A Better Season

It is spring 2025, and this is a story I don’t tell very often. I’m not sure why it was on my mind this weekend, but maybe I’ll figure it out by the end. At some point in the spring of 2019, I sat at the table of a lawyer friend after receiving a notice that I was going to lose my apartment. The notice did NOT read “EVICTION.” No, instead it was a notice to vacate the premises. I’m not going to go into lengthy detail, but I was being put out for not paying the water bill. In fact, the same day I made the payment was the day I found the notice in my apartment. You read that correctly. The apartment complex entered my apartment and left the notice on my table where I would see it. Sigh… Now here’s why this story is ringing in my mind. A few months ago, my sweet sweet friend had a conversation with me about that season. First, she looked at me sadly and said, I knew it was wrong for them to put you out, but you had lost your fight. I remember talking to another friend a few years ago about the loss of that apartment, and she too said that what happened was wrong, if not illegal. But if you scroll back up, you will see that I consulted a lawyer friend, notice in hand, to see what I should do. She asked, What did God tell you to do? Man, listen! Through the tears I had to answer that question honestly. I told her that my instructions were to go live with a friend and be a blessing to her. I knew what God said before I ever got in my car to meet with my lawyer friend. But my pride. My wounded, wounded pride. My wounded soul that had no fight left. So when my friend brought this chapter of my life up, I thought back with mixed feelings. Why had I allowed myself to be displaced without a fight? There is much I could say about that point, but that’s not what this blog is about. This blog is about surviving seasons when life was unfair. If I were to dig in my heels and get angry all over again, I know I should have hired a lawyer. I should have called my dad. I should have asked for advice from multiple sources, but I didn’t. Yes, there was a part of me that felt defeated, but looking back, I have to believe that there was also a spark in me that knew that everything would work out. Speaking of working out, here’s where I shine the light on the faith of my brother. Towards the end of this season, I bought a house. On my birthday that year, just a few short weeks before I moved in, my brother gave me a keychain with my name on it. Days later it dawned on me…Wait a minute! He bought this keychain the year before while he was on vacation. How did he know? He looked at me and said, I knew you would buy a house again. And it was that confidence in me that let me know that in spite of my crazy journey, not only did friends support me, but so did my brother. I don’t know what happened in your life that was unfair and a major letdown, but I am writing this today to let you know that that was a season only and not the whole story. Hang in there and believe that a better chapter is being written. I’m a witness.