Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Unanswered prayers

I thought we were a European family. Oh how badly I wanted to be a European family. Holidays spent in Swiss Chalet’s and weekend getaways to Paris. When there was a possible opening in Switzerland I prayed so hard that it would work out. It didn’t. In hindsight I don’t know how well I could handle the language barrier if I can’t even translate the metric system and Celsius temperatures, not to mention us desert rats trying to survive the long harsh winters. Heavenly Father had something better in store and the right doors opened for us to be here in New Zealand. The house hunt here was so stressful nothing was working out, and on a scale of zero to monster I was inching closer and closer to monster with each passing day spent in the motel. We found a house that we thought would be a good fit, it wasn’t my favorite but it would work. We prayed so hard. We didn’t get it. We finally found one that we thought we had a pretty good chance of getting. It was in a great location close to work and schools, it had a beautiful kitchen and bathrooms, but it was much older and had such an odd set up with really only two usable bedrooms which would mean squishing 3 kids into one room and Ryder bunking with us. We would make it work. We prayed so hard that we would get it, my stomach was in knots and I couldn’t sleep, I really thought if we didn’t get this then we had little chance of getting anything at all. Pardon me while I quote a little Garth Brooks, but “some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers”. I thought I knew what would be best for us, but as my sweet SIL Margaret reminded me recently, sometimes when our prayers go unanswered it is because He has something better in store for us. We didn’t get that house. We got something so much better. A house that we walked into and immediately fell in love with, but just as quickly wrote it off because it was too good to be true and was swarming with applicants. It was the first modern home we had seen, it was also the largest we had seen with 3 bedrooms plus a study and 2 baths, a gorgeous yard and garden with a little gate leading to a jungle wonderland and the biggest perk was that it was only 2 miles from Jason’s work and a mile from the one school I had scouted out long before we moved here as the perfect school for my kids. It couldn't have been a more perfect fit for our family. Yes, He definitely had something better up his sleeve. This home would have been way out of our budget except for the fact that the homeowner has closed off the garage and uses it as an office so it’s not accessible, but that also means the rent is less. I was worried about having the homeowner right there being able to keep tabs on us all the time, but it turns out she is the cutest thing ever. She’s a single lady in her early 60’s with so much spunk and just loves kids. She has been so good to us and with her own grandkids living in Australia I have a feeling she’ll become our adopted grandma. She told me that her realtor had recommended a professional couple from the open house, but she insisted that her home needed to go to a family. All along I thought having so many kids was to our disadvantage, we kept them hidden in the car during open homes like they were our dirty little secret. Little did we know, they are the reason we got the house. That, and a few unanswered prayers.
<;">











Allow me to introduce our latest addition. Our Japanese imported mini-mini van. It's a tight squeeze, but she fits us all in and she teaches us Japanese through the built-in GPS.

11 comments:

Tyson and Dawn Jolley said...

Welcome home! It's such a beautiful house! And you cant beat all those perks! ...not going to discuss the minivan though ;)

Chris and Sally said...

I am so happy for you guys!!!

Bracken Robinson Hermansen said...

Amazing! love it. You rock that mini van!! I really love seeing all your pictures. I am living vicariously through you. :0)

Marcee Foster said...

I laughed out loud at you calling your kids your dirty little secret! đŸ˜‚ What a sweet post! And the house is lovely! I feel like I'm living your adventure with you! Keep it coming

Tyler and Margaret said...

I Love the mini van! Perfect ride for the next 2 years of adventures. Go Youngs!!!!

Janessa said...

Awe, Jame. I'm all teary eyed and goose bumpy. I'm so grateful things are working out so well. I know it was a rough couple of weeks and it was KILLING me to not be able to call you! I sent many prayers heavenward for you and it's so good go see that they were all heard. The house is beautiful and the yard is amazing. You are totally going to rock the mini van! What an awesome bonus that you've got an adopted grandma too! Love you guys! Sounds like a match made in heaven:)

Jodee said...

Bah ha ha! You kept them hidden in the car like dirty little secrets! DYING!
You are going to have the best 2 years of your lives there! HA!
I love the house and I love that you love it. ENJOY!!!

Janette said...

So happy for you! What a cute house! Love ya!!

Andi said...

That is awesome that the house is only 2 miles away from Jay's work! I'm so happy that Jay is home by 5:30 so you can eat dinner together. I really like the house.

Just me said...

I'm going to be doing my best to keep you up to date with what's happening in Switzerland, whilst you get to live for real in the gorgeous NZ (you will love it more and more and end up head over heels, trust me). See? You get the best of both worlds!

Happy to found you. I do love your cheeky turn of phrase and the way you wrap your stories!

Ali

Chelsea said...

love love love! So happy for you guys and that perfectly modern/beachy/green house of yours! And I'm dying over the mini-minivan. I want to see the inside! Its all just sending my curiosity meter into overdrive.