Learning Much

This road of having our house on the market has been a long road. It has definitely not been what we expected, but has not been a surprise at all to God and in that I find comfort. He is not surprised by anything and he knows what the dealio is. So I shrug and say, "Meh!" Because that is a whole lot easier than kicking, screaming and crying (which I may or may not have done prior to today).

We were presented with a unique opportunity to rent out our house to a film crew who is in need of some housing in Buffalo for a short period of time. This is currently in the works and we will know more today or tomorrow. Praise the Lord for that!

So the other night I was laying in bed saying, "Why is this taking so long Lord? What am I not learning in this process that you want me to learn? I'm open to listening to you. I pray that you will open my eyes and ears to what you want me to know!" And with that I started to go over all of the things that I have learned. I'm going to bullet point them for you, because I love bullet points.

*It's not all about me. When I found myself saying, "Why wouldn't God sell our house right away? What could cause us harm in that? Nothing!" I remembered that it's not all about me. Maybe the family who is supposed to buy our house is not ready yet, financially. Maybe THEY need a few more days/weeks/months (let's not hope years) to save up and get into the position THEY need to be in to buy our house. Maybe, just maybe (sarcastic gasp!)... it is about them!

*Arrogance is not attractive to God. When listing our house I looked at how amazing and beautiful it looked and was sure it would sell right out from under us. We even got an offer, albeit a REALLY LOW offer, but an offer at that. And we said no. We said no! Were we crazy?!?! At the time there was many people looking at the house and through much talk and prayer we said no and decided to keep on keeping on. Even though this may have been the right decision at the time, I can't help but think we were being arrogant. I felt the need to confess that to God and apologize for that. It felt good after I did and I know that his mercies are new everyday and that he gives me new chances to not be so, ahem, snotty and arrogant.

*No matter what. There's a popular song that's played on Christian radio these days by Kerrie Roberts and some of the words are, "No matter what, I'm gonna love you. No matter what, I'm gonna need you. I know that you can find a way to keep me from the pain, but if not, I'll trust you, not matter what, no matter what." I love being secure in Christ and knowing that my faith in him and my salvation are not dependent on how I'm feeling on a particular day. Let's just say I can be a bit crazy and if those things were dependent on me... holy cats, we'd have real issues.

*Why me? (down trodden) vs. Why me? (in awe and priviledged). There was a wise woman at CBS the other day that said there are two ways to say "Why me?" I had to shift my attitude in regards to this question. Instead of, "Why me? Why hasn't our house sold yet? Boo hoo for me, I'm so down in the dumps..." I try to say, "Why me? Why am I fortunate enough to be able to live in a new home while trying to sell the old? Praise the Lord that THIS is my problem! That my problem isn't having NO WHERE to live, my problem isn't no food to feed my children, my problem isn't having a child or spouse with a terminal illness, my problem isn't lack of employment, my problem isn't watching a parent die, my problem isn't children who have turned their back on us or on the Lord. Praise the Lord for my "problem." I can just let the entitled attitude go right now, leave it at the door, and have an attitude of gratitude thankyouverymuch!

*Another little lesson that God is always teaching me, is to be content with what I have. We are in our new home with space to breathe and not feel like we're always sitting on top of each other! I've had to hold off on any decor solutions and agendas because that would require some extra money, for which there is none to spend on such things. But again, it's something I need to let go of. We have this home and we have our family. My kids really don't care if there is stuff hanging on the walls as long as I'm snuggling on the couch telling them stories. My kids don't really care if the wall is painted the red I want as long as I let them paint (on paper) with water colors. My husband doesn't care if we have chipped counter tops, as long we have food on them to be preparing!

*And finally. God always provides. He does. It's as simple as that. Does he not feed the birds of the air, and does he not love us much more than that? God always provides and he is doing just that.