Serendipity

Serendipity. It's not a word that you hear very often in British English, but it's generally used to describe the happy or beneficial coincidences of life - things that take us by surprise in a pleasant way.

Some people would say that serendipitous circumstances are not actually "coincidences" at all; that they are more like "fate" or destiny. "All things happen for a reason," they say.

Well, I have to confess that I don't really believe that all things happen for a reason. Some things, especially the negative ones, just happen because we live in a fallen world, and sinful people, including myself, sometimes do stupid or selfish things. Not everything that happens to us was "meant to be." Things might simply be a consequence of my own or someone else's bad choices.

But then there are the serendipitous experiences of life, where it really seems as if Someone greater has been arranging the circumstances for you. As someone once said, "When I pray, lots of coincidences happen; and when I don't pray, I don't experience so many coincidences."

And so I'm intrigued by the serendipity surrounding the new flat that I'm going to be renting here in Spain. As you know, I've been homeless for the past two years - unable to find a house or flat either to rent or buy. God has been faithful amidst the crisis and has always provided temporary accommodation for me... but this has meant that my dog and I have moved home more than a dozen times in the past two years.

As 2024 was drawing to close, another deadline was looming for us. Time was running out in the place I'd been living for the past six months. I had nowhere to store my furniture when I left for Christmas, and nowhere to live when I returned to Spain in mid January. I had been intensifying the search during November, looking at apartments in nearby towns and sometimes even driving as far as 100 km along the coast, just to find something short term that would allow me to continue the search into a third year of the post-pandemic housing crisis. But there was nothing to be found. Either the landlords demanded to see proof of a huge salary, or they told me that they wouldn't rent to someone with a pet.

So there was something serendipitous about the fact that the flat I've now committed to rent only became available when the previous renters moved out of it in early December.... and that before the landlord could clean it up and advertise it for rent again, someone in the building mentioned it to a homeless family in my church. It was too small for them, so this meant that I was able to view it and agree to rent it before it was advertised on any estate agents' websites.

Then there was the serendipity of the fact that (as I wrote a couple of days ago) I'm moving into a building where I already have a relational connection with all three of my neighbours. The two neighbours in the flats upstairs from mine are ladies that I've been speaking to for years, because we often met while walking our dogs; they knew about my search for a home and have been following my journey with interest. And it turns out the third neighbour, in the flat next door to mine, is my hairdresser's sister. Loli has been cutting my hair for fifteen years, and I've already met one of her sisters who lives in the same street. Now I'm going to meet another one and continue building my network of people to witness to here in town.

My journey isn't finished. I can't afford to rent forever, and I'll continue to look for a little home of my own to buy.... but at this stage of the journey, I'm seeing God's hand in the serendipity of my next steps.

Even though I won't start paying rent until January (the flat is being painted and having some repairs done while I'm away for Christmas) I was able to move my furniture there this week, thus solving the problem of my not having any place to store it. I've also been able to leave my car in its new underground parking spot instead of leaving it out in the winter weather during the month that I'm in Scotland. I have to confess I felt thankful to have only a small car, because the parking bay is not very wide at all. I'm not sure that a bigger vehicle would have fitted there. I can only just open the door to get in and out of the car. (For the sharp eyed people, who can spot my dog peering out the car window: no, she won't be spending the next month in the parking garage, but will be staying with missionary friends of mine who graciously agreed to look after her over an extended period so that I could spend more time with my Mum.)

Christmas presents...

Well, I hardly dared to believe it (things have fallen through so many times over the past two years) but now I really do have a new home for 2025. I moved all my furniture over to the flat yesterday, even as cleaners (friends from my church) were busy deep-cleaning the whole apartment. Today and tomorrow, I'm packing everything else into my storage shed, as well as deep cleaning the place I've been in for the past few months. I also needed to take my dog to meet the family (and baby!) where she'll be staying over the next month while I'm in the UK.

My new landlord will still be doing some repairs and some re-painting while I am gone, so that everything will be ready for me to move in when I return in January.

