Gear-switching (this was supposed to be “F”lexibility but…)

(continued from Friday) …simple, logical solutions.

Simple is an understatement, but sometimes the brain just doesn’t go where it should. We don’t see the forest for the trees. Fast and furious, racing against the clock makes things fuzzy.

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Via cell phones, we put our heads together, me in Nebraska, and my husband in Montana.

“Let’s find out how soon we can close on this house.” My cat calendar lay open on my lap. “If we can close on the house there as early as May 3^rd or 5^th, we wouldn’t need quite as much storage time. I’d rather pay the moving company to store our furnishings here than hassle with arranging to move it again ourselves from a storage unit there.”

 “That could still add up to lot of extra money,” referring to the almost $100-a-day quote from the movers, my husband interjected. “I wonder how quickly a loan can be approved and processed.”

I flipped the calendar back and forth between April and May. A new plan began to formulate; the wisdom of God emerged.

“What if we change the move date?” Duh! “What if we have the movers come on a day closer to the new, later closing date for this house?” Why didn’t we think of this before?  “The movers quote is ‘3-10 days’ from pick-up to delivery, and if God wills, maybe we can close on the new house there the first week in May.”

“Yeah,” my husband agreed, “but I can’t come and get you. You’ll have to fly back here.”

“I have the cat with me… I’m not flying with the cat!”

“Would you be okay with staying there for three more weeks?”

“Will YOU be okay with me staying here three more weeks?”

“Well…you know me. Right now I say ‘I’ll be okay’…” His voice drifted off for a moment. My husband hates being stuck alone in a hotel (or apartment, in this case) in a city where he knows hardly anyone. “I guess I’ll have to be okay because I can’t come and get the two of you.”

“Well, we need to get our questions answered before we call this a plan.” I searched my emails looking for phone numbers. “I’ll call the movers and loan officer.”

“I’ll call the realtor.”

After few phone calls, voicemails, and text messages, a new plan was established. The Lord may not have stopped the clock, but did give us three weeks instead of one to accomplish the gigantic task before both of us, as well as saving us thousands of dollars. And we signed a purchase agreement with a reasonable May closing date.

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I began this A-Z challenge with “Anticipating our Next Adventure” and allowing for the Lord’s will by staying flexible. 

The best laid plans are subject to change or as a favorite choir director tells us after months of rehearsals for Christmas, “These are not changes, they’re improvements.”

“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.… Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.… The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps…” Proverbs 16:1, 3, 9 (nasb)