Once upon a time, there was a family of four. A mom, a dad, and two little children. They lived in a subdivision of homes that all basically looked alike. Their yard was small and unfenced. Solicitors often came to their door. Noisy college students rented the home across the street. The homeowners' association often sent letters to them complaining about dead palm fronds that needed to be trimmed, or pressure washing that was needed on the driveway. This family became annoyed, because there always seemed to be a problem, despite all the effort they put into keeping their yard nice. They decided they needed change. They wanted more space, more freedom, and less scrutiny. They wanted to raise their children where they didn't have to worry about a speeding car picking them off. They wanted to move to the country. They wanted change. At some point in the house shopping process, I don't know exactly when, they prayed for guidance in selecting a new house. After all, moving was a big decision.
So they went with their realtor to visit a house for sale in the country. Yes - surely this was the place! It was different from their old house. It had over 4 acres of space and privacy. You couldn't see your neighbors, and they couldn't see you. It would be a change. Yes, the floors seemed to buckle in some places, and there were some biting deer flies in the yard. The bathrooms looked pretty used and rusty, and the kitchen would have to be completely redone. But the house was different than anything they had ever seen before. It was unique. It would be a real change, moving here. So they overlooked its faults. They visited this house with the realtor 2 or 3 times. The realtor secretly thought the house was a dump, but said nothing. The couple was figuring on a bid for this house, when....
They found out about a second house. This house was on one acre. It was charming and well kept, and the asking price was much less than the first house. In fact, the first house now looked pretty bad compared to this one. This house had a nice view of a horse farm in the distance. It had many lovely oak trees in the back yard. The mom fell in love with those oak trees. But the house was too small. They took measurements, and it would be difficult for them to fit their furniture inside this house. There was also a neighbor with a loud motorcycle. But they overlooked these faults. The house was pretty, and it would be a change. So they placed a bid on the house. The bid was rejected; it was too low.
The couple was down in the dumps. They thought about giving up on looking for a house in the country. By this time, their realtor started to wonder if this couple really knew what they wanted. After all, the houses they were interested in had nothing in common with each other. But the next day, they saw another house come on the market. It was on 5 acres, with a barn and a hen house. There were five neighbors in view. They went to see this house. Yes, this would be a change. It was big enough for the family. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the house. Everything looked fine. There was plenty of open space. There were many fruit trees, and a garden. There were lovely old oak trees, dripping with Spanish moss. The house was newer than the others, and looked very solid. It had a lovely fireplace, too. That same day, they placed a bid on the house and it was accepted. Yippeee!
A month later, they moved in to the new house in the country. Three weeks later, a hurricane came. There was some damage to this house, but it was minor. No trees were lost, and the roof didn't leak. It was a well-built house.
By this point in time, the cost of homes had become to skyrocket. There weren't any more decent homes in that community that this family could have afforded. It was a good thing they purchased a home when they did!
As for house number one: the family later learned that there was a problem with water quality at that house that would have cost a lot of money to correct. In addition, after the hurricane, the house became isolated. Trees had fallen across the wooded driveway, and there was no other way in or out of the property.
As for house number two: all the lovely oak trees in the backyard were knocked down by the hurricane. And yes, the motorcycle was as loud as ever, even in the middle of the night.
The moral of this story: This family was us, over four years ago. We thought we were wise. We thought we were careful.... savvy. We thought we knew what we were doing. All we knew is that we wanted change. We wanted change so badly that we were blind to the obvious. We were willing to overlook many red flags in order to get what we thought we wanted. Our desire for something different had made us blind.
The only thing that protected us was seeking God. God had protected us from our own shortsighted folly. Praises to Him!
May He protect all of us from our shortsighted folly as well.
So they went with their realtor to visit a house for sale in the country. Yes - surely this was the place! It was different from their old house. It had over 4 acres of space and privacy. You couldn't see your neighbors, and they couldn't see you. It would be a change. Yes, the floors seemed to buckle in some places, and there were some biting deer flies in the yard. The bathrooms looked pretty used and rusty, and the kitchen would have to be completely redone. But the house was different than anything they had ever seen before. It was unique. It would be a real change, moving here. So they overlooked its faults. They visited this house with the realtor 2 or 3 times. The realtor secretly thought the house was a dump, but said nothing. The couple was figuring on a bid for this house, when....
They found out about a second house. This house was on one acre. It was charming and well kept, and the asking price was much less than the first house. In fact, the first house now looked pretty bad compared to this one. This house had a nice view of a horse farm in the distance. It had many lovely oak trees in the back yard. The mom fell in love with those oak trees. But the house was too small. They took measurements, and it would be difficult for them to fit their furniture inside this house. There was also a neighbor with a loud motorcycle. But they overlooked these faults. The house was pretty, and it would be a change. So they placed a bid on the house. The bid was rejected; it was too low.
The couple was down in the dumps. They thought about giving up on looking for a house in the country. By this time, their realtor started to wonder if this couple really knew what they wanted. After all, the houses they were interested in had nothing in common with each other. But the next day, they saw another house come on the market. It was on 5 acres, with a barn and a hen house. There were five neighbors in view. They went to see this house. Yes, this would be a change. It was big enough for the family. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the house. Everything looked fine. There was plenty of open space. There were many fruit trees, and a garden. There were lovely old oak trees, dripping with Spanish moss. The house was newer than the others, and looked very solid. It had a lovely fireplace, too. That same day, they placed a bid on the house and it was accepted. Yippeee!
A month later, they moved in to the new house in the country. Three weeks later, a hurricane came. There was some damage to this house, but it was minor. No trees were lost, and the roof didn't leak. It was a well-built house.
By this point in time, the cost of homes had become to skyrocket. There weren't any more decent homes in that community that this family could have afforded. It was a good thing they purchased a home when they did!
As for house number one: the family later learned that there was a problem with water quality at that house that would have cost a lot of money to correct. In addition, after the hurricane, the house became isolated. Trees had fallen across the wooded driveway, and there was no other way in or out of the property.
As for house number two: all the lovely oak trees in the backyard were knocked down by the hurricane. And yes, the motorcycle was as loud as ever, even in the middle of the night.
The moral of this story: This family was us, over four years ago. We thought we were wise. We thought we were careful.... savvy. We thought we knew what we were doing. All we knew is that we wanted change. We wanted change so badly that we were blind to the obvious. We were willing to overlook many red flags in order to get what we thought we wanted. Our desire for something different had made us blind.
The only thing that protected us was seeking God. God had protected us from our own shortsighted folly. Praises to Him!
May He protect all of us from our shortsighted folly as well.
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3 comments:
Amen to that prayer. It is so easy to feel strong in our own wisdom.
I liked your parable.
There is a story behind our move to the country 3 years ago, too, including God making sure the sellers did not accept our low bid on a house we were going to "settle" for that wasn't really what I wanted. Our search was long because God had to wait until the price came down on this one before he could arrange for us to "accidentally" find it! One of these days I hope to share it on my blog.
Oh... I just re-read this and "got" the parable part. I think I read all the interesting stuff about the houses and didn't pay attention to the point.
So now that I get it... Blind. Yes, my thoughts exactly. I think you are right that the desire for change has blinded the eyes of many. I also think that we (as a nation) are trying so hard not to be "colorblind" that we are just plain "blind".