I had struggled all weekend with this apartment thing. So Sunday while I was at church (which was in French) I asked God why I was struggling so much with this. It was almost like He smiled and said, "you know this is not the place for you but you have heard so much negative about the possibility of you finding an apartment you are acting out of desperation - you are not desperate!" As soon as I made the decision not to take the apartment I had such peace - I can't tell you. He just kept reminding me that He is not broke and neither am I!! So first thing Monday morning I had Marie-lne call the landlady and tell her I would not take the apartment. There was such peace and joy that I almost skipped out of her office. She looked at me like I was nuts - she's not the first to think that. But she does not know my Dad nor does she know the conversation we had had this weekend.
Before I got back to the apartment I had a message from Grace to call Fran (two ladies I met last Sunday at Church) about a new apartment in a house pretty close to the church. Fran and I went to see it Monday afternoon. Jack was very nice and the apartment is brand new - no one had lived in it. He and his wife built two apartments on to the back of their house and he did all the wood work himself - it's amazing. Anyway they did not ask me for an assurance letter or deposit from the bank. In France you have to have a native French person sign a guarantee that if you skip town they will pay your rent. CRAZY - even the French people think so, but they have to do it even for each other. So Fran picked me up at the hotel and took me to the apartment - Jack does not speak English and my French still leaves a lot to be desired, so she interpreted for us. The studio (as I call it) was nice but quite a distance from the bus stop and not exactly the floor plan I would have chosen - the bedroom is upstairs and the bathroom is downstairs :( I told him I would think about it and let him know in the morning as I had another apartment closer to the bus stop to look at that afternoon. Fran could not go with me to the second apartment but it was fine because the landlady spoke English. That apartment was worse than the first apartment I had looked at so I called Fran to let Jack know that I wanted the apartment. There was an unfurnished apartment that I had seen that I really, really liked that kept tugging at me as well. When she called back she said that Jack was showing the apartment the next day and would let me know by 7:00 Tuesday night. Again I prayed - God if this is the one you want me to have make it clear and if not make it clear. So at 6:00 Fran called and said that I could have the apartment if I wanted it. I still did not have an answer so I told her I was going to take the bus out there and see how it would be to walk at night. On the 15 minute walk from the bus stop to the house Dad and I talked again. I reaffirmed to Him that I wanted to be where He wanted me to be and if it was "my" desire that was in the way to let me know. When I got to the house Jack saw me and invited me into the courtyard. He said his wife would be home soon and I asked to see the apartment one more time. We had just finished looking upstairs when Annekathrin came home. She is German/French and a wonderful lady. She speaks pretty good English and we had a good chat. It was after meeting them both and talking with them that I knew this was the place for me - not so much for the apartment but for what God wants to do in their lives :) I told them that I would take the apartment and asked how soon I could move in. Their response was as soon as I get the renter's insurance. We discussed some of the details and Annekathrin took me back to the hotel while Jack fixed dinner for them.
Today Jack found renter's insurance for me and they asked me to met them at the house at 5:00. Annekathrin took me to the insurance agency so she could translate for me and we got the renter's insurance (mandatory in France). Then we went back to the house and Jack called the phone company and got that taken care of. Annekathrin said she wanted to take me back to the hotel and she drove the opposite direction to town so she could show me how to get to the University from the house.
I said all that to say this - God is so awesome and I know that He has the rest of the details worked out. I have a bank account and an apartment in France without knowing anybody. It took me three weeks - but unless you have been here and faced all the road blocks you really can't appreciate how much of a miracle that is. My apartment is fully furnished with everything I will possible need and Annekathrin said if I need something that is not there to just ask. It is also the newest and least expensive apartment I looked at. As we were finishing up tonight I told them I needed to know how to have the bank make the check out Friday morning because I don't have my checks yet. We discussed the deposit and first month's rent and how to direct deposit it. When I asked them the prorated amount for the rest of September they both said - "no nothing" just pay the first of October!!!!
When I would thank Annekathrin today she would say I can't believe that you would go to Africa and then come here and know no one. She probably made reference to it two or three times today. She wanted to know how I knew Fran and I told her I met her a church and that there were five people from the Church looking for an apartment for me. She said that she had read how in America that people could go to the church when they could not get help from the government and she thought that was amazing. She said it is not like that here in France. When I told her that she and Jack were an answer to my prayer she didn't know what I meant. I told her that I had prayed that someone would be willing to rent to me without the assurance. I told her that they were the answer to that prayer. She said, "I guess it could be if you believe it is so". I am excited to see what God has in store for this quiet little community and for Jack and Annekathrin!!!
Again thank you everyone for your prayers - Grace calls me a missionary. I don't really think of myself that way - I just know that God puts me in places where the ground is hard and He just waters. I love to watch people bloom like beautiful flowers - watered and fed by the Spirit of God.
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