It's been an interesting "coincidence" for me that the two neighbours in the flats upstairs from mine are ladies that I've often met while walking the dogs.... and this morning I discovered yet another "coincidence" about my new location. While my hairdresser was cutting my hair this morning and I was explaining where my new place will be, she suddenly gave a gasp and said, "You'll be the next door neighbour to my sister. She's in the other ground floor flat in that building!" So it turns out that there's already a relational connection with all three of my neighbours, and I am trusting that God will deepen the friendships over the coming months, as well as re-strengthening connections with my former neighbours who'll be not too far away now.

What a nice Christmas present - to have not only a new place to live, but also new neighbours to reach out and share my faith with. God is good.

(Photo shows one of our Alhaurín roundabouts at Christmas time.)

 

Are you an Ethan or a Heman?

Over the past week, I've been reading some psalms from the Old Testament. Perhaps you know that the Bible contains 150 psalms, divided into 5 books. This morning, I was reading the last two psalms in the third book. Psalm 88 was written by a man called Heman the Ezrahite, while Psalm 89 was written by a man called Ethan the Ezrahite. These two men were from the same tribe and were living through the same time in history, yet their two psalms could not be more radically different.

Psalm 88 is full of despair. The writer says in verse 3, "My life is full of troubles and death draws near." Even the melody of the psalm, according to the title, is a tune called, "The Suffering of Affliction."

Psalm 89 is in complete contrast, full of praise for God's unfailing love. Ethan declares the nature and character of God: His creative power, His unfailing truth, His righteousness and justice. Heman, on the other hand, writes about God's anger and accuses Him of injustice.

Heman and Ethan, both Ezrahites, both writers of psalms. Were their situations really so radically different, or is the difference in tone more because Ethan chose thankfulness while Heman chose self-pity?

Ethan is very clear in vs 15-18 of Psalm 89: it is those who respond to the call to worship who will know God's presence, His strength and His protection.

As we read on in the last fifteen verses of Ethan's psalm, we discover that he is also grappling with hard questions. He's wondering whether God has rejected them (rejected the people of Israel and their king, David) because of their disobedience. His life is no simpler or easier than that of his relative, Heman.

But amidst all his questions and doubts, Ethan refuses self-pity and chooses instead to praise God and trust in His unfailing character. That's what makes all the difference.

When troubles come, am I an Ethan or a Heman?

What about you? Whatever you're facing right now, is your response more like Heman's self-pity or more like Ethan's choice to praise God? That choice will make all the difference in the world.

Counting the cost... and celebrating breakthrough

In my recent (December 2024) newsletter, I shared an overview of my 2-year journey to find a new home here in Spain and the societal factors that have made the search so difficult.

I am incredibly grateful to those of you who wrote to share Bible verses or words of encouragement, urging me not to give up but to "hang in there" and trust for a breakthrough. Others of you wrote, humbly confessing that you hadn't in fact been praying for my housing; that it was hard to persevere in prayer for a situation that was continuing over such a long time frame.... and I totally understand that. Thank you for your humility and honesty, and for your renewed prayers in recent days.

As time has gone by with seemingly no answer to prayer (except for all the short term housing options God has provided for me), I've been only too aware that for some people this raised the question of whether it was God's timing for me to leave Spain. One person in particular was rather vocal in the belief that my lack of housing meant it was time for me to retire from missions, to leave Spain and to move back to the UK.

Believe me, despite all the assurances to the contrary, I have regularly asked God that same question over the past two years. As far back as last summer, I typed up a list of everything I would need to do if the time ever came for me to leave here. It was a long, complex and costly list, including things like:

• filling in all the government paperwork to surrender my Spanish residency and my right to ever live in Spain again in the future
• surrendering my Spanish healthcare card and re-applying to get into the British NHS
• handing in my Spanish driving licence and re-applying for a British one
• closing my Spanish bank account
• selling my car and giving away my furniture, kitchen appliances, etc.
• finding a family to adopt my dog 
• resigning from all the teams and roles I hold as a missionary; finding people to take my place in some of those teams
• letting all my prayer partners know that I will no longer be a missionary and therefore no longer a recipient of their financial gifts

And those are just some of the things that would need to happen before I left Spain; the list includes other things that would need to happen once I was back in the UK... things like finding a doctor and dentist.... and probably some kind of part time job to support myself in the future. Reading the list was heartbreaking, and was one of the main factors that made me very wary of taking such a big, life-changing step without complete certainty that it was what God was asking of me.

