Chapter 43 – New Songs

God of My Mercy

Psalm 9:9-10

“The LORD also will be a Refuge for the oppressed, a Refuge in times of trouble. And they that know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.”

Psalm 59:16-17

“But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy Mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto Thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.”

It was an interesting time for us filled with multiple thoughts of this could be our last this or that in our home. Trying to embrace every memory we could while keeping our eyes focused on the Lord, and our hearts filled with trusting hope in what we believed He was leading us toward and for His reasons. Surrender to Him and His process was paramount.

It was a late season for the housing market yet our agent had encouraged us that we had a beautiful home and it should sell pretty quickly. It didn’t take long for her tune to change about price and Peter and I were aware that she seemed to be chasing the market a bit, exactly what we didn’t want to do and we told her. We had put a lot of prayer and research into the process but ultimately knew we had to trust the Lord, and His Timing.

We got a text from our agent in mid-December that year, saying someone wanted to visit. We had some surveillance set-up and with both of us available at the time we decided to take Kaiyah and Cotton with us and left Gideon and Pumpkin to keep watch and to stay in their cozy spots. We took a little drive and waited, and waited… and waited... It was abnormally long so we headed back and texted our agent. She was unusually casual and dismissive about the lack of communication. Kaiyah looked totally confused by the ordeal but still her usual patient husky self. Cotton thankfully enjoyed the window seat view of the world outside. We had parked under some very large trees watching and waiting.

Peter and I decided to head back. As we turned the corner heading for our home a small dark blue BMW driven by a lady we did not know (but both had seen before) roared our way from the street side of our home almost running into us and went to the house at the end of the road we had just turned. It was very odd. And dangerous. Over the years we had seen some strange behaviors in front of our home from some of the residents living at that location and from others as well, and all was duly noted.

Upon our return, our home was quiet. Both our fur boys were in our bedroom. Pumpkin met us with a very big warm Pumpkin roll at the entrance and Gideon was trumpeting meows from under our bed. Gideon was never a fan of strangers but he seemed quite agitated and gave us a piece of his mind. I gave assuring pets to both of them and apologized for the odd intrusion to their lives and our home. Peter and I brought in Kaiyah and Cotton and got them all settled before very quickly checking things in our home. We discovered small, drilled holes in our like-new wood furniture and a few on tiles and other places. They had tampered with our office cabinets which looked like an amateur detective job and had even “dusted” the piano. Also, there was a disgusting odor in our personal closet and bathroom. Other than that things seemed secure.

We did try to find out who had been through our home and our agent was vague at best - that was not a good situation and we did our best to stay surrendered and to forgive. We had zero reason why anyone would have done those things to us and our home but we did know they lived nearby. The continued irrational behaviors from people we did not know were truly unbelievable. We had already communicated concerns to our agent before our listing had become active. Her indifference really bothered us. Looking back on that situation, amongst others, we should have contacted the authorities and let them fully address what happened.

The tension around the move and other things was building in pressure. I was asking the Lord what was going on and what we were to do. Peter had left his job preparing to start his new adventure and yet there was so much “push-back” on our moves forward and “pulling-out” when we would consider just staying put. It was a tug-of-war like nothing I had experienced before. We reassured ourselves that the Lord was our Peace, our Strength and He was With us and even though this journey was very unusual, we knew we had to follow Him wherever He would go and trust Him with the consequences.

Kaiyah was doing well, holding her own and enjoying her little jaunts in the backyard and being by me playing the piano no matter what the hour; there she would be listening and resting. I had found a new way to pour out my heart to the Lord and to listen quietly to Him as I fumbled my way along the keys. New melodic tunes began to develop and ones that the animals seemed to especially enjoy too. I began working those musical tones as part of my practice time along with site-reading the old hymnals in my care. Pumpkin would lay right by me or closer to Kaiyah. Both looked so peaceful. Gideon would occasionally sing a meow and do his flop rolling on to his back, and then flip to the other side with the happiest expression tucking into a ball of shiny sleek black fur. Cotton would sing tunes from his home cage or his playstation. One tune in particular inspired me to write a little accompaniment and boy was he ever surprised and curiously engaged. I never thought I would have a musical duet with a cockatiel but sure enough, it was so! Whether he was on my head, on the piano or from wherever he was perched it would just happen. That time with all of them together will be forever in my heart and I will, by God’s Grace, never forget those tunes or the conversation songs between Papa God and me - never.

With the storm winds picking up strength around us those moments were especially calming, healing and assuring of God’s Presence and Love for us and our little furtherly (fur and feather family). Despite the tug-of-war and difficulties we held onto God’s Word and Promises. We exercised our faith muscles; our believing and trusting Him no matter what and choosing to walk with Jesus, trusting in His Mercy. With purrs, tweets, husky tailie wagglies, and the love Peter and I shared; we all snuggled together under the Shadow of our Almighty God’s Wings where we would abide and find refuge.

…Until we meet again…