Shazaam!

Things to say when someone gives you amazing news:
Wow! (Variations include Wowie, Wowzers, etc)
That's great!
Awesome!
Wahoooo!
That's so exciting!
Hooray!
Hurrah!
Holy Guacamole!
Golly Wolly!
Shazaam! (Credit to the Boss for this one!)

I wish I could have recalled ANY of these on Wednesday when I talked to my Mom....
It had been a few days since I talked to the old gal, so I called her on my lunch break. I started in with my usual regalia of stories..... "so then I talked about pot pie" and "then I was dancing left and everyone else was dancing right".... She waited till I finished to drop this candied bomb.
My Mom is by no means a downer, but these are not typical words out of her mouth nonetheless. So when she said, "Rachel, We have good news for you." I was imagining that they found another Barry Manilow record for me at a resale shop or they just bought a frozen coke machine for our basement or they were given a fountain for our pond or the hairiest young-ish single man EVER just started attending their church.... you know, something like that. :)
I was not prepared for her next sentence to be, "Our house is completely paid off."
Because I was unprepared, my response to this amazing news was only "WHAT?!"

It has always been a big deal to my Grandpa that our house be paid off. So with the insurance money my Grandma got back after his death she chose to use a portion of it to pay off our mortgage. 10 years left to pay....... gone, free and clear! Just like that. So an enormous thank you to Gramps many long hours at the Stroh's brewery and to Gran for her incredible generosity.
Even moreso though a monstrous thank you to the Lord for His provision- it is so wonderfully bizarre.

Especially at this time with such a broken economy, it would seem reasonable to pray that you could pay your bills- keep your head above water- stay afloat. It would really seem utterly ridiculous to even ask for a chunk of money huge enough to pay off your house. It speaks volumes to me that God chose this time and not a moment earlier to give this gift to my family. No wisdom of mans(not even if Larry Burkett was the man), no careful scrimping on my parents part could have paid this debt -- truly this is something only God could do. And just in case He hasn't given us reason enough to trust Him.... He has proven Himself once again to be more than enough. You think it can't be done? Watch this! :)

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post listing all the things that sucked about life right now and how hard it sometimes is. This money doesn't change the fact that life is hard and sometimes sucks. I don't think God does great things expecting that we will be put in our place, feeling sorry that we ever experienced the weight of sadness or weariness. Instead I think He does great things expecting that in the midst of crap, we will stand with arms raised to the sky blessing His name for being there LORD over it all, for being with us and for giving us hope to carry on. I said at the end of that same blog that I was trusting that my God was big enough to hear and handle all these pains and doubts. And this just proves it to me once again.... He's got me.

One thing I forgot to include in that "theme song blog" was how I had been walking all over that night looking for chocolate chips to make cookies- seriously I went to 3 stores before I finally found some. It was like a holy craving keeping me outside though until it was dark and the moon was just starting to rise. It was full and bright and hovering just next to the steeple of Holy Name Cathedral. The Lord and I have had a thing about the moon since Kenya- it has become the Lord's way of reminding me of my smallness and His awesomeness; of my need to trust Him and His ability to show off His beauty with even the darkest backdrop. That night, in those moments as I stood staring at the presence of the moon the Lord was assuring me that He had me "in the hollow of His hand." Do you know this song?
Safe am I, safe am I in the hollow of His hand
Sheltered O'er, Sheltered O'er with His love forevermore
No ill can harm me; no foe alarm me
For He keeps both day and night
Safe am I, safe am I in the hollow of His hollow of His hand.

It makes my soul well up with praise at the incomparable wisdom and kindness of our God- His timing is truly PERFECT. I can't even imagine what a feeling of relief my parents are experiencing right now with the weight of that payment lifted. No theme song played, but I have been reminded once again that there is no hero but the Lord and on Him alone I wait. What a blessing to have one more standing stone to point to and remember how God really can do anything!

So add WHAT?! to the list- it's totally legit....
even though it's definitely not as cool sounding as
SHAZAAM! :)