In His Time

For those of you who are following my home-buying saga, let me be transparent. After looking at over thirty-five homes and losing eight that we loved, I’m tempted to say, “this stinks.”

Let me tell you about one of my favorite houses. Most of the homes we’ve made offers on have been brick, but one was a pale blue vinyl and the smallest home we’ve considered. The one-acre yard screamed my name with a lovely view just over the back fence. Two cows enjoyed their afternoon rest. My heart leapt for joy when I saw them. I squealed and called out, “Hello cows! How are you today?” One stood and stared at me. I don’t think she’s had many strangers say hello, but I love cows. We lived on a farm for a few years with Kenn’s parents and raised lots of them. Although I walked through the house, I didn’t need to. The cows convinced me to make an offer.

I stated this in my last blog: “But we persevere. We strive to find a home despite these difficulties. God is still in control and knows where our house is located and when we’ll find it. He has a plan for us, and we trust He will provide us a home soon.”

Do I still believe that? Yes! But I need to reevaluate the word, soon. How long is that? Does it mean any of these?

• Before long

• Any old day now

• Before you know it

• Lickity-split

• In no time

We moved to Tennessee eight weeks ago. Maybe I should have used one of these instead.

• Sooner or later

• Sometime

• Eventually

• In the long run

• In the course of time

Instead of using the word “soon,” or any of those above, a better way for me to state this would be, “in His time.” God will provide us a home when He’s ready and when we’re where He wants us to be.

In the meantime, we’re not giving up. We’ll continue to look for a house and walk in faith. We want to be in His perfect will and place.

When disappointment and discouragement creep in and I’m tempted to say, “this stinks,” I read my Bible aloud to increase my faith and spend extra time in prayer. I know that in His time we will find our home.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 
Romans 10:17, NIV

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Perseverance

This past Sunday after church, my husband, youngest daughter, and I met our son and his two children at a local park. We chatted, laughed, and played our version of soccer—we stood in a circle and kicked the ball back and forth. During one of my sit-it-out breaks, a girl about seven years old asked me if she could sit on the bleachers next to me. I smiled and said yes. Then I scooted down the row to give her more space to distance myself and not cause her family alarm. After all, there’s Covid and she shouldn’t be talking to strangers, should she?

Within a minute or two, her older sister, about ten years old, approached. She spoke in hushed tones, but I heard something like this.

Older: Come on. You shouldn’t be here.
Younger: She said I could sit.
Older sounding stern: Ignore them. Let’s go.

I had to laugh. I could see their two personalities shining forth. The younger girl was extroverted and wanted to have fun and watch our family play. I assumed the older girl knew the “don’t talk to strangers” rule and wanted to protect her little sister. Like me, the older girl was the introverted rule follower, and she persevered in her sternness until her little sister followed her back to their parents.

Merriam-Webster defines perseverance as the effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. That’s where our family finds itself today. We lost house offer number four mentioned in my last blog, and this past weekend, we found out we lost number five as well.

Here in Middle Tennessee, houses are selling for five to ten percent over the asking price. Buyers waive home inspections and agree to pay cash for amounts over the appraised value or waive the appraisal. They make offers on homes without seeing them—houses are contracted before they’re available for showings—even before the agents post pictures.

But we persevere. We strive to find a home despite these difficulties. God is still in control and knows where our house is located and when we’ll find it. He has a plan for us, and we trust He will provide us a home soon.

Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 
Galatians 6:9, NIV

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Photo by Mick Haupt - Unsplash

Faith Walk

This week we made our fourth offer on a house. We are waiting to hear if they accepted our offer. Meanwhile, we continue our faith walk and trust that God is working behind the scenes. While we wait, we continue to enjoy our daughter’s family and their hospitality. They’ve been a blessing to us.

Last week, because of the ice and snow, we couldn’t make it out of the subdivision. Groceries ran low, but we managed. Thankful we didn’t lose power. But this week, our temperatures rose into the sixties and seventies with plenty of sunshine. We met our son and his family at a state park and walked a two-mile trail together. Elbow bumps replaced hugs, but we enjoyed catching up and spending time with the grandkids.

Our seven-year-old grandson is a fan of the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks. He told me that his favorite thing to do is play flag football or toss a football back and forth with his dad.

Our ten-year-old granddaughter laughed, as she told me a joke she’d heard from her dad and the story that went along with it. An unfunny joke that I told an Algebra class 30 years ago. I’ll share the story as best as I remember it.

The class clown—I’ll call him Jeff because I don’t remember his name—wasn’t in class, and a student asked me to tell a joke. After I tried to convince the class that I didn’t know any, I shared the unfunny joke with as much dramatic flair as I could muster.

There were two penguins named Earl and Pearl standing on an
iceberg. Earl liked to show off for Pearl, so he kept performing
daring dives into the water. After one plunge, he stayed underwater
for longer than normal. Pearl became worried. She looked to her
right and to her left, crying out, “Earl. Earl. Earl, where are you?”
Earl burst forth from the water and said, “Radio!”

There were a few chuckles from students thinking their teacher was crazy. Others just stared—bewildered. Several shook their heads and said, “I don’t get it.”

I told them that was what made the joke funny. When you tell it, someone should be in on the joke. They laugh while others scratch their heads in confusion.

I don’t remember who came up with the idea, but they convinced me to tell the joke the next day when Jeff returned. It played out as we expected. Most of the class laughed when I retold it. Jeff just shook his head and stared at everyone as if we’d gone mad.

My granddaughter loved the story. Her laughter brought joy to my heart. I hope Jeff remembers the joke with fondness and wasn’t traumatized by our prank. If I could remember his name, I’d look for him on social media and apologize.

These special moments with our family make waiting for a home sweeter. God has a plan for us, and we know He’s working even though we can’t see it. We’re on a faith walk.  

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen. 
Hebrews 11:1, NKJV

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Photo by Derek Oyen - Unsplash

Our Quest

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

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