Then a few things began to happen in recent weeks. One Sunday, the pastor stood up in church and led a special prayer time for all the people in the congregation that were homeless. After the service, a woman came to me and said that her sister was an estate agent and had access to some property listings that didn't have squatters in them. Her sister turned out to be someone I had met in the street a couple of times, as she got a border collie puppy around the same time that I got Maiki. She's been taking me to see one or two properties for sale in Alhaurín and in another nearby town. (Nothing suitable yet, but at least things are beginning to move.)

Over this past week, one of my homeless church friends phoned me.  She had been offered a flat for rent, but, with only two bedrooms, it was too small for their family of five, which includes grown up children. Would I be interested in viewing it? It's centrally located in the main avenue of the town, and so I made an arrangement to view it after church today.

Then, during church, a second option presented itself. An American lady who is renting a house in the next town (about 15 km away) told me she was looking for a housemate and would love to share with me if I'm open to it.  So, I also went to visit her place after church today.  Suddenly, after months of no options, two places became available in the same day.

The challenge with the second house was that it was full of antique furniture and displays of china; my friend didn't yet know if the owners would be open to having a dog in the property.

The first little flat, on the other hand, was very simple, even slightly "worn" looking, as the previous renters, who just moved out a few days ago, had broken some light fittings and obviously allowed their cats to damage some of the furniture.  I told the landlord that I had furniture of my own, and he said he'd be happy to get rid of all the old stuff that was there, as it wasn't his original furniture anyway. When he heard I was going to the UK for a month over Christmas, he said he'd carry out repairs of the light fittings, fix things up in general and repaint the shabby outdoor patio while I was gone... but that I could store my furniture in the flat during December, and start paying rent from January. (Initially he said he'd waive the one-month deposit they usually ask for, but then realised he'd need the money to fix things up.)

It's not my "dream home," but it will be a stable place for me to live while I continue the search for a permanent home to buy... which should hopefully become easier after the government passes the anti-squatting law. (Click here to read about that. The law was passed by Congress, then rejected by the Senate and is currently still being debated.) 

The flat is in the town centre, in an apartment block that has a pizza restaurant on the ground floor (but not so close that I would be able to smell pizza cooking, haha.) It has two small bedrooms, an internal patio where I could hang up my laundry, and an underground parking garage so that I wouldn't need to search for parking out on the street.

After two years of searching, this is finally a solution that will allow me to have a place of my own while I continue to look for something more permanent. It's close to my old neighbourhood, so I will easily be able to see all my old neighbours and take their dogs for a walk with mine. Perhaps the most amusing thing of all is that the neighbours in the two flats that look down on my patio are ladies that I've known for several years, as we've often met while walking our dogs. They were quite excited to learn that I might be their new neighbour.

Two of the things that have made it impossible to find rental property have been a) that the landlords demand proof of income, not wanting the rental contract to be more than 20% of your salary, and b) that most landlords are unwilling to rent to someone with a cat or dog. So it was completely unusual today that this homeowner asked for no proof of income and was perfectly happy for me to move in with a dog. It certainly seems to be a door that God is opening in response to renewed prayer over the past week.

If all goes well with the lawyers and preparing the contract, the arrangement will be confirmed next week - allowing me to leave my furniture in the flat while I travel over Christmas, and then to move in when I return in January.

If this indeed is God's provision for the coming season, I look forward to giving you the news very soon.

(The photo above shows the location of the flat in the main street of the town, while the marker more to the right of the photo shows the location of the house that I lived in for 13 years.)