Pruned Again

It was a couple of weeks after we decided as a family that we wanted to actually pursue trying to find land together.  We had looked at two houses, and I had spent I-don't-want-to-admit-how-many hours poring over houses on the internet trying to find options that would suit us.  Then I found it.  THE house.  I knew the moment I saw the listing that it was perfect.  It was in the area of town that we thought we were going to focus on, it had enough bedrooms and bathrooms for all of us, 10 acres, a barn, the price was right, and...it had a pool.  I was sold.  As soon as we possibly could, we scheduled a visit with our realtor, Randy.  Our excitement only grew as the drive out took less time than Google maps predicted - about 15 minutes.  My mom fell in love with the neighborhood on the drive in, and when we got there, not only did it have a pool, it had a windmill!  Sustainability, here we come!  We then proceeded to pester our poor realtor for any drop of information we squeeze out of him.  You see, the property was bank owned and was being sold using an auction system.  We couldn't just make an offer.  We soon learned that the day we saw it was just couple of days after an auction for the property had ended.  Then we learned that a bid had been accepted.  The house had sat vacant for four years with no acceptable offers.  Then, just a couple of days before we saw it and fell head over heels, an acceptable offer was made before we even had a chance to do anything.  My heart knew that God had saved us from moving somewhere He didn't want us.  My emotions were an.gry. and accused Him of teasing.

At the beginning of each new year our congregation spends a week in fasting and prayer, seeking the Lord for the theme He wants to emphasize to us.  I get to design the graphic, and at the end of the week we have a celebration banquet where our theme for the new year is presented.  It took a couple of weeks, but He was faithful to gently remind me of our theme for the year: God Present: Pruning and Producing.  "He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit."  John 15:2b.

Ouch.  We'd been pruned.  

Our appetites had been whetted, though, and we spent the next 3 months house hunting once, sometimes twice a week.  It took 3 months of intensive hunting for us to find another place worth putting an offer on.  This house was completely different but just as exciting to us.  Once again, about 15 minutes away in a part of town we discovered we liked even more.  There are trees!  It was a steel building someone had turned into a home overlooking a stocked pond.  If you know my dad very well, you know what a big deal that is.  We were just as excited about this place as the last place, and we've spent the last two weeks working really hard to get our house ready to put on the market so we could make an offer. There were unique circumstances surrounding this house that made it difficult to sell, so we weren't too worried about time. 

Today we learned that it's now off the market.  We don't know the details yet...our realtor is in New Zealand for two weeks (totally jealous, by the way).

Pruned again.  Pruning doesn't feel good, and no one ever asks the plant if it wants to be pruned...how it feels about being pruned.  The Vinedresser, in His wisdom, simply does what He knows must be done.  

The good news is, there will be fruit.

-Kendra