Fierce competition! Eleven offers made on one house we looked at and fifteen on another. How do we compete with that? We’re not on a quest for treasure. Our quest is to find a home.
We’ve been in Middle Tennessee for less than two weeks, visited nine properties, and made two offers. We lost both, which means we’re still homeless.
But that’s okay. Our eldest daughter, son-in-law, and grandson don’t seem to mind having us around. Yet!
We arrived in Nashville after a two-day, 1200-mile trek in a Ford Escape with our dog, Pebbles, and our cat, Paka. Overall, a pleasant experience except for difficulty in the hotel room trying to keep the dog out of the litter box.
The craziest time occurred when we arrived at our daughter’s home. Pebbles wanted to prove her dominance (at twenty pounds), and our daughter’s two dogs (between seventy and eighty pounds each) didn’t take too kindly to her. After hours of barking, growling, and running around in circles, things calmed, and we settled into our new routine.
We have a fantastic plan in place for preparing meals. There are six of us, so we each plan and prepare one evening meal a week, so I only cook once every seven days. Right? Not quite. Hubby and I team cook so we work together two nights per week and then there’s our youngest daughter who we help. So, you could say that I’m cooking three nights instead of just one. But it’s been fun.
I especially like dinnertime when we gather as family, talk, laugh, and share. Makes up for several years of separation. Would only be better if our son and his family joined in the fun. But he needs to be extra careful because of his health. I hope we will have the pleasure of spending quality time together soon.
This week I spent time in the book of Psalms, where I found many recurring themes that spoke to me. God is on my side. His love for me is unfailing. He’s my strength and holds me in His arms. He’s also my rock and hears my prayers.
His blessings are new every day. Besides our family mealtimes, we attended a live church service last weekend, my publisher released my fourth book, and I received a sweet comment about that book from a reader. We even enjoyed sunshine on a couple of days!
Although we don’t have a house yet, we trust God is preparing one for us. We will praise Him while we wait and focus on His love and faithfulness as we continue our quest.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 57:9-11, NIV
Photo by Nathan Anderson - Unsplash