For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Monday, May 19, 2008

A Reminder to....myself

Not to let Satan steal my joy. It has been a hard past few days. We found out Saturday that another family is interested in the latest house we have been looking at and considering. We have to sell our house before we can make any offers, and it looks as if the other family will make an offer. So, if you need your house sold, we are apparently good at selling other people's homes for them; however, we still wait on ours. This is the 2nd home that we felt fit our families needs, and the second one that sold in 2 wks of our viewing it. In our small town there isn't much out their for a larger family....especially one that accomodates Brad's (at home) office and homeschooling (not to mention that can fit in our budget).The market around here is good enough to sell homes in only a few weeks, but 100 yr old homes aren't the "going" thing. We aren't sure what is next. We may have our answer that we should remain in this home at least for a little longer...so, we have to make a decision and then determine whether to pull our house off the market (that is if we can...the realtor contract is for 6mths.). Brad still wants to ride it out ... I am trying to be positive and realistic at the same time. Of course, this is where "trust" and "don't doubt" come in. I often wish that God would just write me a letter specifically outlining what the next plan is for our lives and exactly what he wants us to do. It would be nice, but I have learned too, that some of the "good and joy" come from waiting for His perfect timing and plan.
We were also faced with a very difficult decision. Our "puppy" has hip displacia. It is common in large breed dogs, and it is genetic and hereditary. He found us last year before we went to get Mandy, and so we had no way of knowing of his parents and genetics. The vet said that it might not show up until they grow and add weight, hence we didn't find it before. About a month ago, the vet told us we had 2 choices: 1) hip replacement to the tune of $5000 or 2) eventually put him down. We just didn't have $5000, and we really weren't sure we could justify that cost for an animal( I know ...not winning many points with animal lovers... but we have 5 kids and I can think of a lot of things $5000 could do ...like provide help to the Earthquake victims in China). It is still very hard and very sad! Our dog was just terrific and we love him so... we had hoped that the medicine would help and that he could survive pain free for a few more years... but each week he seemed to get worse until this weekend he was unable to stand up for more than a minute. So, we agonized and prayed, but had to put him down. We certainly did not want him to hurt and suffer. Brad took him this morning, and we are all very sad with hurt hearts as we approach our day.
Wow, this turned into a negative post... I just have to remind myself that we do have joy! God is so good to us. We have our family, our health, a place to live, and food in our bellies. He provides our every need, and He is there to lift us up when we are sad or hurt.
... can I not be a grown up today???

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