A Tale of one Weiner House

Once upon a time there was a family on a househunt.

They searched far and wide for a new place to live.

Along their way they looked for signs and direction, wondering whether each listing could be 'The One."

Then one day their Fairy God-Realtor found a house in hiding.

This humble abode seemed to be waiting just for this weary family.

The photos showed a model home with many upgrades and just enough bedrooms.

The size of the yard was a bit small in square footage, but the family was willing to take a closer look.

Upon their arrival they noted many pleasing attributes.

There were two extra dens that were not originally listed.  The yard was situated as such that it was much more open and spacious than they could have imagined.

The family ooed and ahhhed as they entered the beautiful foyer.

Then gasp!  Could their eyes be deceiving them?  Scoundrels!

Intruders had broken in and defaced many of the grand walls....

Holes were punched and tags were made....it was a sad sight.

But their galant knight was not afraid of a little sheetrock work!

And humorously the tagging had been done in water based paint!

All was NOT lost...they WOULD persevere!

Still they looked for confirmation. 

And the icing on the 'offer' cake was the one picture drawn amongst all the writing.

This picture lay hidden in a dark downstairs closet.

And this was no ordinary picture.  The details were vivid, the color was a vibrant magenta.....and the symbol seemed to speak directly to this family.

Could it be a sign?

This was the clencher.....the family wrote out their offer as quick as possible and laughed at the irony of it all.

For in that closet as crude as could be was a foot high phallic symbol.

:D

And though their offer would eventually be turned down. 

The Weiner Family would laugh for many days to come at the sign that only they could find so perfect.

They would carry on the search, for now.

As their spirits had been renewed with hilarity.

For yes, their High King does show his sense of humor quite often.

After all, He is the one who named us, right?

Until the next chapter....we continue to live Happily....

Staycation

Ah, most of you know that we're on a bit of a  hiatus from life :)
But then again, isn't most of the world in the summertime?

I'm talking more about the 'planned' side of our life.
For the most part this summer has been one big long party....full of busyness...and lots of friend time.  Not living in our 'home' has given us a lot of perspective on the 'needed' things in life.
I'm NOT missing the upkeep of our house, the weeds that beckon, the closets that need clearing out, the pile of projects that call to me from the craft room.  All those things are well and good, and have their time and purpose, but as we've been house hunting, and living with family....most of them are happily on the backburner.  Even grocery shopping has lessened as I have less storage room to stock up.  Good times folks!
Instead I'm looking around examining relationships that need some work, as well as pure playtime that needs to happen.  It's a whole new ballgame when you don't have a house full of  'responsibilites' weighing you down.  Still, our situation creates Other issues as well.

For instance, it has been very difficult NOT planning a big vacation for summer 2010!
We certaily can't spend BIG while we gather capital to buy a house.  And we alos, don't want to make plans not knowing if we'll end up in escrow in a month or two.  So it's a very Limbo-like state we're in.....

But wouldn't you know, God had a remedy for our situation.  Something we NEVER would have dreamed up.  It came in the form of a group brainstorm.  And ended as we jumped at the chance to housesit for some friends!  Most of you know both the location of the town AND the friends, but I'd rather not divulge any further details on our public blog...you understand ;)
Suffice it to say it could have been ANYWHERE and we'd have jumped at the chance to live alone as a 5 person family unit again.  Not that our current arrangements aren't desireable and wonderful in their own right, but we missed having breakfast to ourselves, on our schedule, with the worship music blasting, etc.  It's also nice to holler at the kids to put on their shoes and go potty (before we leave the house) without feeling like I'm disturbing the peace.

The thing is, this 3 week staycation isn't just 'anywhere'....it's at one of my favorite homes of all time, loaned to us by one of the most generous couples we know.  What a blessing it has been to get up and swim in the pool before we get ready for the day, or to cook each meal with ingredients we like to use.
Talia lingers quietly in the little girl's room...relishing the abundance of pink and girly toys.  Most of the kid's toys have been out of sight for over 3 months now, so the familiarity of their friend's room is very comforting.
It's the little things that are making this experience above and beyond what seems necessary.
Thanks God, you knew we'd need a staycation before we ever did!

We are overwhelmed by the gift of friendship that has brought us to this mini-vacation away from our substitute house.  Jarrod even asked me to post a day by day blog of our experience to document how amazing each day has been.  It's turning out to be a little too busy to do that, but I'm keeping our hosts informed on Facebook.  We're praying they are equally overwhelmed by their time away from home.
Our God is so generous like that. 
He does give his children good gifts.  Amen.

What is God doing through YOUR summer plans?