Cabin in the Woods

Some number of years ago I cosigned for a car loan. Travis was living in Colorado; Travis needed a Jeep. As we sat across the desk from the bank loan officer I had a great sense of amusement when she filled out her paperwork. “Do you own or rent?” “I rent.” “And how much do you pay for rent per month?” “$30.” Her jaw dropped and my giggles started. Travis rented a cabin on Sunlight Mtn. near Glenwood Springs CO. It had been used as a payroll office for miners 100 years ago and then also as a Pony Express mail stop. No running water or electricity, but beautiful views if you like woods, mountain tops and isolation.

Travis had met Chelsea McKinney a few years before when they were both students at Colorado Mtn. College. He knew she was “the one” but was waiting for the right time for them to start their life together (and it took him some time to win her over to his vision – he learned patience and perseverance.) When I first met Chelsea at Sunlight Mt., Travis was living in this cabin. Such humble living conditions!

Life progressed and when they married, Travis had moved to a small apartment in Carbondale. That served them just fine for a time – they had their cozy surroundings, their dog with the nearby dog park, good friends next door, walking distance to downtown…but they also had to share the laundry room, and had a loud, moody neighbor above them and sometimes the doorknobs fell off in your hands…during our visit last summer they both mentioned wanting to move to a new place. Travis told me there was a house nearby that might go up for rent; Chelsea was keeping her eye on rental ads.

I pray every day for my children: Safety, prosperity (enough to take care of themselves), love, satisfaction in their work and sometimes specific requests. I began petitioning for Travis & Chelsea to find a new place to live (thinking specifically of the place down the street that Travis mentioned). Well, they were given a new place to live that was way beyond my meager pleas. Chelsea found a place on Craigslist and the owners seemed to favor them over other potential renters and Uncle Robert left some money to his siblings and my mother shared her portion with her daughters and grandsons who lead to them having enough cash to pay their deposit and last month’s rent. God works in mysterious, glorious ways and answers our simple prayers with abundance beyond our dreams.

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish will give him a serpent? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good to those who ask him?”

I have no doubt that God’s benevolence gave Travis and Chelsea a new place to live. I got to see it in person for the first time on Christmas Eve and it was a beautiful place of love, peace and God’s majestic creation.