Psalm 103

Psalm 103:1-5

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

I have been thinking and meditating a lot on these verses lately. Some thoughts swirling around in my head:
*God is praise-worthy, regardless of anything else
*God is good to me, has been good to me, and will continue to be good to me--and that will be true even if God asks us to live in a shack (though I really hope not to be tested in this!) We can all fill in our own 'thing'. . .
*The things God does for me are things that I can always count on--forgiveness, redemption, healing, mercy, etc. They are also things that ONLY God can really do for me. God is my ONLY source for those things that really matter.
*God fills my life with good things; the more that I think about it, the more I think that this primarily means filling my life with more of God. The rest of the good things I desire, or that God desires to give me are secondary to closeness with God.

So, to update you all on our housing situation, we are basically at the following place. We would love a yard. We feel a deep conviction to live within a certain strategic geographical area due to ministry needs (accessibility to staff, teams, banks, stores, buses, etc.). We have considered buying land and building the "ideal" home/office, because nothing we've seen or heard about so far would work. However, this area is quite a bit more expensive and much more 'constructed' than other outlying areas. We need to consider office space for SI. Renting a separate building/space would mean a huge increase in budget for SI. We actually like having the office in or close to our home. We also need to see about qualifying for a loan should the 'perfect' thing become available. Most immediately, we would like to renew the rent contract for our current house--to buy time, or to stay in indefinitely. Minus the yard issue, we believe it is the perfect place for us and SI-CR. God truly handpicked this house for us, without a doubt. Our landlady would like to renew the contract, however is considering how much to increase the rent to account for the rising inflation rates here. So, we are holding our breath, waiting. We are praying that the increase will be affordable, both for us and SI-CR. If not, we have no idea what our next step will be. Please pray with us. And if we end up living in a shack, :), I hope I'll still be able to trust and praise the Lord. Hold me to that, please!