Timing Is Everything

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I am back in the states for a short summer visit.  It’s been wonderful to catch up with friends and family and enjoy familiar sights and sounds.  I’m having more fun than I expected to.  To be honest, I was having a pretty bad attitude about coming home this summer.  I was tired from the long school year and ministry responsibilities, and was longing for a restful summer of beach going, bike riding, and rest.  The idea of traveling ½ way around the world into what I was sure was going to be chaos just didn’t sound like the way I wanted to spend my summer.  So I avoided discussing it or planning for it with all my might in hopes that it might go away.  Of course I love dearly the chance to see my friends and family, but when we come stateside, there are just so many people we love and want to see that the time is never long enough to accommodate them all.  We always leave pretty exhausted and wishing we had just a little more time. 

But, a quiet summer was not part of the plan for me so back to the states I came wondering what my summer would be like.  Of course as soon as I hugged my parents I knew the trip would be worth it.  And we had not even been back 24 hours before I decided to add to the craziness in a significant way.  For the past 8 years my parents have shared a home with my grandmother to assist her as she ages.  It has worked out well for all of them and has always provided us with a wonderful base to return home to whenever we can.  But as my grandmother approaches 84 it was clear to me as soon as I arrived that this situation wasn’t working out so well anymore.  I gently encouraged my parents to consider finding a ranch house without so many stairs to accommodate both my grandmother in her aging years and also my parents as they approach retirement and look toward the future.  My request surprised them a bit, but I just asked them to really consider it.  The next morning as they sat in my grandmother’s hospital room, my dad put in an online search and up popped the perfect house.  Just the right size, in the right neighborhood, good condition, right price, just what they were looking for in terms of yard, number of bathrooms, garage space, ect……….  It looked too good to be true.  2 days later we were looking at the house, fully expecting to find some huge defect, but there was none!  It looked even better in person.  Less than one week later, and offer was made and accepted and the home inspection process began.  My parents other property has an interested buyer before it has even gone up for sale, my grandmother’s home is moving quickly towards the market with everyone in agreement and working together to help.  All of the details have come together in perfect timing and with incredible speed.  Who ever finds their perfect home on the very first look? 

I could congratulate myself on my incredibly timed advice and fantastic wisdom in prodding them to look for a house at just the right time, but that would be silly.  In my extremely jetlagged condition I was barely have logical much less wise thoughts.  As I look at house amazingly this whole process has come together, I can see nothing else but the hand of our Father preparing each step before it was taken.  Nothing else explains the incredible timing and detail of every step so far.  Luck?  I just don’t believe that.  I am encouraged once again that our heavenly father knows what we need before we ask for it and provides it in every instance in his perfect time. 

So we are now living in a house that is going up for sale, with my parents who are preparing to move, and my grandmother who has challenging health problems requiring multiple therapist and doctor’s visits every day.  Adding to the fun, my sister delivered baby number 3 last week and so every morning her husband drops her off on his way to work with her 3 year old, 1.5 year old and 1 week old children.  This house is like a crazy farm with children everywhere, therapists popping in and out, and 7 adults going in all directions in and out of the house all day long.  But my kids are loving all of this family time, my nieces and nephews are soaking up all the attention, my grandmother is laughing at the chaos in her home (she’s a pretty amazing senior citizen, not many people her age enjoy the kind of craziness we all bring along, but she thrives in it), my parents are taking every snuggle and hug from their 5 grandchildren as they run this way and that taking care of us all, my sister is recovering amazingly well from her C-section with all the many hands to help, our two husbands have a great sense of humor and take it all in stride, and despite the little rest that is happening and my head spinning from all the comings and the goings, I am loving every minute.  I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else this summer.  His timing is always perfect in every way. 

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