Are you nuts?

So maybe 5 years ago my husband said, "Let's sell the house and move into an apartment."

To which I responded, "ARE YOU NUTS?????"

2 years later he had convinced me that we would love being apartment dwellers again and so a few thousands dollars later (new windows, new siding, and other things that needed to be done to make the house "marketable") we said goodbye to the house we had lived in for 10 years.

Welcome apartment living! AWESOME! No yard to mow. Less expenses. No property taxes. Can I hear an AMEN? And on top of all that we have pool we don't have to maintain, a gym we don't have to pay dues for, and life is good.

A little over 2 years later my husband says, "I think we should buy a house again."

To which I respond, "ARE YOU NUTS????"

Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Think about it he says, "we only have a one car garage, we occasionally have very loud and drunk neighbors - remember when the police had to come?, our space is not a home we really can't do anything we want to it, we are at the beckon call of the landlord, rent keeps going up but nothing gets better because of it", etc.

So I call the real estate agent.

One year later we spend almost an hour in a bank signing the myriad of papers they put in front of us, write a big check, and walk out with a key that's retail value is about one dollar. I look at the key and think "wow, that is one expensive key".

We go to our new home and open the door and feel the joy of home ownership once again. Really, I guess it takes a while being away from it to appreciate it again. We reflect on all the tiny miracles that happened to get us to this point:
- Interest rates dropped
- Real estate dropped
- President Obama offered us $8,000 to be home owners once again (sold last home 3/16/06 - first time buyer tax credit applies if you have not owned a home in over 3 years, bought house today - 3/18/09 . Can someone say "hmmmm"?)
- Fears of major issues found at inspection turn out to be unfounded
- Just when we need it a guy pulls up at the house we are considering buying with a ladder in the back of his truck. Minutes after I said "wish we would have brought a ladder".

Well I guess some of these miracles aren't so tiny. But I wonder, will I miss being an apartment dweller and the freedom that affords?

NO!

God made sure of that. This week has been a nightmare and a HUGE reminder that we are just living in someone else's space and subject to their rule and dominion. A long story I could not due justice in this note but one that is worthy of telling.

Fire sprinklers in our building have been recalled. All of them must be replaced. We have to move EVERYTHING away from the sprinklers and EMPTY all closets that have one in them. That is just about every room and closet in our little dwelling. So Sunday evening is spent moving everything we can out of closets and against walls. Moving furniture so it isn't under sprinklers and then Monday morning all the cloths are carefully taken out of closets, laid on the bed and covered with blankets. The last item has to undone at night since we must sleep on that bed and the next morning the ritual is repeated. For THREE days! That was Monday. Tomorrow is Friday and I have to do it all again. They didn't show on Monday. We were told they will start Wednesday. They didn't show on Wednesday. We were told they will start on Thursday. They did show today so this evening is spent getting exercise bending over picking up thousands of tiny pieces of orange plastic that flies all over the place when you remove fire sprinklers. Something I didn't know before and could have died happy not knowing it. Maybe they will finish tomorrow, who knows.

So I consider it a gift from God - a new house - with a bow on top - a reminder of why I don't want to live in an apartment any more.

Well at least not until my husband says, "Honey....."

Thinking again

So I was driving home and this man on a bicycle was riding like he was in a car. Just using whatever lane he wanted and going all over the road. Common in other countries but so much here.

He decided he wanted to turn left at an intersection and right as he got to it the light turned RED! I didn't think he would stop and prepared myself to watch him get hit by a car. He stopped. Phew.

The incident reminded me of a time in Florida when I witnessed a not so smart person on a motorcycle do something stupid while trying to show off. BAM, right into the back of an SUV. It was horrible to witness and I cried. I think I might have even let out a little scream.

This is when I started thinking about all the times I have screamed because something startled me, shocked me, angered me, or just surprised me in such a way that an uninvited, unexpected, unpremeditated SCREAM came out.

I began to wonder if God screams. After all we are made in his image and these times when I've screamed for these types of situations seem to just happen. Like instinct or something. Like something designed into my being for some unknown reason. So, I ask you, does God scream?

If He does. What would cause Him to scream. What horror or injustice would be so terrible that God would just scream? Nothing surprises Him so I know that would never be the cause. No, I guess as I think about it God would never scream. Not in the sense I do.

But He does cry. What makes God cry?

Think about it.