In any given day, we can see someone rush up to find the shortest grocery check out line, watch the car in front of us roll through a red light or stop sign turning right, or exhibiting a serious lack of patience as they wait in a line ahead of us. And then there is the angst of taking that tiny piece of paper with a number on it at the grocery deli counter or at the dreaded Motor Vehicle office! We hurry up only to wait, wait and sometimes wait some more.
But what if our waiting involves something much more important and significant to us? If you are like me, we each likely have a few of those also on our list. For me there are two. Today, I’d like to share one challenge in the waiting for our second home to sell. Before you consider this to be a benign experience, I will share with you that we put this house on the market in November…. of 2016! Even if I do say so myself, it is a beautiful home with a lot of nice extras, on a gorgeous golf course in the cool pines. It’s marketed as “better than brand new” because the price is cheaper than a new build per square foot and we’ve only used it on weekends off and on over the three years we’ve owned it.
According to our realtor(s) the home is priced right and we just need to wait for that perfect buyer. One who will appreciate all the memories this home is just waiting to make with them. So we wait. And we wait. And we wait some more.
To be honest, this has been an experience that has tugged at my faith, my heart strings and certainly tested my resolve. Most of the time I seem to be fine, dealing with mild frustration and questioning. However, there have been a time or two, (ok, more like a time every 3-4 months or so) that my questions become steeped in a chorus of “why me” and “why not” and “when”. During my long commute to work and back each day, I’m given the gift of time that can command my thinking in to an interesting debate on every reason why it hasn’t sold yet.
Good friends of ours who live in the community told us about a belief that if you bury a statue of St. Joseph, upside down, in front of your house, that he will help your house sell. Not being Catholic, my knowledge of each Saint and their usefulness to us is quite limited. I listened, however, with curiosity, especially when they got to the point of saying they believed it actually helped! (They sold their home not too long afterward). What?!? Although intrigued, I did forget about it until a few weeks ago.
One of our daughters was at work and sharing with a co-worker how long our home had been for sale. Her co-worker is from Hawaii and it just so happens this tradition is very popular in Hawaii and appears to have great success. So, after hearing that, I just couldn’t ignore it any longer and went on Amazon (where else?) and bought the statue.
Today, we came up to our home in the pines, where the For Sale sign still rests. We walk in to the kitchen to find a hand full of realtor business cards that have been left by people showing our home. It’s a mixed feeling now, one of anticipation and still wanting to enjoy all this home has to offer. But this time… just a few minutes ago, my husband and I walked out in the front yard, dug a small hole in some dirt and placed St. Joseph upside down facing the house. We quietly looked at each other and decided a heart-felt prayer needed to accompany this tradition. I prayed for the house we loved to be the perfect home for another family soon and for the next perfect house be ready for us at the very same time. I opened my eyes to see a few tears in my husband eyes (as were in mine) yet I felt a calm sense of peace.
So will burying the statue of St. Joseph help sell our home? Of course we don’t know. But what we do know is that it can’t hurt! But what I do know is that the prayer that accompanied that burial, although one of likely close to a hundred at this point, is where the peace truly comes from. Whether its a prayer for your favorite team to win the Super Bowl (tomorrow), a prayer for healing and health, or a prayer for a lost and wayward son to come home, we do know beyond the shadow of a doubt, that what is important to us, is important to our God.
As we look back on this past year and a few months, its apparent we’ve learned some things, believe we will be wiser in many of our decisions, and have found that happiness and contentment comes from many (often unique) opportunities. We are thankful for that, for certain.
I’m very glad others cared enough about us to share what they believed worked for them. I’m also pleased that it was something with a spiritual connection. But what I’m most pleased about is that despite my questions, my times of doubt, and even my frustration, that I can always depend that God’s timing is perfect. Even when I’m not.
Although I’ve shared this song before, there just wasn’t another song that has helped me through this past year more. It says it all…
Trust in You by Lauren Daigle. Enjoy!