On a cloudy day back in February, Tony and I drove down a street we’d never been before. We passed our destination, then quickly I pointed out an ally at the end of the block. Tony took a left and found a parking spot, like it had been there waiting for us all along.
We got out of the car, then walked back to the main road, and turned the corner. We walked toward the house we were there to see. Coming from the opposite side of the block, our realtor was walking toward us with a smile on her face, and a folder in her hand that held the listing of the home.
Our realtor was walking toward us with a smile on her face, and a folder in her hand that held the listing of the home.
After we said hello, our realtor began telling us about the house. She told us how many bedrooms it had, that it had central air, and that unfortunately, there was no off-street parking. Tony and I looked up at the house’s cute exterior, painted all in white and shades of grey, then followed her to the front door.
Thirty minutes later, I was standing in the kitchen of that house, feeling disappointed. Though online, it seemed to have so much potential, in person—the house wasn’t going to work for us. Our realtor could tell by the look on my face how I was feeling, and asked what I thought.
“It just feels like we keep seeing houses that are so close to what we’re looking for—but not close enough,” I said.
“I know what you mean,” she replied, understandingly. “But don’t worry, you will find your house.” We said goodbye to our realtor for the day, praying she was right.
Then three weeks later, COVID hit.
Everything shut down, and as I shared in April, we had to grieve our timeline. We had to let go of what we thought the spring of 2020 would hold for us. Not being able to even look at houses meant our plans were on hold again.
In many ways, our plans have been on hold for a while now.
I say again, because in many ways, our plans have been on hold for a while now. For over eight years, Tony and I have been asking hard questions and praying big prayers about what our future would look like. Since individually leaving our families to come to Pennsylvania a few years before we got together, neither of us have felt at home. And together, we’ve been looking and waiting for a place to land.
We’ve been waiting for a long time.
But I know I am not alone. I know that before COVID, chances are you too were praying, working, and waiting for something you’ve been wanting for a really long time. Perhaps, even longer than we have been. Only in all of our waiting, there was something I’d forgotten. Something, that I hope by sharing it today, gives you hope.
Before COVID, chances are you too were praying, working, and waiting for something you’ve been wanting for a really long time.
When COVID hit, and everything shut down, instead of feeling angry or upset about our circumstances, I experienced an incredible sense of peace. As I continued to pray about our house search, all sense of urgency seemed to disappear. Then, two months later, a few days after our governor opened up the real-estate market, Tony found a house online that again looked so much like what we wanted.
The next day, we went to see the house. It was what we had been looking for all along. The day after that, we put an offer on it, and it was accepted. But here is the crazy part: it is right across the street from the grey house we looked at, at the beginning of this post.
Neither of us saw our house that day, but it was there all along.
When I got out of the car to look at our now home for the first time, the grey house that wasn’t meant to be ours, was right in front of me. Later, I asked Tony if he remembers ever looking across the street when we looked at the grey house all those months ago—and he says he doesn’t. Neither of us saw our house that day, but it was there all along.
One day, a few weeks later, I stood in our living room and looked out the window across the street. Suddenly I had this sense that God had always known where we were supposed to be. That even though in February, we had no idea we’d be living on that street, He did. In the midst of all of those years of waiting, and in our house search—He could already see His provision for us. He already knew where we were meant to land.
Friend, I don’t know what you’ve been waiting and praying for, but I do know that the answer is coming.
Friend, I don’t know what you’ve been waiting and praying for, but I do know that the answer is coming. The answer that God has for you. The answer that may be just across the street from where you stand today. The one you can’t see yet, but I promise you, is there.
What have you been waiting and praying for?
Do you believe God has a good answer to give you at just the right time?
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