Roller Coaster Ride and Blessings (Part 6)

That 'little' problem I mentioned in Part 5?

Not so little.

That evening I had a humdinger of an asthma attack.

Obnoxious affliction, that. Totally cramps my style.

In our first two visits to the house I'd not noticed any breathing difficulties.

If I had, I probably would have ignored them and denied that it had anything at all to do with the house in any way, because I really, really wanted that house.

We were going to have Christmas there, remember? And then there was the lovely neighborhood and that fabulous view!

However, we had not taken our visits to this home lightly. In between times, we'd been praying about it together and on our own, seeking guidance and assurance that this was indeed 'the one' intended for us.

Early on in our marriage, Jeff and I had learned the value of being in 100% agreement on decisions in our lives. We acted on decisions only when we both felt at peace.

In sensing my excitement with that new house (and having seen my disappointment with the others), and thinking this house to be a pretty good prospect himself, Jeff had ignored a niggling in the back of his mind.

He kept trying to shake it, chalking it up to 'cold feet' about our first major purchase. But it was more than that.

Something more along the lines of a person arriving at the conclusion on the day before their wedding that the one they were about to commit to for life was the wrong person for them, and that they couldn't go through with it but weren't quite sure how to break the news.

That evening (which was the same day as our infamous laundromat trip) we were standing around waiting for our laundry to dry when I realized that I was having trouble getting a good, deep breath. The air felt really close. I actually had to go stand outside the laundromat to get fresh air.

My mind flickered back to a moment in the back yard of that house earlier when Judah and I had been watching the trains. I'd smelled some exhaust, but because it was breezy I thought that most of it would have dissipated sufficiently to not bother me.

I was wrong. It may not have bothered me right then, but I was sure feeling the effects of it now.
I was miserable.

In discussing it on the way home, we theorized that the exhaust and diesel fumes from the trains passing by were carried up that beautiful little bluff on gusts of wind where they backed up against the house. He'd noticed the fumes earlier, too, but hadn't thought about it affecting me this way.

I was a tad annoyed. He seemed so...relieved. As though this was an 'out' he'd been looking for.

Jeff became very sober and asked, "You do know what this means, don't you?"

I knew what he meant all right.

In my excitement about the house, however, I tried to ignore that unpleasant little detail. "Maybe it was just the humidity in the laundromat" I argued. "Maybe something else had triggered it. There's no way to really know for sure."

He gave me "the look". "Just give what I've said some thought."

Late that night, my aching lungs confirmed that Jeff was right. Fumes and exhaust are my triggers with asthma.

What would be the fun of living in a beautiful home with that gorgeous view and that darling little 'future' gazebo if I couldn't even enjoy it? If we couldn't even have the windows open in the summer to enjoy the nice desert breeze? If I couldn't garden or play with the kids out back?

Deep in my heart, I knew it wasn't meant to be.

In the end, after much prayer and further discussion long into the night, we took this incident to be Divine guidance, and withdrew our offer the following morning.

Our agent, Todd, was very understanding.

We were back to square one.

:: :: :: ::

Todd continued to send us new listings via e-mail.

A few days later, I went through the latest batch, and wonder of wonders...the house with the walk-in pantry was back on the market!

I called Todd to double check. He called the listing agent who confirmed that it was, but that there were already 4 other offers on the table.

We went to see it again, and put in our offer that evening. We went higher than the listing price, but were still in a very comfortable and affordable range.

Though difficult, we refused to get all excited and start making plans this time around.

Our agent called us back again the next day and said that he had learned there were now 10 offers on the table besides ours.

This time, our outlook was totally different. Rather than worry and fret, we had come full circle to the point where we said, "If it is meant to be, there could be 100 other offers, and ours would still be the one accepted."

While we waited, Todd again sent us more listings, and we spent a couple of evenings driving hither and yon across town to preview them.

Late Friday night, I e-mailed Todd, asking if he could meet us at the first of the homes we were interested in sometime the following afternoon.

As usual, he called us first thing Saturday morning.

I was just about to ask him when he could meet up with us when he asked, "Are you guys still interested in that house with the walk-in pantry?"

"Well, yeah..." I said rather flippantly.

And suddenly it dawned on me why he'd been asking.

"WHY?! DIDYOUHEARBACKFROMTHEM?!" I screeched.

"Yes" he chuckled. "Your offer has been accepted!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" I squealed, yelling to Jeff who was in the kitchen. "We've been accepted!" Out of 10 other offers, ours had been the one to pass muster.

And there was much rejoicing in the Frump household that day.

This time we both had complete peace about everything.

After our long, exhaustive search, we knew without a doubt that this was the house that the Lord had intended for us.



A before photo of the Frump's new home.

**More before and afters coming soon!**