Changed By Love

Dear Mother,

Your specialness to me has always been high,
My love for you reaches the trees, mountains, and sky.

And just so everything for you is as lovely as a flower,
Here are some words for a very encouraging hour:

Never forget to be yourself anytime and anyplace,
always remember that God is our saving grace.

Never lose your kindness, honesty, or gentle love,
God respects all of the above.

Never stop loving the One that’s kind and true,
for God Himself won’t stop loving you.

But most of all, dear Mother,
When the world seems cruel and defiled,

Never forget to have FAITH LIKE A CHILD.

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Kelsey wrote this for my birthday this year. My faith has been stretched again. I had some deep fears that were exposed and dealt with while Gary was gone in South Carolina. I thought I was full of faith. But the threats and accusations of several property management groups caused me to be anxious and worried after I already survived foreclosure, losing just about everything, traveling across the country with very little money, then ending up in Colorado, far from Ohio, with no money.

One of the groups, Strano, in Belleville, Illinois effectively stole most of our security deposit after stealing $800 from us on a house that they didn’t really clean or fix up to our standards so we backed out on renting it. It smelled like a dog, and it still smelled like a dog after they supposedly cleaned it. They kept half of the security deposit because they couldn’t market the house for a couple of days since we had said we wanted it. Then another property management group in Illinois, Christone, rented a house out from under us because they said the owner had decided he didn’t want to rent to us on a month to month basis, so we had to move out even though we had no where else to go. Well, we couldn’t do that, so we stayed until Gary had another job and we moved to another state. They forced us to sign a year lease by putting so much pressure on us, and then we had to breach that lease when Gary got that new job. Then in York, PA yet another property management group has stolen our security deposit and expects us to pay another $1400 for so-called damages. We left that house in very good shape, paying to get painting and cleaning and repairs done.

They even took me to court the week I was getting ready to move to Texas because they wanted us out of the house so bad, not because we were ever late in paying the rent or anything like that — because we wouldn’t sign a lease for a year. We couldn’t sign any kind of lease because we had no idea where Gary’s next job would be. We asked for month to month, but they refused. They wanted to raise the rent and hold us to only 3 months and then we would have to leave. So much for rewarding people for paying rent on time and taking care of the place. They even withheld a bill for trash and sewer until they wanted to force us out and then told us we owed $900 for that. So they took me to court for that bill, half of which I paid before the court hearing, and for the next month’s rent, calling it unpaid rent (the month before it was due). We kept the owner from losing the house. She would have lost it to foreclosure if we hadn’t paid rent on time every month and helped her get it back out of foreclosure proceedings. Of course, we didn’t know that when we agreed to rent it.

All of these threats and accusations and mean-spirited treatment took a toll, and I’m having to press in to God to restore my faith and trust. I always expected people and companies to treat me fairly and do what’s right. But I guess it’s different when it comes to renting a house from a property management group.

We are determined to press in for guidance and wisdom and a miracle to be able to settle in our own house on our own land. We need a large enough income from a full-time job instead of contracting. Or whatever the Lord wants to do as far as provision. And we need to know where He wants us to settle. We are believing God for a great harvest on seed we’ve sown. We are believing for victory over the giants that occupy our Promised Land.

He gave us $20,000 out of the blue in 2008. He can do greater things than that. And we know He answers prayer. We have definitely been making our requests known, with Thanksgiving. And I haven’t been anxious anymore. (Phil. 4:6) I got victory over anxiety caused by the most recent property management group’s shenanigans just 3 weeks ago.

The Lord is good. His mercy endures forever. He loves us, and He delivers us from fear, dread, intimidation and doubt.

If we lay it all at His feet, He takes it and handles it for us. Then we can walk in faith, peace and joy again!

My kids are glad to have their peaceful Mommy back. I’m glad, too.

Now I have to work on forgiving a few property management groups and realtors.

I know that God will restore to us all that has been stolen from us.

We are praying Matthew 19:29 because we left houses and brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and land to go where He sent us. Now He said we would receive the hundredfold.

We also know that the thief has to give back seven times what he stole, and the devil has stolen a lot from us.

So I’m taking Kelsey’s advice. I’m going to HAVE FAITH LIKE A CHILD. Our sermon Sunday was on “The Just Shall Live by Faith”.

We are so grateful to be all together again as a family, and we are becoming one cohesive unit again. God is working all things together for our good.

He is faithful to His promises, and we are expecting all that He says is ours. He has a place for us. We are full of faith and looking forward to exciting things in the future.

I will report to you the great things the Lord does for us as they occur! And you will see that the Lord can be depended upon to take care of His children who are called according to His purpose.