Perspective...on plan A

To begin with, let me just say that if you have been checking in on the progress of our transition from "unsettled-apartment-living" to buying our first house and getting "TRUELY settled" :

We did not get the bid on the house I mentioned in the previous post.

Apparently the bank decided to go with the other buyer.
Apparently there WAS another buyer after all.
At least I'm not suspicious of THAT anymore!

The last 24 hours or so have been difficult for Matt and I. First, Noah has not been this sick in a LOOOONG time, maybe ever. So we are all living with a huge lack of sleep and are on round the clock Noah care, it seems. Then, this house thing. Let's just say we are sulking pretty disappointed. We found out the "bad news" yesterday afternoon from our realtor--1st to Matt, while he was out on the golf course with a few guys from church, then he called to pass on the news to me. He'd already been having a terrible day playing-wise, worrying about all he still needed to do for this weekend's teen event and feeling guilty that he was out having a "day off" and spending money on golf instead of spending time at home with his sick son and ti-yerd wife...at least that's what he told me when he got home a few hours later. You know this has hit him hard because he has sworn off golf until we get INTO a house. That's pretty huge.

The reason why we're taking this so hard is because this was our last full weekend to look at houses and get something rolling before (30 days) the summer of constant travel hits. And that is the deadline we've had since we found out we were moving here. More specifically, it was a house we really liked, had been watching for a while, felt like we missed out on the first time due to circumstances outside of our control and feeling pretty sure that because it came back around, it was meant for us....we got our hopes/expectations up. It's so wierd to be feeling so much frustration and disappointment over this whole situation. We've never had to go thru this process before, and even though every one tells you how hard it was for them and gives you the light at the end of the tunnel or silver lining encouragement, it still sucks when it's you, and when you're in it. We thought we had been disappointed before, but not to this extent.

Thankfully, I at least was at home by myself and had a few hours to deal with it on my own before I had to face my husband and be sad/mad together. But after Matt called to tell me yesterday, and I got Noah down for his much needed nap, I finally got time to get into my devotion time for the day. Because I NEEDED it badly. Well, first thing I do is check on a few blogs I follow to see what was new, and amidst a whole bunch of other disheartening news, I read the following quote, from MckMama:

I am really sad. Yet what brings me great comfort, even now, is that none of this surprises God. The fact that this morning has not gone well, by our earthly hopes and standards, does not mean that God is wringing His hands. This did not come out of the blue for Him. As my friend Ann likes to say, God is not on Plan B. This is still Plan A. Indeed. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."Isaiah 55:8-9 And so, I press forward in that knowledge, tear stained face and all.

I SO needed to hear that. And I SO needed to hear that from her. Because if ANYONE has reason to give up hope right now, it's her. So I started to thinking. I've been thinking of this lately, but it really hit me hard today. And I started being specific with it.

Why am I so quick to sulk of my present situation?
Do I not have EVERYTHING that I need? And SO MANY things that I want?
Do I not live in a more than spacious apartment with the two men in my life who I love the most, with all kinds of toys and gadgets that we don't need and a great yard and pool and ball courts....
Has God not been SO GOOD to us?!?!
Has He not brought us to a new place of ministry where we feel blessed in so many ways?
Has He not ALWAYS provided for our every financial need? Do I not have story after story about how money came thru when we needed it most?
Has He not brought renewed health to Noah and do I not have faith he will do it again?

• I read and follow this blog of a woman who has spent the last 5 weeks with her 5 month old in the hospital while her infant son is fighting for his life and could go into heart failure at any moment. And yet she continues to give praise and glory to God throughout.
• I read of another woman who just experienced/celebrated the one year birthday (that didn't happen)of her youngest daughter, who only survived 2 1/2 hours outside of the womb because of a fatal condition discovered at 20 wks. utero that she would never recover from. That same woman who carried a dying baby in her womb for 17 some weeks just left yesterday for Calcutta, India, with Compassion International.
• I have 3 close friends who have been trying to get pregnant and have been yet unable to carry a baby full term.
• I have a friend who just decided to ADOPT 3 children under the age of 5 into her family in the coming month. They already have one child, age 4.
• I have another friend who just gave birth to her second child--healthy, thankfully--but is learning what it is like to be exhausted all over again now as she has 2 children to care for.
• I have another friend who just found out her older brother may have a virus that causes bells palsy, possibly a brain tumor.
• I have 2 siblings and several close friends who are still waiting for God to bring into their lives the spouses that he has planned for them.
• A woman in our Life Group just buried her mother, and 2 weeks later just lost her job.

