Wait Gain

It's a funny thing...timing.

Sixteen months ago we put our house on the market in anticipation of our move in June. In our minds, it was perfect timing. We would sell our house to a perfect family, sail through inspections, close on the house without a glitch, deposit a nice check with profits from our house, and move out just in time to hop on a plane to Singapore without a care in the world.

Ummm.....right.

Instead we learned a huge lesson in timing.

It all started with Buyers #1. They bought our house within the first two weeks it was listed....they wanted it for full price and without inspections (a small red flag...but I like red so we went with it). They were pre-approved....and had a Rottweiler...but they were pre-approved! I made reservations at a local hotel for the month we would be homeless before moving and had all our utilities disconnected the week we were supposed to close. I was amazed at the perfect timing of it all.

And then it all fell apart.

We were frustrated but I took what seemed to be bad timing and figured we were meant to stay in the house until we left Texas and the next buyers would be our perfect buyers.

Buyers #2. We got the offer about a month before we left. I don't even remember the selling price we negotiated, but it was easily $10,000-$15,000 less than asking price. We would still be making a little money on the house and they seemed to be solid buyers. I was at the house when they came to do the inspection so I got to meet them and liked them instantly. I tearfully told them that I felt like they were the perfect family for our home.....we had a sweet moment together.

The day of the inspection I was wearing a t-shirt from a church in Florida that said No Perfect People Allowed. The inspector asked me about it and I happily engaged in a conversation which ended with him telling me that he was a miraculous healer AND had a DVD to prove it. In fact he had a copy in his back pocket and gave it to me as sort of an inspector going away present. I flippantly asked him if that meant he healed any issues he found in our house and he didn't think that was funny.

As he was leaving he asked if I had any prayer requests for him and instead of telling him "no" and letting him drive away in his Hummer, I told him any prayers for protection in our upcoming journey were always welcome. He came back into the house, shut the door behind him, laid his hands on me and started rocking me back and forth while he prayed something that I didn't hear because I was a tad bit freaked out at that point.

Let me just say that I absolutely do believe God heals. I also love when people are willing to approach God on behalf of someone else. I just get a little suspicious when you try to give me a DVD of yourself and then put your hands all over me when you've just been hired to check my roof.

It was strange but I considered it an interesting part of our house selling story and didn't let it discourage me about our wonderful Buyers #2.

The week of closing we were in our hotel in Singapore waiting for our stuff to arrive so we could move into our apartment when we got the call that once again, the closing had fallen through.

I'm pretty sure I stayed in bed the whole next day and had an enormous pity party for myself. I was mad and disappointed and frustrated to the point that I wanted to throw something....and I'm not the throwing type.

I eventually got to the point where I was willing to admit that Buyers #2 must not be who God had in mind for our house because I happen to believe that God is much, much bigger than title companies and loan officers and if He wanted them in the house, they would have been in the house.

I pondered the purpose of God's timing and what that meant for us. The lessons we were supposed to be learning. Patience? Contentment? Self-control?

I may or may not have asked Scot to work on all of those so I could tell God that we had learned our lessons and were now ready for the house to sell so we could move on.

About a month after falling through for the 2nd time, Buyer #3 came along. He low balled us big time, but was willing to pay cash. That meant a quick close and he would buy it "as is" so we settled on a price almost $35,000 less than our original asking price and $5,000 less than what we paid for it.

Ouch.

So maybe the lesson in the timing was to not hold on too tightly to worldly possessions.

Got it.

Closing date was 4 weeks out. 4 weeks came and went and apparently the guy had all his money in Africa and it was being mailed to the states $1 at a time. 8 weeks came and went. 12 weeks came and went and I have now nicknamed this guy "Out of Africa". He lived in London, had his money in Africa and ended up being about $12,000 short which his business partner was going to lend him but then he didn't and then his mom got sick so he couldn't fly to Texas. And then we got tired of his story and put the house BACK on the market.

I am beyond discouraged and at a loss for words when asked about the ordeal. What were we missing? A situation totally out of our control and it all came down to timing. Summer loomed before us and we could take it off the market, rent some furniture and live in it again except I really didn't want to do that.

Maybe God wanted us to keep the house and THAT explained the timing.

Maybe we were serving as a warning to others in some way. Beware of cash buyers with money in Africa and London and stingy business partners.

I honestly had no idea what the issue was.

