Perspective

I will start by saying this has been a tough week.  Long days at the office, our house falling through, I was ready for the weekend.  

This morning, our external hard-drive crashed.  

All of our pictures from the past 5 years of marriage... yes, I was almost physically sick.  1st Christmas... New York... Europe... you don't even want to imagine how I felt, or picture the temper tantrum I pitched in front of my husband (that was definitely a new all-time low for me).  We have looked into it, and there is a possibility we may be able to recover what was on it. But, it's going to be $$$.  So for the rest of the day, I have been throwing myself a small pity party.

Until I came across this that one of my friend's posted on Facebook:  Avery's Bucket List

I then felt ashamed.  Ashamed of the fact that I got so upset today about pictures.  Pictures.  Ashamed of the fact that I caved at something so trivial when this little girl's family has embraced something so impossibly hard and devastating.  I then felt thankful beyond words for the health that God has blessed me and my family with.  Health.  Something that is such a gift but something that I take for granted almost every single day.  Something that no amount of money can buy.  It definitely made me think about the last 12 hours from a different perspective.  With complete and humble thanks. 

Wait.

"Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage, wait for the LORD!"

Psalm 27:14

I have been saying this over and over in my mind since yesterday.  Last night at about 5:30pm, Alan and I made the decision not to buy the house.  The sellers were not able to fix/replace the items we had requested, so Alan and I decided that because of that- we would forego this option, wait, and continue in our search for a home.  While I am still sad, being somewhat emotionally invested at this point, I have no regrets about our decision.  That being said, we will wait.

Housing Woes

For those of you who may not know, Alan and I have been trying to find a house since moving back to Knoxville.  Right now we're living with his parents (you may be surprised by this, but let me just say, Alan's parents are wonderful and we get along great!) which we think has been ideal because it has allowed us to save while also giving us the flexibility to buy a house whenever we feel ready.  Well, we found one we really liked, waited to see if the price would drop (which it did twice!), and then made an offer! After going back and forth a few times with the sellers, we were able to get the house at the price we wanted, Yay!

Then came the home inspection.

I will say, our desired neighborhood is an older one so we knew there were likely going to be a few issues with the house but thought: no big deal, we'll just fix up those things over the next several years.  Well, it looks like if we still want this house, there are some pretty big items that will need to be fixed pronto.  So... this is where we are now.  Going back to the sellers with our contingencies of what we would like them to fix prior to us signing our life away on the dotted line.

Making the decision to buy a house is a really big step which Alan and I have also found that so many people have varying opinions on.  However, from the get-go we made a commitment to each other that we would listen to the wisdom and advice of others, but ultimately do what is right for us.  I was put at ease when my mom reminded me that God has a plan for us, and while it is sometimes hard to wait for that plan to be revealed, we need to just trust that this will work itself out.  So, to be continued...

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Happy Easter

I think I can say for both of us, that Alan and I were happy to be home in Knoxville this Easter. Let me back-track for a second and reiterate how much we LOVED our time in Saint Louis but there is just something about being home... Anyways, we woke up to a beautiful Easter morning and went to our church Cedar Springs. I don't think I have ever seen it so crowded! We enjoyed a yummy lunch with our families and then relaxed the rest of the day. I will end with the lyrics of a song we sang this morning, "Christ the LORD is risen today, Alleluia!"

Drew Holcomb

Alan and I had a fantastic night the the Bijou watching some dear friends of ours from college perform: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors. Drew's wife, Ellie, was in my sorority in college and her younger brother, Ben, married one of my best friends. Anyhow, I got box tickets through work so we decided to make a night of it. One thing Drew and Ellie are passionate about is supporting the Mocha Club, so before you buy your next Starbucks- check it out. It was so much fun listening to them and seeing how far they've all come since college. We are also always on the lookout for a fun night out and this definitely was one!