friends, amazing co-laborers, a pastor and family we love. He provided a car for us, even one big enough to tote around my double stroller, he provided health insurance, even double covering us for one month, THE month of Heidi’s birth so we hardly paid anything.  And now this.  I cannot even believe the generosity and graciousness of our good God.

And please hear me, He’s been good all along! He’s been good every step of the way. He’s been faithful!  I pray that my praise isn’t conditioned on His “neat stuff” for us and yet there is every reason to praise Him and enjoy this amazing moment of provision.  His care is so personal. And that is why I’m beside myself with joy about a one-bedroom apartment… 🙂