devastated

Well, we thought we’d found THE ONE.

In fact, we’d all but moved in and painted the walls already.

It feels like someone came in and stole it right out from under us.

For those who don’t know, here is the short version:

Just as we were about to throw in the towel last weekend and ‘settle’ for something, Andrew found an amazing house that wasn’t even on the market yet.  It was PERFECT: a 1900s farmhouse on 3 acres with a barn and room for a garden, a small front porch and pear trees.  A beautiful, spacious, updated kitchen and enough bathrooms and bedrooms.  Wide wood plank flooring.  Attached two-car garage.  A quiet country road just a couple miles outside the village.  Seriously, we were dying over this place.  We saw it immediately, but there were some questions we had for the seller, so we didn’t put an offer in right away.  Our realtor met with the owner and we were planning to see the place tomorrow and put our offer in.

Well…we got a call Saturday evening from our realtor saying that someone else was going to put an offer in THAT NIGHT.  So, we gave a verbal offer ABOVE ASKING PRICE over the phone and spent the next 18 hours praying fervently.

We know God heard everyones’ prayers, but he didn’t grant them; the other people got the house.  This has happened to us TWICE now!  And in this market, too.  I think it just means we have excellent taste in houses…

Before I get too far, we know God has a plan and that His best for us may not seem like it at the time.  But it doesn’t make this any less disappointing.  Even our realtor was pretty upset for us.  We got the call after church–I shed a few tears and Andrew spent the afternoon in bed, curled up in the fetal position.  (Seriously, he did.)  I threw myself into school work, laundry and online retail therapy (I need warmer clothes!!); Andrew watched the Bills defeat the Patriots–at least that gave him a boost.

I don’t know why God didn’t give us the house, but I do know there is a reason.  And I’m OK with that.  We just need Him to provide a place to live, at least temporarily, AND FAST.  That’s the thing folks, we don’t have anywhere to go.  In about a month, our time here at the hotel will be up, and while we can extend a bit if we’re under contract to buy a house, that’s looking more and more unlikely to happen.  Sooo…we have to figure something out, and apartments that allow giant dogs are slim to none.  And we don’t really want a year-long lease if we’re still going to try to find a house…

While I’m still very disappointed, I know in my heart that God has a plan.  And that really, this is not that big of a deal.  I mean, if Sara can go on praising God after a Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, and Susy can have hope after her sister’s Stage 4 brain cancer, and Heather can remain joyful while being a single-parent to Maggie while Silas is at pilot training….we can surely get through this.  Surely.

We ended our day with a walk to the little ice cream place near the hotel.  For the last month or so I’d been telling Andrew that that is where we were going to go to celebrate when we got a house.  Well, today was its last day being open for the season, so we went to celebrate the “better” house God has for us instead.  Not that we were in a mood to celebrate (I didn’t even want ice cream this afternoon–how crazy is that?!), but it was nice to get out and get some fresh air.

And here’s both of us…  Can you tell Andrew was not into documenting for the blog tonight?  I really need to figure out how to use the timer function…  (I was doing my best to put on a sad face.)  Pray for us!