April 4
Oh my goodness! I came home today and noticed that the most beautiful tulips had popped out and bloomed literally overnight!
We had been living in Billerica for two years and recently found a house for lease with the option to buy in Lowell.
I wasn't too crazy about moving back to Lowell just because our old Lowell neighborhood left a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, I know, I can't blame the whole city because of one bad street or rather one bad rooming house!
Realistically though we were always in Lowell because our kids still went to school there and played sports there, basically did everything there!
So we knew that our time in Billerica was going to be short. Mel and I prayed about when the time would be right to look to move and where to go.
Well I guess when they say in God's time not ours, they weren't kidding!
Remember in an earlier entry how I said I wanted a house in the country?
Well living in Billerica felt like that. It was woodsy and the river ran behind our home. The street was a private dead end with lots of space for the boys to run around and we had the best neighbors ever!
The challenge was the house was too small for our family and too far away, from well, everything we needed to go to.
Some nights I would literally be in the car for four hours picking kids up and dropping them off at the various school or sports activities.
After much prayer and pondering I felt the time had come to start looking.
Now I know some people aren't going to believe what happened next but then again some of you will!
Even though we pray as a family, we found out we also pray as individuals; duh, no brainer, right? And in doing so we might ask for different things at different times. This isn't a big deal if you are praying for something for one person, but when you are praying for something for a whole family well it can get pretty interesting!
It wasn't until we had found our current home in Lowell that we discovered why it took us and to an extent God two years to locate this particular house!
By mere fluke I picked up the local paper randomly looking for nothing in particular when I saw an ad for a house for lease.
I nagged poor Mel to call to check it out. Mind you at this point we still have three months left on our current lease and hadn't really prepared to move yet or prepared to have the amount required for deposits, etc.
Mel leaves a message. While we are in Lowell picking up our daughter from a soccer game the owner calls back and tells us he can show us the house. Now!
The house happens to be less than three blocks from our kids' school! (Yeah I know!)
Once we walked into the front foyer my hubby knows he was in deep do-do because our daughter and I were instantly in love!
The next few weeks were just one big gift from God.
Somehow we got the house, got the money, and got moved in all before Christmas.
Now this is when we figured out why it took so long!
I wanted a nice backyard with lilacs. Check. Jess wanted a room where she could actually open her closet door while she was in it! Check.
Chris wanted a big game room. Check.
Alexi wanted to be able to walk to school with his friends. Check!
Mel wanted something in a nice neighborhood without the neighbors being right on top of us. Check.
I wanted hardwood floors. Check.
I also wanted stained glass windows. Check.
We wanted our own office space. Check.
And the cherry on top, a fire place, a real fireplace. No wonder it took him so long to find it for us!
Our old house in Lowell had a decorative fireplace when you came into the foyer. I had decorated it with a log and a real fire screen, poke, etc.
The kids would make fun of me when Christmas came and reminded me not to put the decorations too close as they might burn! Smarty-pants!
Now, I had a real fireplace in the living room! Ironically every little detail we individually wanted, this house had!
Crazy thing was the year before we had been waiting for our daughter to return from a school activity and decided to take a walk in the neighborhood surrounding their school.
We actually walked right by the house. I remember Mel saying how much he would love to live in a house like that. All I remembered was commenting on how beautiful the cherry blossom tree and the child's playhouse in the front were. The thought went out and was forgotten. Yet, I now know that Heavenly Father did not forget!
He needed to make sure that the people who lived there at the time were taken care of before the house was available for us.
The key thing I learned was we didn't envy them, or wish them harm because they had something we admired! As a habit Mel and I whenever we admire someone's property we say a small prayer that God will preserve their belongings.
I guess because of this the Lord had seen fit to bless us with things we never thought we would ever get.
Every morning I thank the Lord for the beautiful home he has blessed us with!
As if the things he has given us weren't enough, I get the sweet surprise of beautiful tulips in the front lawn!
It goes to show that to God we are all truly important to him. Down to the smallest detail, tulips and all!
What we take for granted is that sometimes what we ask for takes a while.
God has the whole picture we only have a few pieces of the puzzle. We just need to be patient and have faith to receive it!
It is amazing to me that the greatest joys are in the small details!
Hmm, those flowers smell so good! What do you say Buddie, boy, want to go check out the neighborhood?
