Friday, April 20, 2012

house story

I've been "writing" this story in my head for awhile, but it's just not coming together as I would like.  So my hope is that by getting it out of my head and into black and white it will suddenly congeal and make sense in a way that it's not currently.

So if you've talked to me at all or glanced in my general direction while I've had my laptop on my lap anytime in the last two months, you'll know that we've been searching desperately for a new place to call home. 

A quick google search will define "desperate" this way:

"Tried in despair or when everything else has failed; having little hope of success"

This is exactly what my attitude has been for about two months.  And it has literally been suffocating.  After hearing that we had not been selected for the house we REALLY wanted, I tried to make sense of what I had felt God say to me about that house during that time of waiting for the decision.  Had I missed something?  Did I interpret his leading incorrectly?  Did I even know what I was listening to?   And the answer, plain and simple, was "Yes, you do know what you're listening to.  But now I have a new plan."

So, okay God.  You've got this.  We decided that we would stay where we are and be happy with how blessed we've been here.  I even went so far as to make a schedule of how I expected my weeks would go in the fall when the craziness of nursing school ensues.  That was on April 9th.  I budgeted time for driving both ways to school, study time, class time, even a small two-hour slot for TV time on Mondays.  I got some acceptance about where God had placed us.

Then Tuesday the 10th after Mom2Mom, I decided to take the kids out to lunch.  As we were driving up Prospect heading to Wendy's since I really wanted a spicy chicken sandwich and the kids' nuggets come with 5 each, so I can just take one out of each of them to give to Nola (very economical, no?), the thought of Fazoli's popped into my mind.  Okay, I've never taken them there.  But we've had plenty of chicken nuggets in our lives, why not do something different?  So with very enthusiastic kids, I pulled into Fazoli's and we went in to eat.

As we were sitting there enjoying various delicious pasta dishes, the realtor who had shown us a house in Savoy (and had selected someone else for said house in Savoy) stopped at our table and said, "I don't know if you remember me."  To which I said, "Of course I do!" And she said, "There's a house that is just coming available, and I think it would be perfect for you guys."  Astounded, I probably mumbled a muddled thanks so much.  And she gave me the address and told me to talk to Kevin and give her a call if we wanted to see it.

For the rest of the meal, I was trying to be the good mom who doesn't let her kids throw stuff on the floor and act crazy because she was sitting pretty close to us.  Luckily, they were in a cooperative mood and super cute that day.  So I got the kids loaded up after we were done eating and took them to school, came home and put Nola down for a nap, and waited for Kevin to get home.  When I told him about it, he was excited to go see it.  So we called Fawn and made an appointment to see it that Thursday.  To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about going to see this house because I just didn't want to be disappointed again.  But I tried to pull it together and get excited about what we would see.

Thursday finally came after the longest Wednesday forever in the history of the world, and we dropped the kids off and headed down to Champaign which felt like another of our house-hunting dates where we get really excited about a house and then drive home with a whole lot of anxiety over whether or not we'd get it.  On the way down, Fawn called to confirm the appointment.  She hadn't done that when we had seen the house in Savoy, so that was sort of exciting.  When we pulled up in front of the house, I felt a peace and a sense that my heart was opening to whatever we'd find there. When we stepped inside, there was such serenity that we felt welcomed into some huge loving arms.  As we walked through the house, I really began to picture us there.  That was crazy because the rooms are much smaller than we have now, but the flow of the house and the peace we felt were indescribable.  Toward the end of the showing, Fawn made it clear that she had pretty much decided we were the future tenants of the house if we wanted it.  She said that she did have someone coming right behind us, and if they were to turn in an application that she'd have to give it consideration.  But in her mind, we were the ones she was going to recommend to the owner.

We walked out of there on cloud ninety-nine.

Not thirty minutes later, she called to tell us that she was pleased to inform us that we were selected for the home.

TOTAL ELATION!!


The best part about all of this is that I've learned to trust God in a way that I never have before.  I am absolutely certain that He knows what we need before we do, and He's so ready to give it to us as long as we ask and are willing to wait for His response.

Another extra cool part of this story is that our friend, Angela stopped me after a Mom2Mom meeting in March to tell me that during worship and ministry time she had gotten a picture of a house for us.  She didn't want to say it in the group for whatever reason, but when she told me I immediately thought of another house we had considered.  I showed her that picture, but it wasn't exactly like what she had seen in her mind.

After seeing the picture of this house, she exclaimed, "THAT'S IT!"

I'm so thankful for amazing people around us who encourage us and are willing to share God's thoughts with us.

Can't wait to move and spend all summer with my kids in the pools and parks making them tired so they can go home and take a nap while I go to school only 5 miles from our house!

God is totally and utterly amazing.

3 comments:

  1. Hooray!! So excited for you!!!

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  2. Replies
    1. so excited for you and your family, louise! the house looks beautiful. can't wait to get a tour! go, god!

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