Details. "In a major matter, no detail is too small." Buying our second home was not a trifling matter. We received an education owning our first home of what it means to be a home owner. More trepidation than excitement characterized our strategy for finding our new home. Could there really exist a house that met our requirements and wishes; how long would it take to find such a house?
My non negotiable list included:
I've learned that a house can be too big. Too much responsibility to keep clean and you have to hire help or live with the mess. The same goes for yard. You can have too much yard to tend. Our perfect for our family size is 2500 sq ft and 1/2 acre of land to keep tame.
I wanted laminate countertops because I can have my choice of upgrade in the not near future. If there were granite countertops and I didn't like the color, there would be no justified reason for an upgrade just to change the color.
A gas fireplace because I'm allergic to smoke.
Everything else is seems to stand without need to explain why it was on the wanted list.
My deepest unspoken desire list included:
This is my list that I threw together in my head that said, if I could have anything regardless of cost, it would be...
Every single one of these details was provided in our second house. Right down to the exact patio stone I picked out for what I wanted for the patio before we even knew for sure we were moving. Both lists complete. The reasonable list and the seriously obscure list every item all marked off. It turned out to be the very house I picked out on Zillow's aerial map last December when dreaming of where we would live if we got a job. Exact. Spelling it out more: we'd never seen pictures of the house when we put together our lists. A month before our house sold, the house went on the market. It never made it to the market, there was an offer on the house before it officially hit the market. The day the house was advertised for sale, it was with a sale pending sign already on it. That's how fast the market was here. You had to put an offer in before it was officially on the market. We were so disappointed that we never had a chance to see the house, but decided to call our agent to ask him to be contacted if the offer fell through. It did. On the day of signing the offer fell through. Our agent called us immediately and we saw the house and put an offer in the same day as we had accepted an offer on our home the day before. Seriously the deal fell apart at signing. How unheard of is that!? The day after our house went under contract to sell. How's that for timing? We couldn't put an offer on anything until our house was under contract. Three weeks later, on Wednesday we closed on our house we sold and Friday closed on our new house and moved in Saturday. It's all in the details.
As we lived here, I began to remember my ridiculous list of wants and began ticking off that everything I deeply desired was here. Every detail was taken care of for us. It's not the first time this has happened.
My first car I wanted a blue with gold trim 2000 Subaru Outback. Brandon found it for me on a car lot a mile away from my apartment. It was waiting for me. The dealer said, "I don't understand why this car has been sitting here for a month. They usually don't stay longer than a few days." It was the exact car I wanted for the exact price.
We needed a fancy fridge to sell our home and months before I picked out a Samsung with french doors and no water filter on the front (I don't like them). It was two grand and way out of our price range. When we went to look at fridges, there it was for $1298 because there was a ding on the front. We were able to use a 10% off coupon as well. The salesman said, "I don't know why this has been here for a month. It's a brand new fridge. The doors are from another fridge that got slightly damaged during a delivery." It was waiting for us again.
Our living room furniture didn't fit in our new living room. I wanted a tan non microfiber sectional for $800. I looked online everywhere and couldn't find any under $1500. On a whim we went to Furniture Row and there it was in clearance. For my specified price, it got a living room set not just a couch. The set had been put out the day before.
In every major matter, no detail has been too small. All the pieces have come together. And the more magnification we use, the more details are brought out, perfectly formed for us to see His hand and be amazed at His works. Even with all these examples in my life, it still find every decision stressful and that it is somehow through my efforts that it will come together. Still, I'm self focused. When will I figure it out that all the worry in the details does nothing but cause me unhappiness. When will I gain the perspective from my past examples and rest in His provision?
"God is in the details."
What details have been given to you?
My non negotiable list included:
- a separate dining room
- smaller master than we had
- three bedrooms instead of four
- a playroom
- a small house footprint on the land
- land
- a three car garage
- no larger than 2500 sq ft
- laminate countertops
- kitchenette
- hardwood floors
- gas fireplace
I've learned that a house can be too big. Too much responsibility to keep clean and you have to hire help or live with the mess. The same goes for yard. You can have too much yard to tend. Our perfect for our family size is 2500 sq ft and 1/2 acre of land to keep tame.
I wanted laminate countertops because I can have my choice of upgrade in the not near future. If there were granite countertops and I didn't like the color, there would be no justified reason for an upgrade just to change the color.
A gas fireplace because I'm allergic to smoke.
Everything else is seems to stand without need to explain why it was on the wanted list.
My deepest unspoken desire list included:
- a beautiful wind chime that I would never spend the money on for myself
- wisteria
- honeysuckle
- arbor
- large patio with pergola
- built ins
- wrap around porch
- thermometer
- garden area
- kids playground
- Aspen & plum tree
This is my list that I threw together in my head that said, if I could have anything regardless of cost, it would be...
Every single one of these details was provided in our second house. Right down to the exact patio stone I picked out for what I wanted for the patio before we even knew for sure we were moving. Both lists complete. The reasonable list and the seriously obscure list every item all marked off. It turned out to be the very house I picked out on Zillow's aerial map last December when dreaming of where we would live if we got a job. Exact. Spelling it out more: we'd never seen pictures of the house when we put together our lists. A month before our house sold, the house went on the market. It never made it to the market, there was an offer on the house before it officially hit the market. The day the house was advertised for sale, it was with a sale pending sign already on it. That's how fast the market was here. You had to put an offer in before it was officially on the market. We were so disappointed that we never had a chance to see the house, but decided to call our agent to ask him to be contacted if the offer fell through. It did. On the day of signing the offer fell through. Our agent called us immediately and we saw the house and put an offer in the same day as we had accepted an offer on our home the day before. Seriously the deal fell apart at signing. How unheard of is that!? The day after our house went under contract to sell. How's that for timing? We couldn't put an offer on anything until our house was under contract. Three weeks later, on Wednesday we closed on our house we sold and Friday closed on our new house and moved in Saturday. It's all in the details.
As we lived here, I began to remember my ridiculous list of wants and began ticking off that everything I deeply desired was here. Every detail was taken care of for us. It's not the first time this has happened.
My first car I wanted a blue with gold trim 2000 Subaru Outback. Brandon found it for me on a car lot a mile away from my apartment. It was waiting for me. The dealer said, "I don't understand why this car has been sitting here for a month. They usually don't stay longer than a few days." It was the exact car I wanted for the exact price.
We needed a fancy fridge to sell our home and months before I picked out a Samsung with french doors and no water filter on the front (I don't like them). It was two grand and way out of our price range. When we went to look at fridges, there it was for $1298 because there was a ding on the front. We were able to use a 10% off coupon as well. The salesman said, "I don't know why this has been here for a month. It's a brand new fridge. The doors are from another fridge that got slightly damaged during a delivery." It was waiting for us again.
Our living room furniture didn't fit in our new living room. I wanted a tan non microfiber sectional for $800. I looked online everywhere and couldn't find any under $1500. On a whim we went to Furniture Row and there it was in clearance. For my specified price, it got a living room set not just a couch. The set had been put out the day before.
In every major matter, no detail has been too small. All the pieces have come together. And the more magnification we use, the more details are brought out, perfectly formed for us to see His hand and be amazed at His works. Even with all these examples in my life, it still find every decision stressful and that it is somehow through my efforts that it will come together. Still, I'm self focused. When will I figure it out that all the worry in the details does nothing but cause me unhappiness. When will I gain the perspective from my past examples and rest in His provision?
"God is in the details."
What details have been given to you?
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