I have sooo much....and I know of soooo many people who are struggling so much right now.
(Maybe you're one of them. Wanna be added to my list?) Anyway, my point is, I NEED this perspective in my life. I need to pick up my head and remember that I am not by ANY means the only one who finds themselves in a waiting time in my life, or feeling disappointment or frustration. And this is surely not the end of the world. It is just a bump in the road that will one day be a reminder of God's provision and providence in my life.

I. am.blessed. I thank God today for all the ways He has blessed me and my family. I pray that He would continue to do so---bless us---but I will CHOOSE to praise Him all the more even when He doesn't choose to make the blessings as evident--when "life happens" the way that it sometimes does--because "I know there'll be days When this life brings me pain But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus, bring the rain".

Then, as if that wasn't enough for one day, after my time in the blogging world and that whole revelation, I get into my Bible Study of Esther. I had to miss this week's video session, and gulp, I admit I am a few days behind, for the first time, because of Noah being sick. So today's lesson was supposed to be done a few days ago, NOT today. But of course, what do I read? 1)Acts 17:26 "He [God] determined the times set for [us] and the exact places that [we] should live." 2) God will continue to "work out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." Eph 11:1; 3) "I am not called to an easy life; I am called to a purposeful life" BM, Esther Bible Study.

I about quit breathing all together when I saw that Acts verse. Can you believe it? I know we shouldn't take everything the Bible says literally, but come on now! On THIS day?!? So, today I choose to believe everyone when they remind me with all their cheesiness that "God must have a house all picked out for you!" and "You just haven't found the right one yet", because against all cynicism that creeps in, I believe it to be true, too. I know God has brought us to this place at this time and He will show us exactly where He has always planned for us to be. And this is not Plan B, but God's plan A. My memory verse for this week is Prov. 16:9 "In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Thursday Stuff

UPDATE: The bank went with option 3 of below and has given us till Sat. to raise our offer if we'd like to the most we'd be willing to offer towards this house. We already gave our realtor our answer, but are already second guessing our decision. Ugghh...

No pictures today, just a quick update for those who haven't heard from us this week:

Noah and I got him into the dr. today...dr. said he definitely has some kind of virus that has been causing the high fevers for the past 3 1/2 days, and a double ear infection to boot. Although she said the ear infections alone should not be causing his temp to be that high (104.6 yesterday). His temp spikes up during the night, but then yesterday afternoon is when we got the 104 reading. Rectally, so it's like 103.6 i guess. He is taking Motrin and Tylenol round the clock, so not one of the 3 of us are sleeping well. And now after 3 days of high fever, we are now dealing with fever blisters on his tongue and inside of cheeks--poor kid! I can't imagine! Please pray for him--he was doing okay, for the first few days, but seems to be pretty bothered by the blisters at times and can go from running around playing to downright miserable in a matter of about 20 min. It will take a few days for the antiobiotic to kick in and clear up his ears, but he never once complained about those, so who knows...dr. said it was good that he had the fever issue or we may not have taken him in or known about the ears for a while yet. I hope they all clear up by the weekend...it has been a long week.

Speaking of long week, on the house front: we put a bid in on a house we saw last Fri. on Monday morning and heard back from them the same evening--weren't going to come down on price much at all...so since the house was well over the appraised price to begin with, we decided to not sit around waiting on them...Then Tuesday, the very next day, a house that we had previously looked at and liked a lot dropped back on the market. It's a foreclosure, so we are dealing with the bank on this one. We put a bid on this 2nd house on Wed. and found out today that we are one of 2 bids they've received--and it's only been back on the market for 3 days. Apparently the bank can decide to go with either one of our offers, or let us both raise our offers if we'd like to. Of course we'd love it if they went with our first offer, since it was less, but we'd be able to raise our offer if they give us that option. We really hope that either way, they at least allow us to raise it instead of going with the other offer...we like the house a lot and it would be a great buy for us, too.

