A Lighter Load

The last two days have been EXTREMELY BUSY!!!

Tuesday afternoon Michael called me from work and did the whole "good news/bad news" scenario over the phone. His good news was that we had ANOTHER person wanting to look at the house. (That would make 6 for this week.) The bad new was that they'd be at the house within the hour.
After thanking Mike for his charming delivery, I began the "quick clean" as I like to call it. You know the one! The cleaning that involves Windexing everything in sight and throwing all the clutter into places you pray they won't look. I ran the vacuum (thank the Lord our hardwood floors were still looking good from the last showing) and lit some candles. I finished in a miraculous 30 minutes.

After taking a breath, I asked God if there was anything I was missing. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace (not usual for me with buyers about to arrive) and decided to walk through the house and pray.
Our house has been for sale A VERY LONG TIME and we've shown the house more times than I ever care to recall but for some reason instead of just asking Him to SELL IT, this time I felt led to open every closet and go into every room. As I began to open closet doors, I told God the closet and the space it provided was HIS.
I then went on to the laundry room. I don't presume to think that in Brazil my laundry accommodations will look as they do here in my suburban house but I decided to give HIM my laundry room and the conveniences it had provided. (I REALLY HATE LAUNDRY....please hear me on this point.) I hope God was hearing my heart! :)
This continued on as I gave HIM my bathtub (sigh) and our double vanity. (probably won't have one of those:)

Things didn't get sad or even too intense for me until I stepped upstairs into the kids bathroom and I began to think of potty training the boys. (WHAT?!?) Crazy, huh? I gave HIM the memories of the times spent in the bathroom giving baths and teaching little fellas to brush their teeth. Memories of countless hours playing in their rooms, the walls with scuffs from all their light saber battles, the nights of reading stories in the floor, the tents and forts set up for days. The tears were rolling now! I literally had to GIVE HIM each and every ounce of the house. I wasn't sure why, but I really felt led to do this.

Anyway...realtor comes with buyer. They stay at the house 10 minutes top!

Hmm... OH well! At least the house is clean, right?!?

Next morning, I get another call from Michael. This time he goes straight to the point and lets me know that the same realtor will be back again with the same buyer that evening because he really liked the house. Mike and I decide to call lots of close friends and family and ask them to begin to pray!

That evening, (last night) on our way home from the ballpark, we get a call from our realtor and he asks how quickly we can be at the house because the other realtor wants to present a contract.

As the realtor began her little presentation "thingy" it became very clear to me why God had asked to me to give HIM the house. The buyer is a newly divorced man that will need to refurbish almost the whole house and the contract included about half our furniture and all the decorations/stuff on the walls and counters. HUH????? Is this guy serious? He wants my house AND MY mantle decorations?

Oh wait, they aren't mine anymore! I had given them to God.

Why did God need this from me? I had thought for so long it was enough just to say, "It's all Yours God!" But my heart must not have been echoing my words. I hadn't completely surrendered everything to HIM like I thought I had. He needs our absolute surrender, not partial, not the things that are easy for us to give up in order to follow HIM...but EVERYTHING!

Luke 9:23-27

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

So...this is where we are today. The realtor on their side has to cross a few more T's and dot a few more I's in order for us to sign but hopefully by the end of the day our house will be under contract. The house he is selling closes the end of this month so things could possibly move swiftly.
Please keep praying for HIS will in all of this and that (as my friend Susan put it) my hands would hold loosely to anything HE DOES want us to take and release all the THINGS/STUFF that we hold on to for our OWN SAKE!