What Are You Waiting For?

For nine years, my house was on the market and did not sell. Neighbors, realtors, and friends said it made no sense. They told me that the homes in my community that were smaller, not as updated, or as attractively staged were selling quickly, but mine just did not. Every year, I would put it on the market and after a while take it down again as it was clear it was not God’s will it would sell that year.

Friends and family were concerned. I had had several falls due to a neurological issue, and my townhome was four stories. I was at peace because I sensed this was God’s will but very disappointed. The very fact that everyone thought my home would sell the first day on the market and that it did not, seemed confirmation that this anomaly was intentional on God’s part, but why? What was He waiting for? In my pride, I told myself that I had yielded my will to Him and that all I wanted was what He wanted. That turned out not to be exactly true. Once again, I had deceived myself about how submitted I was to Him. It took Him nine years to bring about the blessings He wanted to give me while my agenda blocked the way. And I did not even see it. Here are a few things He has shown me about those nine years.

1. Casey’s plan was to move back to Marietta, my hometown. This plan was the most sensible because cost of living is lower than where I live now. My family is in Marietta. My friends in Marietta are as close as family and they are younger, a real plus as I am aging. When I moved to Vinings in 2005, a beautiful, walkable village in Atlanta, my plan was to stay two years and then move back home. My only reason for moving in 2005 was that my son was getting his driver’s license, and I did not want this novice driver commuting twenty miles daily up I-75 to his school. We moved three miles from his school into what was to be a very temporary home. That was 16 years ago.

Why God’s plan was better: All along, God’s plan was to keep me in this wonderful neighborhood that feels like home, near people I have come to love deeply, and close to my church that is the earthly hub of my life. For the first five years of the nine year wait, wise women of my church in Atlanta tried to tell me that God had planted my life here and had given me new friends in the area who loved me. God sent me many Godly advisers that I did not listen to in those years, thinking I knew better. (Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22.) I reluctantly agreed to pray about it.

Then my son moved home from California and planted roots in Atlanta where his former school is and where his friends are. Being near him for impromptu dinners and drop-ins for the next two years made it clearer to me that this little village hidden away in busy Atlanta was home now. I was not waiting on God; He had been waiting on me to see what He, the God Who sees the future, already knew. Vinings is home.

Psalm 16:5 - Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. HCSB

Jeremiah 29:11 - 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 a hope.

Ecclesiastes 8:7 - For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?

2. Casey’s plan was to sell my large home and buy a home for about half that cost. Because I started over financially at age 40 with a large debt, my retirement is not robust. My plan has always been to use the equity in my home to contribute substantially to my retirement income. I was looking for something modest, with few amenities, commensurate with the low cost.

Why God’s plan was better: God’s plan was far more generous because He wanted to bless me with a lovely, safe and delightful place to live. He allowed me to see that any place a retiree could invest “safe money” right now is paying, literally, almost nothing. The best investment for me is in my home. God has blessed me with a home I would never have splurged on that has security and amenities I never would have put on my wish list. And it did not hurt that he sold my home in the hottest market my zip code has ever experienced and gave me a better price than I ever would have imagined even a year ago.

Through the years, there has been one place that secretly was my dream home. As I watched home after home in this condominium complex come on the market and be snapped up by others, I often became discouraged, thinking I had missed the opportunity. When the offer came for my home, it was with the caveat that I had to be out in 3 weeks. The only home that was available to me in my price range was in this development. I love a lot of light and this one is a rare corner unit with windows everywhere admitting gorgeous light through the leafy trees that surround me. Surely, spiritually and in every way, “the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6

Proverbs 16:1-4 - To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. 2 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. 3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. 4 The LORD works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster.

3. Casey’s plan had a timeline that the house would sell the first time I put it on the market.

Why God’s plan was better: God’s plan was a nine year wait and included countless prayers and petitions for His will. That is perhaps the only thing I did right in those years was not to cease to pray even though God appeared at times to be unmoved by the prayers of my friends and me. In the beginning of this odyssey, I threw in the words “Thy will be done.” At the end, He had me relinquish my own will and truly welcome whatever He wanted for His glory and the good of EVERYONE involved.

The one thing I consistently said when people asked me often through the years about the disappointment of not selling was this: When I was in prayer, the failure of my house to sell did not seem random. The Holy Spirit consistently gave me a sense that He was doing something very intentional. I was not forgotten nor was I being punished. God’s timeline for selling a house, answering a prayer for a wayward child, or any other petition is often quite different from our timeline.

Habakkuk 2:3 - For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

James 4:13-17 - Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

4. Casey’s plan was to handle my business privately, to make the transaction with little fanfare, and to quietly move and be settled before I announced anything. I am a very private person. I don’t like to reveal my weakness and neediness. I like for people to peer into my life and see all is organized and as it should be. But that is not the truth.

Why God’s plan was better: So many people prayed for my home to sell through the years and witnessed the failure I experienced year after year that the sale of my home was a cause for celebration for so many. My neediness, embarrassment, and years of humiliating rejection were there for all to see. Now, my joy and gratitude are being shared by the same people. The outpouring of love, prayers, and help I have received from these same people has been overwhelming.

I can never describe what the last two weeks have been for me as women have come alongside me to pack me, unpack me, wash the dusty china and bric-a-brac that had been stored in the basement of my “temporary home” of 16 years, house me when I was between homes, and bring me meal after meal while I made the transition. Because of my neurological problem, I am unsteady on my feet, and I could never have done this without the help of Godly, sacrificial women.

God knew I needed restoring in some areas. For some reason I am always surprised if someone likes me. To find out I am so deeply cared about by these wonderful women who have reached out to help and do the most humble of service for me has been revolutionary and healing. I would not have experienced this outpouring that has changed my view of the Body of Christ forever if I had quietly sold my home as I so desired nine years ago. Thank you, God.

Proverbs 19:21 - Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Isaiah 55:8 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

What are you waiting for?

What about you? What event or change have you been looking to Heaven for that has seemed to be delayed for a long time? Could it be that God is waiting on you as He was waiting on me? Is God trying to bless you beyond what your finite mind can imagine? Is your wishlist or agenda standing in the way? Are you sure that His will has total sway over yours?

I have listed all the Scriptures below that have spoken to me. If the Lord leads you, please consider praying these Scriptures that you know are true. Ask God to guide you and help you be His vessel in the waiting time. Let Him know you mean it when you say you have totally submitted your will to Him.

And in case it is not obvious, this blog is a huge thank you to God for every minute of the nine year wait. And it is also a thank you to each woman who has blessed me over the years with her prayers and all who have helped or volunteered to help this unsteady person get settled in her new home.

Verses to pray through

Proverbs 15:22 - Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22.