So, please keep praying for us concerning Noah's health and the house issue. Matt has 30 hour famine with the kids this weekend, and it doesn't look like I'll be able to help out much, with Noah being sick. Pray for Matt, too, as I know he is feeling very tired...the last week and a half have been very busy and he is sooo in need of a break. I hope he doesn't come down with something worse than the yucky cold feeling he already has been fighting off.

On a positive note, the work day at the church last Sat. was a huge success--the teens and young adults got soooo much done and got a lot of props for the hard work...and the next day's Pie Auction brought in $8,800 to go towards summer camp and mission trip! It was a great success in all ways, we've heard lots of good things.

Change in your Couch

I'm gonna try posting a few videos again...blogger doesn't like to host these very well, so we'll see...

A post-TAX day video for all you penny-penchers like me.

Easter Pics and this week update

We had an enjoyable and blessed Easter weekend. Noah got to participate in 2 egg hunts--one at our apartment complex:

and then the BIG one at church:

They were expecting 200-300 kids, don't know the final count. (It was def. well attended.) But there were some 7,000 eggs scattered all over the grounds, and probably at least 1,000 spread just on the playground for the little 0-3 year olds. Poor kids, they didn't even know what to do with all the eggs! For a while, they just toddled around, every once in a while, after stepping over or on a dozen or so, bending over to pick one lone egg up, shake it, and crack it open...then sit down on the ground and eat the candy. Noah was ALL about the candy. He and his little day care friends got in a circle on the ground and opened up all their eggs, dumping the candy in their baskets and the empty eggs back on the ground in a big pile. Pretty funny.

We came home after the plastic egg hunt and made our first set of REAL, hardboiled, dyed eggs with Noah. He got a pretty big kick out of this. Not too much into the decorating thing yet, but he loved dumping the eggs in the dye. "Again! Again!" he would say. If it were up to N, they would have ALL been GREEN! or PINK.

We had great services on Easter--teens joining the rest of the congregation for their choice of 2 services. Matt went to both, (apparently hoping to make up for the lack of service attendance these past 4 months) and I did nursery first service. Then between the services he hosted a Pancake Breakfast and mini service for the teens. It was a big hit, too. Glad that we planned to stay for the whole morning, because it POURED RAIN until after 2nd service was coming to an end.

After services we headed to our new friends the Andersons for a wonderful combined lunch with a few families from our Life Group. We had a great time eating, talking, and "sharing life together" with the adults...kids shooting marshmallows all over the yard with Matt's "easter gifts". We finally headed home around 4 pm. and Matt got to watch the end of the Master's at our Pastor's house while Noah and I got to take a well needed late-afternoon nap. I was very thankful for the down time! Overall, a perfect day (minus sharing it with our other families)

P.S. Mom, the broccoli salad and swiss cheese/green bean casserole were both hits. And I made the Chocolate Delight dessert, which is always well liked and always yummy....and leftovers are even better...

In other news, I'm involved in the Ladies Bible Study at church on Weds. now, and we're 4 weeks into Esther...always good. I'm memorizing Psalm 84 for my memory verses this month and probably first part of next Month. Remember what I said last post about 2 car issues is enough for now? Well, took both our cars in for some new brakes, oil changes, inspections...$670 later....ouch. Paid our taxes yesterday--bigger OUCH! Thurs. (last night) Matt and I had a great night playing volleyball together in a competitive league at a local fitness center. Every other week, we'll have TWO games, which will even be better. Matt said his shoulder felt great-- no problems, yet! And we played together, competitively, for the first time, and survived. And finally, in Hawkins news...

Matt and I squeezed in another round of house hunting this morning with our realtor, and we came home with a real possibility. We are waiting on him to get the specs on the neighborhood and the appraisal value of the house, but if things look good, we're hoping to talk thru an offer for it. It's a 1 story, 4 bedroom house with good sized rooms and a few upgraded details. Please pray that if this is IT, it will go thru, and SOON! We are getting close to the end of the month, which was our deadline for being able to get into a house before the summer. We are more than just a bit anxious to make a decision! If you want to see pics, comment me and I'll send you the link.

