God's Delightful Timing

My husband is a brave soul, granting me posting rights on his blog. He knows my love for writing and tendency to ramble, yet he willingly offered me free time on his very own blog. What a mess I would make of my own, anyway. A geek, I am not. Writer, perhaps, but not a computer literate one. As it is, I created a "Pepto Bismol" pink blog (Bob's words) so that I could post on this blog, but now can't figure out how to get rid of it.

Thank you, dear, for graciously granting me writing rights. As I sometimes say when speaking before a crowd, "You don't know how dangerous it is to give a mother of many kids a captive audience."

So, having said that, allow me to share a few ramblings of my own.

We are all familiar with the phrase, "God's perfect timing." Yet, are we truly willing to give the timing of our lives over to Him? Take moving for instance. Bob and I have been married 27 years and have moved about 17 times. Most of those were BK (before kids), when I was working in apartment management, but suffice it to say that I always knew it was time to move when the cobwebs started forming in our apartment. What better way to spring clean?

Moving has been a hard habit for me to break, especially since I simply love to look at all different kinds of houses. Each time Bob would even mention the possibility of moving, I would be on the internet searching for the "perfect home" for us. That's not an easy task when you have as many people to house as we do, but I loved the challenge.


So, when Bob's mother graciously agreed to move in with us, I was once more on the prowl for the perfect house. Many hours were spent searching valleymls.com, and I have to admit that I loved every minute of it. It became somewhat of an obession for me, of which I often had to repent and purposefully lay aside for a while. Days were spent going to remote locations to look at houses that might or might not fit our unique needs. Our kids were dragged through numerous homes, where they each claimed a space, only to be told later that it was not the right home for us. Faces glowed with expectations and fell with disappiontment on a regular basis for many months.

We even seriously considered adding to our current home, or building a small home for Ollie on half of our one acre lot. After much prayer and consideration, those possibilities were ruled out, however, and I continued my search for the perfect home.

Finally, "the" home showed up. It was large enough for us all. The price was well below market value and it appeared to be a very good buy for the money. Good neighborhood. Good schools (not a factor for us, since we homeschool, but improves resale value). The kids all loved it, and so did we. The biggest selling point, by far, was the fact that it had TWO full kitchens, though. Ollie and I spent many a night dreaming of ways to utilize that aspect of the home.

An offer was made at the full asking price, since we felt it was a fair price, and we proceeded with securing a mortgage. From the first, things did not go well on the seller's part, however. There were problems between him and his own mortgage company and one of the requirements was that they approve the contract.

Over the next few weeks, the words, "mortgage company" became a cloud threatening to break loose with thunder at any moment in our lives. In the eyes of our kids, this far away entity seemed to hold such power in their uncertain lives. Every time they us asked about the house deal, we had to reply, "We are STILL waiting on the mortgage company's approval".

As we found buyers for our own house, this became even more of a roadblock for us to stumble over. Everyone who has purchased a home understands the tight schedules the process runs on, and yet we did not even have a fully approved contract at any time! Everything was up in the air, and we were seemingly at the mercy of the mortgage company. Our own buyers were military, and in a hurry to move before the school year started.

Four weeks into this stressful game, we discovered that there were actually two mortgage companies involved, both of which were stating their desire to approve the contract before we proceeded with the purchase. Our suspicions were aroused and we began to push to get more information.

Our real estate agent was a delightful Christian man named Sam. You gotta' love a guy who answers his cell phone with "Sam I Am", right? At this point in the process he agreed that it might be wise to look elsewhere, just to cover our bases, since our buyers were scheduled to move in the following week. I was certain that I had scoured every web page in the area, but he found one I had not even considered. It was listed with only two bathrooms, which I did not perceive as being an option for our family. I believe his exact words were, "Well, you are pretty desparate at this point and you could always add another bathroom later on." We packed the kids up that evening and went to look at one more house.

My husband does not get easily excited over houses. Rather, he leaves that duty in my capabale hands. However, as we were walking through this house, he actually came bounding up the stairs, announcing in a rather loud voice, "Guess what I found downstairs!!! Yes!! Another BATHROOM!!" He was excited as I have probably ever seen him when looking at a house, and just over an extra, unlisted bathroom. Sam was amazed that the house had been listed incorrectly and promptly got on the phone to the listing realtor to report the mistake, who was equally amazed and embarrassed. Apparently this one mistake had caused the six bedroom home to remain on the market for close to a year, without any serious inquiries.

As we left that house, Bob and I cautiously looked around at the kids. The poor things had been through this so many, many times already. They were weary and ready to move, having already packed their belongings. I knew how much they liked the house we had the contract on and I hesitated to even mention the possibility of not getting it at that point.

One by one, they informed us how much they liked the house. What a shock it was to discover that this opinion was unanimous among the kids! I then asked Ollie, knowing how many hours she had spent already "moving in" to the other house. She looked at me with a bit of a sideways grin and said, "Uh, I actually like it better than the other one." The concerns she had had about the first house were not factors with this one (the house being on a steep incline had been a big issue for her, but being the trooper she was, she would have dealt with it).

The next morning we sat in Sam's office, telling him of our decision to cancel the contract on the first house. At just about the same time, we found out that the second mortgage company had decided to foreclose on the property, although they had a ready buyer (us, up to that point). We were offered the opportunity to purchase the home out of foreclosure, but didn't even seriously consider it. All we wanted at that point was to be released from the contract and allowed to move forward with other option. This was granted us, and we had our earnest money returned within the hour.

Having gained full agreement on the house we had looked at the previous evening, we decided to make an offer on it. There was no time for a professional inspection to be done, so we asked if we could do it ourselves. The owner must have been stunned to receive our full price offer and a request for a move in agreement at the same time. He stuttered around a bit, but agreed to let us inspect the house while he considered the offer.

So, after being "on hold" for such a long time with the perfect house that I had picked out, God showed us the house He had for us, and provided us with a move in agreement less than 24 hours after we first looked at it. God's timing was indeed perfect, and all of my fretting and worrying had been for naught. Will I ever learn to, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God?" If I do learn that lesson, then indeed "the peace that passes all understanding, will guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus."

Five months later, this house and neighborhood have been such tremendous blessings in our lives. We are within bicycle distance to a library, park, bank and other various stores. The kids have greatly enjoyed walking throughout the neighborhood, and we have been pleased with the friendliness of the neighbors and the many stories we have heard concerning the stability and lack of criminal activity in this area.

This fall, Naomi has begin a leaf raking business, which has brought us in contact with a large number of our neighbors. Over and over, folks have commented on our well behaved kids and the good work that they do. What blessed sounds those are to the ears of parents!

Will I ever learn? I pray that I will. Have you learned? Are you anxious and worried this holiday season? "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." Philippians 4:5

Blessings to all,
Ramona, aka "sheshe"