Now it's May and I'm on the phone with a dear friend who sold her house in a week. I had my big girl panties on that day so I was genuinely happy for her and basking in the notoriety our drama afforded me. She expressed how surprised she was our house hadn't sold and happened to mention that she knew a family that wanted a bigger house and told me she'd pass on the info about our home.

Fast forward 48 hours and that sweet family put an offer in on our home. I liked every single thing I heard about them.....but was understandably cautious that it would happen.

Then I started hearing that still, small voice. The one that won't shout above all the other drama going on in my head.

My timing doesn't always revolve around you.

My timing may have very little to do with you and what you have to gain or learn.

My timing may have a whole lot to do with others in your life.

My timing is always perfect.

A friend of mine told me about her own drama and without pause said "we pulled a Jenkins" in reference to having their first deal fall through. Do I laugh about the fact that our house selling drama has become a new noun? I do...a lot.

Do I get a kick out of the look on people's faces when I tell them we went through 3 buyers before the perfect ones came around? Sure I do.....I get a little enjoyment in the shock value of what we've been through.

Will my realtor and I be bonded for life? Absolutely. She's been an absolute blessing through all of this.

More than that I learned a very important lesson.

It's not always about me.

God's will. God's timing. God's purpose.

It's just not always about me but if I make it about me, I will totally miss all the amazing things He's doing in the lives of those around me.

There's a very good chance I am going to meet the woman who will be making her own memories in a house that held a lot of love for 6 years. I can't wait to give her a big hug...and I'm sure through tears...I hope to tell her that it was worth my wait for her to receive her blessing.

My wait is her gain.

If only that was the only weight gain situation I was dealing with this summer......darn Mexican food!!

再见

We are being picked up in exactly one hour to head to the airport. I am BARELY going to make it. It seems that when my DNA was being all figured out, the gene for packing way in advance to eliminate panic and frustration was totally and completely left out.

Yesterday was full of fun, celebrating and saying good-bye....we were all completely exhausted by last night......hence (I do love that word), no blog post. I actually fell asleep on the couch which never, ever happens. Scot finally woke me up and I stumbled into our room and climbed into bed without even brushing my teeth and that NEVER, EVER happens. Seriously. I'm a huge believer in washing my face and brushing my teeth before bed no matter what. I have enough skin problems.....sleeping in my make-up is not on my top 10 list of things I like to do.

Last day of school!

Party at the apartment complex where we had a lot

of boys playing games that required no shirts apparently.

Garrett and Jack

Some of the moms and half a dad

(I had the wrong lens on my camera and didn't get

my friend Dawn either. So missing: half a dad and

the rest of Dawn)

Garrett and the girls

Using self-control in not making any other comments

about this picture.

Baseball on the tennis courts

An amazing picture? Not really. It's just that right after taking this shot I tripped over

a step and went sprawling. My camera lens is now cracked and I officially have my first

non-shopping errand to run when I get back to Houston.

Yeah me.

Dawn had bought hundreds of glow sticks and the kids went diving for them

when it got dark and proceeded to make all kinds of creations with them.

VERY fun idea!!

This next picture makes me a little emotional. Scot gives me a hard time because while Nathan will go for a $10 haircut, I tend to pamper Garrett a little more because....well.....he just has better hair and can wear it long. I love it long. Scot does not like it long. Today, Garrett decided he no longer wanted it long either.

Sniff....Sniff

The lady finished the cut and Garrett asked her to please cut it more. I was protesting and he looked at me and told me he was ready for something new. Ready for it to just be different.

And by different I think he meant just about everything that defined this year for him.

So I put on my momma smile and told him he looked amazing and watched a kid walk out of the salon like he had just had 10 pounds taken off of him. I was scurrying around scooping up locks of gorgeous red hair.

Just kidding.

But I really thought about it for a few minutes!

I am officially at the end of this blogging challenge. I have to say that it brings about some mixed feelings for me. It certainly has been challenging and I have not been perfect, but it has forced me to do something that often intimidates me.

I am humbled by and appreciate every one of you that has read my random ramblings. I have enjoyed how much I feel like people are more connected to us and our lives here. For that, it is all worth it!

40 minutes to go and I need to go change my airplane outfit again, take out my contacts with the hope that I will actually sleep, and spend some time hugging on my man that I won't see for a really long time.

I love you guys!!!

Ahoy, Matey!