Have a great weekend!

TheRESTofUS

Check my previous post if you're looking for new Noah stuff.
This one's on the "rest of us".

We have been in Htown for THREE WHOLE MONTHS now. Wow.

We are still in the apartment. We gave our "60 days notice" at the beginning of this month, and then took it back just a few days ago. We are half way thru that time and have no place else to go yet! Actually, I re-noticed them, for another 60 days, in hopes that we will have found a place by the end of this month. That's about how much time we have before the craziness of this summer starts. Currently we are taking a two week break from real estate looking. Scratch that. I still wake up every morning and check the internet/email to see what the new listings are. But we have not gone out looking at houses, because frankly we're a bit frustrated with what we've seen so far and there's not much else out there that looks worth dragging Noah around in and out of the car for 3+ hours. We're still hopeful that any day now the perfect house/scenario will drop in our inbox!

Until yesterday, we still had a few houses in the back of our mind we were watching, but on the SAME DAY all 3 of them got offers placed/accepted. (from the weekend, I'm sure). It was a "bad day" as far as houses go. We had pretty much decided to make an offer on one of them. But we are having to wait right now for the church to rewrite their 0% loan offer to follow the new loan laws, and considering our options of going on ahead on our own, without that extra money. And apparently we waited too long. The house we were most interested in was a 4 bedroom foreclosure, about 17 miles from the church in a great neighborhood with great schools. It had been on the market previously, and not moved at all, so our realtor didn't feel too rushed. It's safe to say we feel our first disappointment about a house. I'd love it if this was the last, disappointment, that is, but I know it may not be. There is quite a bit out there on the market right now, but with such a wide range of locations to choose from, and with so many determining factors....it never lines up. If we like the house well enough, it's not in a strong school (economic)neighborhood. Or we love everything about the house, but it has 3 huge trees in the backyard with no extra space for kids stuff. Or we love the yard and community but the master bedroom is tiny. Nothing ever seems to have it all! Oh, that's not quite right, there are plenty of houses out there we love, house, yard, community, school, etc....they are just out of our price range. Of course!

So. We're feeling like we're back at square one. And the clock seems to keep ticking away.

Other things in our lives?

• I'm still working PT at the tutoring place, still haven't started subbing. I got about 17 hours last week which made up for the week before, when I got only about 3 hours (spring break for the kids.) I work about 3 nights a week and Sat. mornings.
• The Beth Moore Bible Study I was attending on Tues. nights WITH BETH MOORE herself is on hiatus for the summer...bummer...but a ladies Bible Study from church has finally begun again, and we're doing the BM Esther series that just came out this year, so that's good. It's on Wed. mornings, and there's childcare arranged, so THAT'S really nice.
• Matt and I just decided to join a co-ed volleyball league at a local fitness center with 2 guys from our church. We start this Thurs. night, and it runs for like 9 or 10 weeks. We are excited about it, but hoping it's not too much of a committment! And we hope Matt's shoulder can take it. He doesn't know how to play half-effort. He's also playing in the church softball league on Friday nights. And comes home in pain every night.
• We have a few things coming up this month with youth: Pie Auction, service project, 30-hour famine. May looks slow (who knows) and then starting June we are busy. 8 day backpacking trip to CO mid of June, Gen Assembly in Orlando end of June/July, 12 day mission trip to OH in July, and Camp the first week of August. We'll take a few personal days after Gen Assembly in FL to see Vero Beach friends, and then possibly squeeze some vacation time in there somewhere. Matt also has in mind to go see his friends in Alabama who are having their first child this May...something about their annual golf tournie...don't know when that's supposed to be...all I know is it will involve 3 plane tickets...ouch...
• We are really enjoying the people in our Life Group. We have been sharing our Spiritual/Life Stories the last few weeks, and it's been great to share with each other.

P.S. Tease Matt when you talk to him about not having his Driver's License for TX yet...I can't nag him anymore, but I sure don't want him to get a ticket for it...we already got a mysterious red-light running ticket in the mail and a cracked windshield this week. TWO car issues are ENOUGH!