Old and New Housing Search April 18 2017

RENT

Last night I had trouble sleeping. Normally I easily sleep through the night. Maybe my subconscious was more worried than my conscious mind.

Thankfully my rent in is paid up through until tomorrow, Wednesday April 19. It is 7 days until my retirement income arrives. So at 12 dollars a night I will need 84 dollars to close that gap. They may carry me for 1 or 2 nights. But sooner than later I expect God to provide the money.

It has been long time since things were this tight. When I was first homeless 2 and a half years ago this was common. My provision for housing was just a few nights at a time and I did not have a monthly retirement income arriving on the 4th Wednesday.

When I am awake I have peace of mind that somehow God will provide again right on time. But when asleep I think my faith is not active.

What I have been preaching about on Saturdays is centered on improving our prayer life by reflecting on the attributes of God. When I am awake my faith is strong because I know that God is faithful. He is my provider. Jesus is my Good Shepherd. He will never leave or forsake me.

PUBLISH

What I do have trouble with consciously is resisting the feeling of guilt and shame. I have been telling myself and others that I would have published valuable items online long ago. It has not happened yet. That disturbs me.

I keep researching, planning and preparing. But I have not yet gone public. It is my hope and expectation that when that happens then I will reach out to more people who will value my writings, they will pray for me and there will come more income from donations.

HOUSING
By the grace of God my housing voucher was extended for one month until May 13.

I have been reviewing my notes from my previous searches to notice what I might have overlooked or is worth repeating. That is repeating the old way.

Then there is a new way too. During this round I will also explore leads to locations that I has ignored like Fort Worth, Duncanville, Lewisville, Rowlett, etc.

I will also expand my search to some other cities. There are ways to search for those to accept section 8 housing vouchers in other cities that I had ignored. If I get a good contact outside of DFW then I can get another extension. I am especially interested in College Station and Bryan Texas. About 5 to 6 years ago I felt strongly led to move there to work with the students of Texas A & M. Besides apartment complexes the voucher could work with a duplex, garage apartment or rent house.

A pastor suggested that I consider moving into a neo monastic community. I had never heard of these before. But after just a little online research they seem appealing. These are intentional communities that seek to share their lives in a Christ honoring way in the cities and suburbs. They are small and scattered all around the country. They may or may not take a voucher. But all I really want is a place to sleep in peace and Internet access. By sharing expenses I might be able to stay there just on my retirement income. I would likely need to do some chores and that is fine. Plus there are shared spiritual practices and community outreach. What most have in common are these 12 Mark and I align with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Monasticism#.22Twelve_Marks.22

I meet for the first time with my accountability partner about this process tomorrow, Wednesday April 19. Pray for God to guide and bless our relationship.

PHONE

By the grace of God, the Lord provided a phone. I need a carrier. I forgot to mention previously that besides using a cell phone as a clock, alarm and podcast player, I also use it as a hotspot for my Chromebook. That allows me to work online in the shelter after the 8 PM curfew and before the 1030 PM lights out. That is when I am the most creative.  

As I have shopped around it seems that 65 dollars a month is the need for limitless data.

I could do the housing search using the Contact forms of the apartment complexes and wait until Wednesday April 26. But the searching and my life would be easier if I had that carrier before then.

PRAYER
I request your best prayers.

Pray for the Lord Jesus Christ to guide and provide again.

Here are the needs.

84 dollars rent

65 dollars phone carrier
159 dollars total

More would be nice, I have very little money for the next week.

Just like 2 years ago, I requested much prayer when I faced such a situation. Then God gave me the humility and courage. He guided me in who to ask for help. The need was met on time and my faith improved.

THANKS again for your prayers.