By: Heidi Vriesman
The first time I walked into our current house, I almost cried. It wasn’t the house I was dreaming of at all. It had flowered wallpaper boarders and ugly countertops. The bedroom that would work best for the boys had had pink carpet and flowers on the walls. It had no dishwasher, main floor laundry, or fenced in backyard—all important to me. And there was old blue carpeting where I thought there should be wood floors. Even the bathroom had carpeting–and we had boys. I could already imagine the smell of urine soaking into the fabric.
I was overwhelmed with the amount of work that we’d (I’d) want to do. My husband was pumped about the eight-acre lot, which could be split and sold. I was less than pumped.
There was another house that seemed perfect to me. It had a cute red chicken coop in the back yard, three large bedrooms, and a big dining room for all the dinners I like to host. I must have driven by that house fifty times (and it wasn’t on the way to anywhere I was going).
But God had other plans for us. The sellers of my ‘perfect house’ never accepted our offers. Instead, God answered my husband’s prayers—for the house with the blue carpet and eight acre lot.
In the five years we’ve lived here, we (and our parents) have remodeled the entire first floor. The blue carpet has been replaced with wood floors, the laundry has been moved upstairs, and the basement is now the place our kids ride bikes and scooters in the winter. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, the Lord gave me just what I desired, including a yard ‘fenced in’ by trees where I could watch the kids playing safely in God’s beautiful creation while I worked in the kitchen. I’ve praised him so many times that he didn’t give me what I wanted, and I’ve asked him to forgive me for not trusting his plan.
Now we’re pregnant with our fifth child and desire a little more living space, so we put our ‘blue carpet’ house up for sale (minus the blue carpet). We had another ‘perfect house’ picked out, but it doesn’t seem like that’s where the Lord is directing us anymore.
This “good” may not be what we ultimately had in mind, but I’ve learned through the years that God knows what is best for us. And sometimes His “good” includes outdated blue carpet.
Heidi Vriesman, a follower of the Good Shepherd, is a rather spontaneous wife to her detailed husband and mom to their 4 sweet children, ages 8 and under. She has a BA in Elementary Education and homeschools their children. You can find her recounting their days in word and picture at www.dearlylovedmist.com. She’d love for you to stop by and say, “Hi!”