Jehovah-Jireh

"then come, let us go up to bethel, where i will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever i have gone.” genesis 35:3


"then i will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. i will praise you with the lyre, o God, my God" psalm 43:4


the Bible says a ton about altars. and i didn't really even realize it until quite recently. my friend luke was saying how it's important that we "build" altars so that we can remember those times in our lives when God was faithful and we saw Him. now whether we physically build those or we just write them out, we need to pick up this practice again. God does work in our lives, but we tend to forget when He does. when those tough times come around we cannot seem to remember the times when God was faithful, and have trust that He will be faithful again. 


so here we go. altar number one. (and excuse me, i really like to ramble. but i do believe that the best way to understand how huge of a miracle this was, you gotta know the whole thing haha)


as many of you know, i currently attend seattle pacific university. i have about two years left, and honestly there are days when i cannot wait to be done. but i do really feel that God has called me to remain at spu for the time being. during spring quarter two thousand and eleven, i went though a time when i looked at transferring to azusa pacific university, but when push came to shove i really felt like i was supposed to stay at spu. needless to say i was a bit frazzled. my freshman year here had been very difficult for a myriad of reasons, and i in no way wanted another year like that. at the time i was registered to live with a very dear friend on the same floor i had lived on freshman year. but right after i turned azusa down, i felt God calling me to switch roommates and switch dorms. while i was horribly dismayed to leave my dear friend and floormate, i really felt God saying this was the right thing to do. so i switched dorms and roommates up to be the smc (spiritual ministry coordinator)'s roommate on 1st east ashton. the smc was emily mccoy, a girl i had become great friends with during spring quarter. after switching, i immediately felt a humongous sense of peace and was not nearly as anxious, even though i admit i was a bit nervous about the huge change but i knew God would take care of it. my new floor was 15 girls (12 of them freshmen) and i was so excited to be on a smaller floor! i began to get to know some of the girls through facebook, and i was so excited to live with them as they all seemed so wonderful. 


then, last weekend, emily called me and told me that she would not be returning to spu for financial reasons. she had tried really hard to make it work, but God seemed to be shutting the doors everywhere she went. she went and had met with a financial aid advisor at spu and left finding out she had to pay more money than she had thought, not less. so she saw that as God shutting doors, and i did too. i was really really bummed out because i had been so excited to room with her. i didn't know if i could survive a new dorm all by myself, and i honestly was really scared. i continued to pray about it and ask God for help and direction, and that He would provide, but i was still very scared and very nervous. this was last friday. 


then came yesterday. i knew that smc's moved in on the 16th (this coming friday) and so they would need to find a new smc to move onto 1st east ashton by friday. however, i had kinda just assumed that i would live with the new smc. by yesterday, i had kinda gotten used to the idea and was rather excited because i had begun to get to know the girls on 1st and i had talked with a few of them and i was very excited to get to know them more. they all seemed really cool. i mean really cool. so i was finally getting okay with the idea that emily was not returning. then i got on the train to come home from work, my dad started talking. i guess he had called the woman in charge of housing yesterday and she had told him some not-so-great news. they had found a replacement smc for emily, and the smc had a roommate. and so needless to say they were going to move me off of 1st east and i really didn't have a choice about it. awesome.


so, as of last night, i was no longer allowed to live on the floor i had become excited to live on, and i didn't have a roommate, and i didn't know where i was living. oh, and i don't do well with the unknown most of the time. so i finally got home and sat down and talked about it with my parents. my gut reaction was, honestly, i'm done with spu. i wanted to quit, work for a quarter, and do like a bible school overseas in january. that was my gut reaction. my mom reminded me that that would be running from my problems and that isn't the answer. so after talking about it, we agreed to sit down with the woman in charge of housekeeping and to see what my options were. i knew there was an open room on 5th east ashton but i would be placed with a roommate i didn't know, and i would have a much larger floor (40+), and i would also have sophomores that i would need to get to know. but thats how we left it and we set up the meeting for today. i was still very scared, and very nervous. it was one of those things where i just needed to take a leap of faith and trust that God had plans to prosper and not to harm. this was about the biggest leap of faith i had ever been asked to take. and i wasn't so sure i wanted to. i talked with luke and aubrey about it last night, and they reminded me God really was in control and knew what He was doing. 


driving to work this morning. i get a call from emily, as i'm pulling into seattle. and she says that she anonymously recieved a $5,000 scholarship yesterday which meant she might be coming back to spu. she was going to contact the smc program and see what could happen. my meeting with housing was scheduled for 11:30. around 10:30, i got another call from emily. she told me that the smc staff was going to replace emily as smc on 1st east since she had pulled out, which made a lot of sense. she then told me that she was indeed returning to spu for sure. the room on 5th east ashton was available for two girls, and i asked emily what she thought, and she said yes. 


so last night, i didn't know where i was living. today by 11, i found out that not only did i have a place to live, my roommate was indeed one of my best friends. and God worked everything else out. actually, He worked everything out. i was so stunned when i found all of this out, i didn't know what to say. everything that i had been praying for and my parents had been praying for and my friends had been praying for had been answered. my mom prayed specifically this morning for God to open an opportunity that i would have never come up with on my own and He did. what an amazing God we serve. even now as i'm writing about it, i'm getting the chills and i can't stop smiling. he answered my prayers. he provided. when i learned to trust him completely and to take a leap of faith, He came through in an incredible way. In a way that only He can, not in a way that i could have ever imagined. as i look back over the summer, and especially the last weekend, i can see how God has used each step to make this happen. even when i was in pain and hurting and angry, God has redeemed it all for His glory. 


so i wanted to share this with you, to "build" an altar. i have named this altar "Jehovah-Jireh" which means that God will provide. and He has. in so many incredible ways. i'm so stinking excited to see how God is going to use this year in my life. He obviously has some great plan for emily and i on 5th east, as well as for robin (the new smc on 1st east), and i simply cannot wait to see what it is. 


i pray that you are all enjoying your day! 
in Him,
tay

emily and i <3