Staying Put

I really do believe in the power of prayer for making decisions in life. I’d been anxious about deciding whether or not to buy a house or rent, whether to move now or later, and where we wanted to do either of these things ever since we’d decided to start down that road a couple of weeks ago. We prayed a lot and talked a lot and changed our minds a lot, then prayed and talked and changed our minds again. Nothing felt totally right. A few options jumped out as great possibilities, but ultimately some kind of roadblock came about that made it clear those weren’t the right paths. Once it was a tax assessment mistake that put the “perfect house” out of our reach financially. Once it was an addendum to a great rental that would have made it so the owners could kick us out within 60 days notice (no thanks). Once it was a cabinet door that literally fell apart in my hands just by touching it on our second viewing of a really great house. Finally, it was a discussion about Havarti’s company and some uncertainties about the near-ish future (a good kind of uncertainty – no worries). Some might call these signs, some would brush them off as coincidences. Either way, they helped make these decisions much easier.

So now we are back to our original plan of staying here at Havarti’s parents’ at least until next spring. After that, we’ll probably look for a rental. Even though it’s given me indigestion for a couple of weeks, I’m so glad we went through that process of looking at houses and examining all the possibilities. Now we won’t have that wondering-what-we-might-be-missing hanging over our heads while we stay here.

It’s sort of like The Muse with the cello. She’s been begging us to learn the cello for months, and we finally let her try it out. I figured she would find it too cumbersome, and might get a little frustrated with it because she’s so proficient at the violin. She tried it for about three weeks, showed clear talent for it musically (as she does with all instruments) but decided it was too physically difficult and made her arms hurt. I could have told her that from the get go, but she needed to go down that path in order to see it for herself. Now she knows. No wondering what she might be missing. (Thank God, because paying for the violin is enough as it is! J)

Staying put feels right now, where it didn’t really a few weeks ago. It’s almost like we came to a fork in the road and took the one that split off, only to find out it was just a detour that led back to the path we were on. If we hadn’t taken it, we might wonder if it had led to some ideal place, or if we had made a mistake not taking it. Now we know it just led us back, and we can continue on this path with peaceful hearts.