Home in Hamilton
Would you believe, the very place I least wanted to live has turned out to be the greatest blessing to me!
It all goes to prove that the phrase “Mother knows best” which in my case can be translated (as my mother has lone departed this world) “God knows best”, really has meaning. It is now safe to divulge how I came to be in Hamilton, the place I least wanted to live in New Zealand. I had my eye set on the lovely resort town of Wanaka where I have good friends and a lovely church, not to mention the great tramping (which I can no longer do for health reasons, but I can sit there and dream about it!), and a beautiful lake. What more could one want, really.
I had my order in via prayer with the Lord and was sure he would give me the desires of my heart – isn’t that what the scriptures say? Well actually they only say that if you don’t read the full scripture!
However, it soon transpired that there was nothing in Wanaka that even nearly matched my price range for retirement village dwelling, and the only one that did seem possible was bought out from under me before I could nab it! I took that to be a very negative omen and proceeded to complain loudly to the Almighty.
Even my second choice, a nice retirement villa in Warkworth, also a lovely town but at the other end of New Zealand, where I have many friends, proved to be a ‘no go’. Too expensive and a wait of one year before anything was available. Really Lord! What happened to those desires of my heart??
A chance visit to a retirement village in Hamilton sealed my fate……. there was a choice of villas not only available, but also in my rather limited price range. OH NO! So those words I felt whispered to me as I prayed about where I was to live were actually true! God was really seriously intending to take me to Hamilton. This move was confirmed to me by a couple of faithful intercessors who pray for me, but they had kept the secret until I found out for myself.
Much to my disappointment, I felt instantly at home when I walked into a large villa in a really nice location at the south end of Hamilton. This was it! I could see myself living here, but of course I would have to give up all those other lovely dreams.
You may ask why the hurry to relocate? Put simply, God was tossing me out of my nest in the seaside town of Snells Beach. I knew I had to go. I had been diagnosed with two major and serious health issues in recent months and I knew I had to find somewhere suitable for my future. Hamilton was at the bottom of the list of possibilities. I had no friends there and therefore no support system there. When you have been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatic AND CMML (chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia, which is untreatable and therefore by definition guaranteed to be terminal, probably one of the cancers with the worst prognosis possible) a support system of friends and services becomes very important! Hamilton was a big black hole in that regard.
So I packed my bags and came to my lovely villa in Hamilton. The move was not without trauma. The moving company sent some poor guys who had little experience and, if you can believe it, no tools to do the job! I had to whip over to a kindly neighbour and borrow some spanners from her. Eventually we arrived in Hamilton, with only slight damage to some of my furniture. Just as well I am storing up ‘treasures in Heaven’ and not worrying about my damaged treasures on Earth!
The moment I stepped in the door, everything began to go well. The kind retirement village staff had spanners readily available for my hapless moving men, there was a big bag of groceries gratis on the kitchen counter and a beautiful pot plant from management. My new next door neighbour took it upon herself to introduce me to the village. Within days I was signed up with the most sought after GP (doctor) in Hamilton – apparently others have waited more than three months to make it onto his client list – and just yesterday I made the fastest transition in history from referral by GP to a specialist rheumatologist at the large local hospital, Waikato Hospital. Usually for non-urgent cases such as me one can expect to wait up to four months for an appointment. I was at my GP’s at 10am and sitting in the rheumatology clinic at 1pm, due to a sudden cancellation. I could not have possibly been the first on the waiting list. Do you see the favour of God in that?
And so it continues. New friends to add to my old ones – new opportunities to speak to secular and church groups about my book From Matron to Martyr – new publisher for my books – renewed vision to continue writing my children’s book series. It really couldn’t get better! Doors are opening that had seemed stuck fast shut. I am as happy as a sand boy:)
The moral of the story ……………… Mother Knows Best!