I will be at the airport in 48 hours and have I started to pack? Noooooo

Have I pulled out the suitcases? Noooooo

Am I completely overwhelmed with the thought of packing for 8 weeks? Yessssssss

It has been fun talking to those that are old pros at the going home for summer thing. The tips for how to get everything back here at the end of the summer are worth their weight in gold. My friend Vanessa even brings back frozen items from Sams. But she's a professional having been an expat for more than 10 years....I need to work up to that level slowly so I don't hurt myself.

Every conversation is about when the departure for home is, where home is, and when the return to Singapore will be. How every one of us will be posting pictures on FB of ourselves hugging the Big Red Ball outside of Target in just a few short days. How exciting it will be to not be struck with complete dread when it starts to rain knowing we can just jump in a car and not have to be stranded for 48 minutes because there's no taxi to be found.

Right now, my emotions are all over the place. I'm excited to go home but wondering what it will feel like to be visiting my old life.

Not jumping back into it, but merely visiting it.

I am a little sad to be leaving here realizing that I won't be seeing any of my Singapore friends again until the middle of August. I can't wait to be with friends and family back home. I am sad to be leaving Scot for 7 weeks. I wonder how the boys are going to do. I am excited for the easy and the familiar.

You see? A mess.

My friend Lisa made a brilliant comparison. It's like going home from college for the summer. You leave behind a life that started out foreign and scary but became comfortable - to go home to what is comfortable and familiar but different - knowing that in a few short weeks you'll start the cycle all over again.

It's crazy.

So instead of being responsible and spending time gathering my thoughts and stuff together tonight, I made a big batch of spaghetti and meatballs...had 3 of Garrett's friends over for dinner and then took them all to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Imax. 3D. Johnny Depp.

Have I ever mentioned that in Singapore you have a choice between sweet and salty popcorn at the movie theater? And the sweet popcorn isn't just plain 'ol Kettle corn.....it's straight up caramel corn. To make it even better? You can get half and half. It is almost...and I mean ALMOST...enough to make a girl leave out the M&Ms, which no bag of popcorn should ever be without.

And we wonder why all my running has only produced a 3 pound weight loss.

Ok, wrapping this mess of a post up. I have two posts left in my crazy challenge and I think my mission to "get over myself" has certainly been accomplished.

If you question the truth in that? Just go back and read this post again. It's written by a girl that clearly takes herself a whole lot less seriously (and is significantly more scattered) than she did a few weeks ago!

Blimey!

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm......Part 3

I would like to subtitle this post:

You Don't See That Everyday

As life here in Singapore becomes more normal, a girl still can't help but take pause at some of the oddities that present themselves here in SE Asia. I have had some fun chronicling them in Part 1 and Part 2 of Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. A few weeks ago I realized that there is much about life in Texas that I just don't see here and so, Part 3 was born.

Some of these things you would expect. I never see cowboy boots or cowboy hats...unless it's some dude on the top of one of those tourist buses yelling "YeeHaw" as he rolls down Orchard Rd. taking loads of pictures of "all them Asian folks". It's times like that when I stifle the ya'lls in my speech and embrace a more Canadian venacular....eh?

I don't see enormous vehicles that can seat 37 people or pickups that can haul an entire house full of furniture. Bumper stickers are practically nonexistent here which makes sense when you are paying $100,000 for your Hyundai. I miss the days of pulling up behind someone and in the 2 minutes it takes for the light to turn green I know how many children they have, what sports they play, the names of their teams, whether they made the honor roll or beat up other kids that made the honor roll, how many pets they have, their political affiliation, and if they believe that a fish stuck on your car will make you drive in a more Christ-like fashion. In Singapore, everyone drives around in complete anonymity and it's no fun at all.

I recently took a very informal survey and 100% of the people surveyed (4 out of 4) told me that there are only 3 drive thrus in all of Singapore. All 3 are McDonalds. That's right....I live a life void of drive thrus but since I don't have a car, that seems to be the least of my issues. I did bribe a taxi driver once with promises of a Grande Latte if he pulled over and waited while I made a Starbucks run. That will work unless you get a cranky driver in which case you just close your eyes and pray you make it to your destination alive.

It is rare that you see a parking lot. Most parking is below the building you are visiting and you always have to pay for it. Everyone parks their cars by backing into a spot with your hazard lights blinking. I don't know why, but apparently that's the rule here and one thing folks are really good about doing.....following the rules. It probably has something to do with that whole caning thing.

There are no billboards lining the roads in Singapore. It stinks because you never know how many more exits until the next Buccees.

