My shirt is new, it belonged to a sweet friend’s mom who just passed from cancer. It says “good things are coming.” The joy is coming. The relief is nearer than we think. Good things are coming.
This week we are closing on our very first home. We’ve attempted to buy a home three times since we’ve been married and all three times were a flop. We’ve waited six years to buy our first home. During the first three of those six years we had no idea where we wanted to put down roots. We struggled to understand God’s will for Ben’s career. We longed for a place of our own so we looked at homes in NY twice. But God didn’t allow it either time.
And then came cancer. And we moved across country (twice). And lived in 13 different AirBnBs + my cousins’ home + with a family we didn’t know from Adam who are now like family. And last year as we thought we were wrapping up treatment for good, we attempted to buy a home again here in Atlanta. And again it didn’t happen.
But this week we are closing on our first home. This is surreal for the family that was once homeless traveling around the country seeking treatment for stage four cancer. And after all of that waiting, in God’s amazing fashion he’s providing not only one blessing but three- all in the same day. January 1 our new home will officially be ours. But this day also marks day 100 post-transplant which is a big milestone in the transplant world because it means I’m officially discharged (and in a COVID-free world I wouldn’t have to sequester anymore). On this day we’ll also begin a new year; we’ll get a fresh start to the challenging year we’ve had.
As we reflect on our journey, it’s obvious to us why God said no each time we tried to buy a home. We wouldn’t have been able to up & move across country to seek treatment if we owned in NY. We wouldn’t have been able to afford future treatment for me if we bought a house last year. All of the heartache and “no’s”... they were for our good. And this week as we close we see God all over this story. Only God could write a story this beautiful. Only God would provide us a dream home as a first home, after all that waiting. Only a good and kind Father would provide not one but three blessings on the same day after a hard, hard journey.
In the book of Job we read about a story of deep suffering that ends with healing and kindness from God. After the suffering is over God allows Job to flourish more in the second half of his life than he did in the first. (Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish. Job 8:7) And while I don’t believe this is a promise God makes to everyone who will suffer, I do believe it’s reflective of God’s character. I do believe it’s an obvious reminder of God’s kindness and mercy. And I do believe he is showing us so much kindness and mercy, so much grace and generosity as he is allowing us to flourish more in this “second half” of our life more than we did in the first.
This home is so sweetly symbolic for us. It’s a fresh start, a beautiful new beginning after fighting a long ugly fight. It’s a physical reminder of God‘s faithfulness. A reminder that even when it seems like he’s withholding good, he’s not. It’s a nod to all of the times we cried out and asked “why” when we heard “no.” A reminder that “no” from God is always for our best and that something better is to come.
Our prayer for this home is that the lonely feel overwhelmed with love. That it would be both our safe haven from the world for us and a safe haven for the world. That this home would help us be a people of remembrance; Remembering God’s perfect provision, peace and presence, especially in our darkest hours over the past two years. That we would never grow so comfortable in our cozy home that we forget there are people suffering just as we were not so long ago. And that whenever our children ask us the story of our home, the first thing we would speak of is God’s faithfulness.
Friend, if you’re in a season of waiting- a season of hearing ‘no’ over and over- hold tight to God’s promises. He is good. He is for us. He will never forsake us. And he is writing an unbelievably better story than we could even imagine for those of us who trust in him. Your joy is coming. Your relief is nearer than you think. Whether you experience it here on earth or in heaven. Your God has been faithful thus far and He will continue to be.