AN ADAGE A DAYâ—½ HOME
I love March! Spring is in the air and it’s time to be outside again. Another thing I love so much about March is it’s our anniversary month. This will be our 39th anniversary! Wow! My husband, Jim, and I have had a wonderful marriage, so far. We’ve had our “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” We’re now in our empty nest years and having fun with the grands, but there’s one story that’s always been and always will be close to my heart. It’s the story of our home of 24 years. It’s the story of how God “checked every box.” It still brings tears to my eyes and gets me all choked up.
But first, what does that phrase “checked every box” even mean and why is it important? You can read and hear this phrase used in sports, politics, restaurants, and other places. It means to be thorough, complete, to leave no stone unturned. I have yet to find its .origin, but I checked every box in my search. I believe its
importance is in the completeness it stands for. It shows 100% effort. It gives you the whole truth. And I know that’s what God did for me and my family.
24 years ago, Jim and I started to look for a new house. We were limited in where to look because his elderly father was driving over several times a week for supper. We still had lots of options though, so we didn’t mind limiting our search. The holidays started so we put our looking on hold. During that holiday season, Jim’s daddy became ill and had to have emergency surgery. Sadly, he never woke up. After a few weeks, we restarted our house hunt, but now we had no limits on where to look. After just two weeks, our real estate agent called and said she had a house for us to see, as it had just come on the market. She also told us to give it a chance, which made us leery, but we decided to go see it anyway.
We had come up with five features we really wanted in a home and had been praying for any combination of these five, and we knew this house had three. It had four bedrooms, a swimming pool, and a little land for our kids to have animals and just experience life in the country. We were hopeful and excited. As we turned onto the street, we drove down a long paved dead-end road. This was number four on our list! A street where the kids could ride their bikes without much traffic. And as we drove up the small hill at the end of the road, we saw it! The lake behind our house! Number five! My husband had always wanted to live on a lake, but we never thought that box would get checked. And even though the house needed work, I knew this was it. God had given us all five of our wishes. He had checked every box!
But God didn’t stop there. You see, not only did he answer my and Jim’s prayers, He also answered a prayer I had when I was a child after losing my mother. I had prayed for a home like what I had when she was still with me. After a few years, I finally gave up on that prayer. But this home was just what I had prayed for. It had a few acres like I had as a child, and it was a safe, secure, God filled home again! We have the best Heavenly Father! He truly does check all the boxes!
Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.