Waiting for Convergence

So I was saying...

That we are taking our house off the market. Today, actually.

And guess what? Our realtor called yesterday and said, "I know we're taking it off the market in another day, but someone wants to see it this afternoon!"

My heart dropped. The house was a mess, and my two best helpers had just left for the day. (To go be extras in an Awana video, in fact. The show-biz opportunities around here just seem to abound!)

Then, it leaped. What a great story this could be, if these people buy the house: "Yeah, the day before we were planning to take it off the market...." We'd move in mid-December and be settled in Wisconsin for Christmas!

The phone rang again. It was our realtor. "Uh, false alarm. They changed their minds and they're not going to go out looking at houses today."

My heart returned to its normal position. Oh, well. Back to Plan A, a whole afternoon of errands, emails and phone calls.

***

"Why do you think we're not up there yet?" Papa Rooster and I asked each other last night. "Is there something we're missing? Something we're doing wrong, or something we're supposed to be doing? Is there a character thing God's trying to teach us?"

As I ponder these questions, I keep coming back to a comment our friend Randy left on this post. He said:

Somehow, I cannot get out of my mind that in this case waiting may have much more to do with convergence than with molding. Many events are already set in motion. Puzzle pieces are in various stages of placement. Some are being matched to other pieces they belong with, while others have yet even to be turned face-up. Meanwhile, we wait and wonder...or do we wait IN wonder? We are praying that your family's piece will be securely placed soon.

The word "convergence" keeps jumping out at me. I think he's right that this delay is not about molding or shaping us, though this trial is undoubtedly building our faith, trust and patience. No, I think there are details--maybe even our next house?--that have yet to line up as they need to. Maybe we still have purposes to serve, parts to play (literally, in "Charlotte's Web"!), reasons for being just where we are right now.

"Do we wait and wonder...or do we wait IN wonder?" he asks.

As the kids and I pray each morning, I am trying to help them wait IN wonderment at what God is going to do. As we read the Scriptures, I point out how the Bible characters did not know how their stories--so familiar to us--would end. They had to trust God and wait for Him to move, for Him to speak, for Him to act.

It's no different for us. And I have all confidence that the end of the story will be worth waiting--in wonder--for!

We want to thank all of you who have been praying for us, specifically for our house to sell. We know that God hears and answers every one, and we are so especially thankful for you all! Our house will still be for sale, though not listed in the MLS, and we know God can sell it any day He chooses. So please, continue praying. We are still eager to move--for the church plant, and to shorten Father Rooster's 3-hour round-trip daily commute.