In a few days I will be signing a lease to a condo and moving out of my parent's house. I have lived with them for 23 years. This will be a big change for me. I wanted to testify about how all this came about.

Background. Reasons why I'm moving out:
1. God told me to. (Briefly: Before i graduated from college, i asked Him for (a rather far-fetched) request as confirmation to demonstrate to me that He wanted me to move out. He answered my request. It was quite a resounding, undeniable confirmation!)
2. i would like to have a home to open up to people to share the love of Jesus! i specifically want it close to UCSD to open up to the students there because I am on staff with the Navigators.
3. i need to grow up - in my own eyes
4. i need to grow up - in my parent's eyes

Obstacles and Questions
A few weeks ago, I had found this terrific condo in La Jolla for a very reasonable price. I wanted to get that place, but the person I was supposed to live with couldn't live with me anymore. So I begin to think that maybe I wouldn't move out after all (so much time had passed and so many objections/obstacles kept coming up; it had been over a year since God had originally confirmed that I ought to move out). Then one Saturday morning, I prayed over Ecc 3. I asked the Lord if it is a time for me to plant (stay put) or a time for me to uproot? Saturday night, I found out that another sister, needed a roommate and a place to live. So then I thought, well, maybe I could live with her? So then the next day, I called the landlady who owned the condo that I had wanted. Sadly, I found that she was already checking the references for some people who had turned in an application for the place. She said that if it doesn't work out, then she'd call me. So when I got off the phone, I prayed, "Lord, if you want me to have this place (and i really want this place), then you would make the application fall through. Lord, I will know for sure that this is the place you want me to live if the application falls through!" But even as I prayed & hoped, I felt that it would be impossible. I had "lost" that condo. ;( So I really begin to doubt whether God had wanted me to move out after all...

Confirmation
The following morning, which was a Monday, my dad announced that he is going to sell our house, the house of my growing up years. :( So i spent that day cleaning my house for the realtor. As I cleaned, feeling sad about this sudden uprooting that was about to take place, I realized that God was answering my question of the previous Saturday morning - it was definitely a time for me to uproot! The answer was clear. As my parents move out of our old house, it is also a time for me to move out and separate from them.

Answered Prayer
On Tuesday, I was searching for apartments on the web --- feeling really discouraged because everything was so expensive and nothing seemed to compare to that condo. It seemed that it was the greatest, unfathomable deal that ever hit the market! Just as I sighed, my phone rang. It was the landlady! She asked me if I was still interested in the condo, because it was still available! :) God answered my prayer precisely. Those other applicants (in fact, there were 3 total) all decided last minute that they wanted to live elsewhere. Isn't that neat? It was like God saved the place for me!

Praise
I am really excited. The Lord pulled some amazing strings for me! Out of the impossible, He made a "possible". With all this string-pulling, I know that He really wants me to have this place. I have confidence in His greater purpose and plan for me and for this condo and my roommates and for all the people who will enter this home. Something exciting is on the horizon! =)

Hopes
The condo is located on Camino Huerta. "Huerta" in Spanish means "vegetable garden". This is different than "el jardin" because "el jardin" could be a garden for flowers, plants and all sorts of things, but "huerta" is a term for a garden specific for vegetables in order to eat (another definition is "kitchen garden"). My prayer is that this home would live up to its name. That it would be like a vegetable garden - bearing fruit that will provide sustenance and nourishment for all. May it be a place of growth - that those who come will bear fruit because they spent time in this garden.

Final Confirmation
A few hours ago, I was thinking about this garden idea (huerta) on my way out of my office door. When I opened the door, I noticed a bug of some sort flying away from the door (as if I had disturbed its peace when I opened the door). I walked a few steps away and then wondered, could it be...? So I went back and looked on the handrail. And sure enough, I was right. It was a precious ladybug!

Ladybugs never come to my sterile office building.

It is a wonderfully eerie feeling when you know with such great certainty that the God of the universe is watching over you and loving you ever-so much. What sweet confirmation that I am stepping out in His will as I move out.