You never, ever, ever see people out shopping in their cute new pajama bottoms and Uggs. Never. In fact, the folks here refer to flip flops as slippers. Even shorts are frowned upon but that doesn't stop me from wearing them. The women are modest and it's a pleasant experience to go to the mall and not have to shield the eyes of my boys from teenagers, or 43 year old women, who feel the need to display their stuff. Many women wear loose, comfy dresses that look adorable when you're 90 pounds but when you're.....well....NOT 90 pounds, they make you look about 13 months pregnant. Which I'm not.

Viva la shorts!!

I haven't seen a tanning salon or a self tanner since living here. In fact, there will be entire aisles of whitening creams. The whiter your skin the more beautiful you are supposed to be. Women will wear long sleeves and high collared shirts when excercising, wear gloves when driving and walk with umbrellas to keep the sun off their skin. I recently went to a dermatologist here and while I was concerned about things like acne and suspicious spots on my skin, he couldn't get whitening cream in my hands fast enough for "the dark patches on your forehead". I didn't even know I had dark patches on my forehead. Thank you very much!! I now have something else to feel self-conscious about. Then again, not many people see my forehead so I'll let it go. I wonder what would happen if I used the cream on my teeth? Hmmmm.....

There is a distinct lack of facial hair here. And I don't mean pesky chin whiskers, I mean men with full beards or mustaches. In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen an Asian man with facial hair. Apparently, Asians are not very hairy. I know this because it wasn't that long ago that a friend of mine who is Asian was telling me a story about going to college and seeing girls shaving their armpits and being completely shocked at what they were doing. She was confused and scared by what she saw. I listened to her with my mouth hanging open....can you imagine?? How utterly and completely glorious that would be? Sometimes, life just isn't fair.

I would like to mention a few things that I do see here that I won't ever, ever see back home.

If any of you ever thought I had an over-inflated sense of self, the fact that I'm even posting this picture ought to dispel that notion.

I LOVE this thing and am pretty sure it was probably outlawed in the states years ago after setting someone's hair on fire. It's a shame because there's no massage, no facial, no nothing that is more wonderful and relaxing than having warm air blowing on you with enough noise to make conversation impossible. I even talked my hair lady into an extra 5 minutes the last time I was there. I. Love. It!! And clearly, I look my most fashionable while enjoying that thing!

And what about random sea creatures? Ok, glad you asked since I just so happen to have a couple of pics courtesy of a recent field trip to Underwater World.

My understanding is that these things are all over the place here. I have no idea if they exist back home, but just knowing that these are lurking around in the water is just about enough to make me swear off oceans forever.

And these little guys? They're just weird. Bless their hearts. Stuck in one place forever. The scary thing? There's a really good chance I've eaten one of these things since living here.

I just can't even think about it.

In exactly 102 hours I will be home where I know for sure when I bite into a fajita what I'm getting myself into. I can't wait!!

Make that 101 hours and 57 minutes.....

A little N & G

I have 16 minutes from right this second to get this post up and running to count for today! This last week has been full of activities and so here's a super quick peak at a few of them.

Nathan had Play Day last week which is Singaporean for Field Day. It was 2 hours of running around from game to game with absolutely zero structure, lots of water games, and no winners or losers.

The entire 4th grade...there's a lot of them!

Nathan and some of his buddies

Popsicle time!!

Today we got to visit Nathan's class for their Notables presentation. They were asked to choose a person that had some sort of historical impact and they wrote a research paper, designed a backdrop, dressed the part, created informational brochures to hand out and were available for Q and A today in full character.

Nathan chose James Rudder who apparently had something to do with WWII and Texas A&M. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him yourself! I will say that I was amazed at the variety of historical folks represented and I loved walking around the room asking the kids all kinds of questions. Noone broke character and they were extremely articulate and brilliant with their answers. It was great!

Nathan looking very serious next to Mother Theresa

It is always a treat to go to the high school cafeteria and visit Subway

for lunch so off we went as our last hoorah before summer!!

This past weekend Garrett participated in Brass Explosion which is a Brass Symposium here in Singapore that has a student portion open to kids from the local schools. Tonight was the concert and the first time Garrett got to play in a bonafide music conservatory. The students were only a small portion of the evening and we thoroughly enjoyed the concert!

Garrett and his friend Patrick......and then the little

brothers joined in...

where apparently it is really, really....

difficult to take....

a normal picture.

