When God was Ten Days Late

I distinctly remember when God was late…in fact, I was certain He was exactly 10 days late.

Dec.’93

It was Christmastime 1993 and it appeared our family soon would be homeless.

Our home, which had been on the market for nine long months, finally had sold. But the house on which we had a contingency contract–and really wanted–was purchased 10 days earlier.

We had  to be out of our house in 60 days, but already had seen every house in our price range within the 100-mile radius of our girls’ school district. There absolutely was nowhere else to look.

I figured someone in our church family would take us in, although the five of us might have to split up.

I was crushed.

Really, Lord?  You couldn’t have saved that house for a measly 10 more days?  I whined,

Our Realtor said he would talk to a couple who had withdrawn their house from the market after only posting it for a week.

“Let me see if they’ll agree to just one showing,”  he suggested.

They did, so we saw the home and quickly made an offer.  However, selling their house was contingent on them getting to buy a specific nearby house.

As negotiations continued the next night between the two homeowners, I remember forcing myself to pray for God’s will to be done…when I really just wanted to beg Him to get us this house!

I was relieved when two contracts were signed that night and we had a place to live, but troubled because I couldn’t see how we could pay the extra $40 a month for the new mortgage.

Honestly, Lord, I still don’t  understand why You let us lose the other house. It had an in-ground pool and wouldn’t raise our payments. It would have been perfect, I whined again. 

I was about to find out how imperfect my plan had been.

Brian and Mary Reigart, the former owners, were a little younger than we, but their kids were much younger–4 and 1 compared to our girls, 11, 13, and 15. Our families hit it off and the Reigarts visited the small church my husband pastored.

“When we attended that Sunday morning, it was such a moving experience that I couldn’t stop crying,” remembers Mary. “You said it was the Holy Spirit.”

The Spirit kept touching the couple as they began attending regularly and asked Ralph to baptize them. Soon our kids were swimming in their in-ground pool and we were vacationing together–they paid for places we couldn’t afford and we provided three free babysitters, which Brian and Mary seemed to think was an even trade. (It was many years later when our girls realized they had been unpaid help…they thought they were just having fun with two adorable kids!)

“So many memories I treasure,” Mary said as the four of us recently enjoyed a 2.5-hour tea luncheon. We reminisced of days when Brian and Ralph ran the Pigeon Hills. And when Mary and I studied (and laughed) together in our Wise Women group.

Did I mention that immediately after we moved into our new house, I got a raise at work…yep, $40 a month. Oh, and a few months later we drove by the “lost” house and saw a huge sand mound in the front yard nearly obscuring the house. We never could have afforded that $10,0000 septic remedy.

I like how Brian summed up our 30-year friendship: “You never know how God will be working. Even while we were taking our home off the market, God brought the Eibs into our lives to purchase it. And through that process He started a relationship which has blessed our family for 30 years and it is still going strong.”

I think I better retitle this blog: “When God was Right on Time.”
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Open in your browser to hear a beautiful song which perfectly describes what I experienced when I thought God was ten days late. “Four Days Late” with Juanita Du Pleissis, ©1997 by C. Aaron Wilburn and Roberta Wilburn