Home Sweet Home - From Homeless to Hopeful

A little over two years ago, Alan and I were faced with being homeless. We left our home in Bushnell, Florida with a U-Haul full of our belongings and five hundred dollars to our name. My aunt got us a storage building to put all of our things in and we had no clue where we were going to stay. For a while we stayed in a house that belonged to a friend of ours without electricity. It was a scary and difficult time in our lives. Then, thankfully a close friend and family member allowed us to rent a one room apartment she had behind her house. It was a tool shed that had been remodeled into a "cottage". We lived there until we could get on our feet and paid a very small amount of rent to live there. That tool shed was such a blessing to us. We had shelter and we were safe.
I remember going to church and a pastor telling us that everything that had been taken from us would be returned seven fold.
From the tool shed, we moved into a one bedroom single wide trailer. We felt so blessed to have our own home. We were ready to get our furniture from storage and move in. The place was very small so we only got a few things out of storage and bought a new bed because ours was too big for the trailer. Eventually. Nicholas came home to live with us and we needed something bigger. We found out that our neighbors living in the two bedroom house that our landlord had, were moving into his three bedroom. We were blessed once again, moving into the small two bedroom home. It was very small but just big enough for the three of us. Sadly, when we were ready to move in, we found out that all of our stuff was stolen from our storage building. That was a very heartbreaking moment for us. We had no furniture, curtains, household items, etc. We lost personal keepsakes like photos and journals. Still to this day, when I think about it, I get very upset, however God is doing a work in both of us regarding material things.
You see at one point in my life, I had an abundance. I had a 4800 square foot house with a pool. I went from having everything materially I could ever ask for to having almost nothing. We had to start over completely. The funny thing is with each little step, with every little thing we acquired, we were both so tickled, so thankful and feeling so blessed. A few weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to be able to move into the three bedroom home. We spent a lot of time painting and decorating. Not only did we get blessed with a bigger, nicer home, but the couple who moved out was buying new furniture and blessed us with a living room set, a bedroom set and several household items we needed. Yesterday, we were working in the yard and both Alan and I were overwhelmed with a sense of being blessed abundantly. I believe that God wants us to be thankful and content with what we have and little by little, He adds blessings to us. Each time we have become more and more thankful for the little things. The moral of this story is that nothing is ever too hopeless for God. Once you realize that your provision comes from Him, you will have no reason to worry about where you will live, things that you lack and you realize that He will provide all your needs, even if it is one baby step at a time.
Someday, Alan and I will buy our own home. Until then, we are ever so grateful for the home we live in now. It is full of love, handmade items and gifts from people that God has put in our lives. We are living in abundance. Abundance of love, gratitude and blessings. We have wonderful neighbors in a close community where every one knows each other. It's like a family and we love it. We don't know what the future holds or where God will take us next, but we don't worry. Our faith and trust is in the Lord God Almighty. We willingly surrender everything to Him and He does not let us down. We are truly living a blessed life. Look around you, do you see the blessings? Are you thankful for the little things? I believe that God will not bless any of us with more if we don't appreciate and take care of what He has already blessed us with. Count your blessings, write down what you are thankful for. If you do this, you will see the blessings you have and focus on that rather than what you lack. I know I do.