Faith | Selling their home led to a realization about a lot of ‘stuff’
Consider the following scenario in today’s world where constant change seems to be the way of life.
You’ve lived in the same house for 25 years, which includes raising your children, celebrating all kinds of gatherings: birthdays, holidays, graduations, even the arrival of your first grandchild. Many, many sweet memories and lots of adventures.
The thoughts of downsizing to a one level house without an acre of lawn to mow were becoming more and more frequent, especially during the summer when the lawn size seemed to be increasing. The biggest problem was that our lives were already so busy and full, it was difficult to begin the process of actually downsizing all the “stuff.” We had accumulated not only our things, but also treasures and more from our parents, children, and now a grandchild.
I am a percentage person, even to the point of asking many doctors over the years what my life expectancy odds would be considering my cancer. The odds for the method God would use to sell our house were not in our favor, but with God, anything is possible.
We did not have a realtor list our house, but a nice gentleman who was building a block fence at our neighbor’s asked me if I would consider selling my house. Not surprisingly, I said “yes”.
I didn’t think much about it at the time.
Fifteen months later he knocked on our front door and started negotiations on buying our house. From the date of that initial knock to exactly four months later, we experienced one of the wildest adventures of our lives.
Once we signed a contract, which included two months after closing to vacate, it was full speed ahead with moments of disbelief and exhaustion.
We found ourselves in a situation similar to Abraham in the Bible, who was called by God to leave his country and his family and go to a land which God would show him (Genesis 12:1). God was faithful to Abraham and was also faithful to us in revealing the location of our new home.
The timing was scary, but that is sometimes how it is when one walks in faith, trusting that God will provide in his perfect timing.
It was quite a process.
After closing on both our existing house and the purchase of a new home, we spent the next 29 days making multiple daily trips with a trailer to empty our house of 25 years. In the end, all of our “stuff” found new homes, either to our new house — which thankfully had a three-car garage — or was gifted to others and Goodwill, or was tossed.
God was very gracious in providing the help that we needed when we needed it. We were blessed with help from our family, friends, and church family. Plus, we were able to be out by the deadline, which had seemed like an impossibility.
Two years later, we are still unpacking things in that wonderful three-car garage and sometimes wondering what happened to certain pictures, letters, or other items. It’s mainly things that won’t mean anything to people in a generation or two, but it is also a reflection of memories of a lifetime. I take comfort in knowing that God knows them all, and if necessary, will bring their whereabouts back to my memory.
I thank God for his provision, and through it all, we learned that stuff is just stuff and too much stuff can easily become a burden.
It’s only the relationships in life that really matter, especially one with Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the words from Ecclesiastes; that ultimately everything is meaningless unless one has an eternal relationship with God by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
Lee Walter is Sunday School superintendent at Columbia Bible Church in Kennewick. Questions and comments should be directed to editor Lucy Luginbill in care of the Tri-City Herald newsroom, 4253 W. 24th Ave., Kennewick, WA 99338. Or email lluginbill@tricityherald.com.