There are times God has shown me future to prepare me to accept change.
Early in 2018, this concept came to my mind: "You won't be able to continue to live alone as you have done in the past."
I was 80-years-old at that time. It
was common sense that I would need to make a change but it was very
helpful to have God change my heart on this also. I began to find it
more difficult to have a larger house. I grew to wanting one room with
all my things in arm's reach around me.
I began to think of one of the prophets in the Bible who had a room and bed provided by a godly woman.
2 Kings 4:8-10 And
it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great
woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft
as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto
her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God,
which passeth by us continually. 10 Let
us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for
him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it
shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
I
began to think of moving from Texas where I had lived most of my life.
The thought came to my mind that I might move to Colorado and buy a
little apartment type house. One of our church members lives in
Colorado and it would be nice to be where she was so we could visit.
During the same period of time Pam Padgett, one of our church group who lived in Colorado, began to think, "It would be nice to have Joan Boney move here ... " But then she thought, "But she would never leave Texas."
By February 24, 2019, I had moved to Colorado and was living in a newly converted down stairs room in Pam's house.
So
when the change came, it was no surprise to me, although I didn't
consciously think of it during the months before it happened.
God had fully prepared my heart for the change that was to come so I joyfully went forward without any dread or fear or regret.
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John 16:13 Jesus says:
Howbeit when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into
all truth: for HE shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever HE shall
hear (from God), that shall HE speak: and HE will shew you things to come.
In
summer, 2018, it came into Pam Padgett's mind to convert her downstairs
study into a bedroom and to put a shower into her downstairs 1/2 bath.
(She completed this project in January, 2019.)
On December 6, 2018, I fell at my house in Texas. As the ambulance people rolled me past the front door of my house to take me to hospital, I heard these words from God: "You'll never see this house again." (That did not trouble me at all. I reasoned that God had another plan for me.)
The
night before surgery from the fall where hip and wrist were broken, a
nurse came into my hospital room. She said before they could operate I
needed to sign papers putting someone in charge of me in case I could
not supervise my medical treatment after surgery.
A
member of our church group who also lived in the city where I lived in
Texas, Lubbock, was in my room as the nurse came to get this
information.
I replied to nurse, "Pam Padgett is in charge of me." (God must have put it into my heart for I don't recall thinking of the subject before this happened.)
This church visitor said, "How can Pam be in charge? She doesn't even live here."
I said: "I don't know HOW she can be, but she is."
She called Pam and said, "Joan said you are in charge of her." Pam simply said, "Okay."
From
Colorado, 450 miles away, Pam stayed in contact with the nurses at the
Hospital and at the Rehab Hospitals. She worked with the realtors
concerning the sale of the house. On one of her trips to Texas, Pam
took photos of objects in the house and asked me to identify those
things I wanted to keep. She worked with my contractor so he could know
which items were to go into storage. She worked with the estate sale
people. She flew from Denver to Lubbock 3 or 4 times to help me in
various ways. And finally she flew to Lubbock when I was released from
hospital and moved me to her house in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on
February 24, 2019, when I was released from hospital.
God worked everything out.
Isaiah 45:2 God says:
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will
break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
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In September 2022, Pam Padgett was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of bladder cancer.
I just kept thinking of the following scripture:
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
God
arranged for me to live in Pam's home. I was 84 when this cancer
appeared. There is no shadow of turning with God. I just kept knowing
that God would not set this up and allow it to be taken away.
Story of this cancer: click here
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