I'm always caught off-guard when something doesn't go the way I thought it would or when things happen totally out of the blue. For the past two weeks things have been a bit unsettled around the Olson household. Stress has been high and the unknowns of the future have kept us gripping the edge of our seats. My recent labors of love in our home have unfortunately been more so labors done in haste and labors lacking grace or patience. Our eyes are focused upwards in prayer as we navigate what lies ahead for us in the coming weeks, months, and even years.
As many of you know, our internship out in Pennsylvania is nearing its close and we have been getting prepared for Nathan to graduate from Seminary back in Minnesota in a few weeks. We are also beginning to gaze ahead towards our time in St. Louis as Nathan pursues his PhD in Systematic Theology. We will be stationed there for 3-4 years and will be serving a church in conjunction with attending the Seminary. Details have been falling into place over the last months as we've been working to get all of our ducks in a row to move in a little over three months.
Things got a bit unsettled last week as we received news that we did not get on-campus housing at Concordia Seminary where we are moving to in a little over 3 months. Our plan and our hope had been to live on campus for many different reasons, those of which I will spare you for now. We were very diligent in submitting our application the moment registrations for housing opened. Yet, even though we did our best to wait without expectations or assumptions, we were still disheartened to hear we would have to look elsewhere for a place to live.
It was a bit unsettling for my husband, the leader of our family, to now have the burden of finding a resting place for his wife and son in a matter of three months. Things have continued to become more unsettled as we have sought options of apartments, houses, live-in care options, basement rentals and found ourselves at several dead ends or unrealistic goals. Is it just me or does everything seem to happen all at once like a big dam breaks and whoosh, you're overwhelmed?
Other things rushing through that broken dam and unsettling our home included injury and sickness raiding our home. I took a spill down the stairs at church on Wednesday with our son in the front pack and severely twisted my ankle which now is a swollen rainbow of colors. Praise God I fell in such a way that he wasn't hurt and praise God that he was in the front pack and not on my hip so that I didn't drop him. Then to add insult to injury, we've all had bad colds and sleepless nights throughout the last two weeks. Josiah and I had two bouts with colds and are still recovering from cold number two.
So, when I came across the above picture that I took 5 years ago shortly after beginning school at AFLBS in Minneapolis, MN, I couldn't help but chuckle and tear up at the same time. The last two weeks have been a bit unsettling, but God IS with us each step of the way. Days get rough sometimes and our hearts can get a bit unsettled, but we are not alone. God, the God of angel armies sees our every move. He walks with us and guides us as a Father guides his child.
As we go through this process in the days and weeks ahead, would you pray for us? Join us in prayer over our housing situation. Join us in praying for smooth transitions as we end our time in PA and begin our time in MO.
May God bless your day this day and always, and no matter how smooth or rough this day, know that God is with you each and every step of the way.
