The Wait

Written by Sarah Martin

Lead Team Member | @thejourneydundas

On June 20th, 2021, we had a video call with some close friends of ours. They live about an hour away, but they are close spiritual friends that we call to share and pray together. We told them about how we felt God calling us to ministry of some sort in Dundas and that we were going to be beginning a discerning community with New Ventures. We took some time for listening prayer and then shared what God had placed upon our hearts. Each person shared, and the idea was all the same – a confirmation of what we were feeling God directing us to.

Then, it came to me. I was actually quite emotional as I shared that the word I had heard repeatedly from God was “stay”. I was really conflicted – this didn’t seem to align with what the others had heard and I was just coming to terms with the idea of starting something new in a new place. Was I mistaken? Our friend suggested that we pray that God would reveal the meaning of the word stay if it really was from Him. We prayed again and then we left our conversation and promised to keep seeking God’s interpretation. About half an hour later, I was walking our dog when God gave me a very clear picture of the meaning of “stay”. I saw our dog, Lennon, who was a puppy at the time, waiting for his dinner. Whenever I would feed him, I would tell him to sit while I poured his food. I would say, “Stay,” and he had to wait until I said, “Okay...Go.” If he rushed to eat, I would tell him to sit and stay again until I gave him the signal to go. God showed me that He had something really good that He was preparing for us, but I just needed to “stay” until He said, “Okay...Go!”. We knew there was a time of waiting ahead of us, but we didn’t know how long or what God would do in the meantime. One other thing: our friend contacted us a short while later and said that every time she prayed for us about finding a place to live in Dundas, she would hear the words “corner lot”. She left that with us.

Fast forward to this Fall... it seemed like God was finally saying, “Okay...Go!” We went to an Open House in a neighbourhood that we had never really looked at before – mostly because we didn’t think we’d be able to afford to live there. On November 28th, we got the keys to the house, on a corner lot, in Dundas. As we let people know about our new address, we found out about multiple people that live on the same street or around the corner that are connected to people we know. We’ve also been warmly greeted by our new neighbours with greetings on the street, cards, and even an invitation to a Christmas Open House. While we waited, finding a home in Dundas was a constant prayer request. The members of our community, The Journey, prayed for us and with us. God was forming us through the waiting to depend more upon Him and to give Him the glory for what He would do.

This story was featured in our “God with us” series on Instagram during Advent 2024. @newventuresca

Please pray for the Martin family as they continue to plant roots in Dundas.

For more information about The Journey visit The Journey: Dundas