If you look reeeaaaaalllllllyyyyy hard to the left

of the picture you can spot Garrett's sweet red head way

in the back with the other, well, less trained trumpet players.

You see him? Yep, it's a head only a mother could spot

a mile away.

Yikes!! 7 minutes late! No time for a quirky or clever wrap up sentence!

XOXO

Day Off

School is winding down. Homework is gloriously over. After school activities have ended.

That means the boys and I are splurging and having a movie night for the second night in a row.

On a weeknight.

I have a fresh key lime pie in the freezer right now and I'm not going to waste my time blogging.

In fact, I'm taking tomorrow night off too because I have a hot date with my husband who has been traveling the last 4 weeks. I have to soak up as much of him as I can because we will be separated for 7 weeks this summer and I'm going to miss him desperately.

One week left of this challenge and I can honestly say that I am getting really tired of me and I'm sure you are too!!

XOXO

Pure

I had the most amazing taxi ride the other day. I was in the taxi for about 30 minutes and my driver talked and laughed non-stop the entire time telling me story after story about his younger days. Because I have picked up some stealth like moves over the years, I pulled out my phone and proceeded to record one of his stories....until he busted me and refused to tell me anymore until I stopped "taking pictures" of him. I so badly want to post it here but have been battling the stupid video and my computer and complete ignorance of all things technological and can't figure out how to post it.

Now that I am thoroughly frustrated, I am taking the easy way out on my post for tonight.

First of all, is it just me or is the print on this blog normally really small??? I don't know why it's that way but I'm kicking it up a notch because I refuse to admit that it could just be my age.

Secondly, I noticed that yesterday's post was post number 201. There was no fanfare...in fact, I almost feel bad about yesterday's totally random post in light of that very small and insignificant milestone. Maybe it is appropriate after all.

Just out of curiosity, I went back and started reading some posts from the early days and I was hit with a huge wave of nostalgia. Then I found a post I titled Pure. I wrote it just after New Years 2009 and I'm amazed how 2.5 years later the bulk of the post still rings true for me.

Consider this taking the easy way out......but I am posting Pure again because it is so where I am these days and I really, really needed to be reminded of what I want most out of life.

PURE

If you have any preconceived ideas that I make all the right decisions, think through everything before I act or speak, and am just an all around perfect woman, please don't read any further because you will be sorely disappointed.

I was having a conversation last week with one of my favorite people in the whole entire world, Lisa. She lives in Florida and is married to a pastor and she is real.......transparent, authentic, and refreshingly real. I miss her in a way that just hurts my heart.

We were talking about the things in our lives that we just can't stand about ourselves. You know what I'm talking about, the stuff that we try really hard to pretend doesn't exist so our appearance says something different from our reality.

Like working really hard on a comment to post on a very popular blog trying to get a shout out from the blog author.

Like checking an Evite invitation 45 times a day to see who is or is not coming to your party and why.

Like keeping the tags on a new shirt, wearing it to church for all your friends to see, and returning it to the store if no one complimented you on the cuteness factor of the shirt.

Like allowing yourself to be tortured over a broken relationship until you can think of nothing else but the pieces scattered all around you.

Like hearing other women talk about their weaknesses and having a moment of intense pride when your struggles are not the same.

We laughingly agreed that being open with each other about our yuck made us feel a little less bad about ourselves and wondering how many women have these same feelings, but never admit it to anyone.

I have never been a big New Years resolution kind of girl because I have horrible discipline and by the 1st week of January I will have broken every resolution. Why set myself up for failure?

I did enter this new year thinking about what I wanted out of 2009. The truth is, I want to be pure.

I want my intentions to be pure.

I want my pursuit of God to be pure.

I want my motivations in life to be pure.

I want my thoughts to be pure.

I want my ongoing, desperate need for approval to be met purely through my Savior.

Now, I know very well that I am riddled with fault and will have days where I fail miserably. I also know that God's promises and love for us are "new every morning" and I don't have to wait until 2010 to start over. Thank you God for that promise!

I hope your 2009 has gotten off to a great start. I pray that each of you finds a renewed sense of purpose in your walk with Christ. I pray you will have pure joy.

His mercy is new every morning and every single morning I take full advantage of that fact. I am far, far, far from perfect and am astounded at the ongoing gift of forgiveness offered to me. But I also know that on the other side of that forgiveness and mercy is Joy. It is something I have to choose for myself.

I choose pure Joy.