Looking out into the rainstorm at my new home.

I have only sporadically been updating this blog. You see, back in mid-July we moved from California back to Illinois for my husbands job. We had already placed a sizable down payment on a home here in Illinois and we were on our way via Interstate 80 (yes we drove with three kids in tow).

This was our dream home. It had everything we could have wanted. Land, a pool, enough bedrooms for all the kids AND the grandparents. It was a dream come true…until it all fell apart midway through our cross country move.

So, after driving from California to Chicago, we ended up staying at Great Wolf Lodge for a week. My husband had a conference here and we had planned to stay here for a few days until our home closed. But then things with the other house went to hell and we didn’t have a plan yet so we stayed longer. Kids LOVED it (unanswered prayers) but I was falling apart a little everyday.

Luckily, we were able to stay in the guest room of a family friend for a couple of weeks until an unfortunate occurrence happened and we had to leave immediately.

We ended up spending the longest amount of time–20 days–in an extended stay hotel until we were FINALLY able to close on our new house… 6 weeks later than planned!

It wasn’t the house we originally thought we’d be living in when we left California in July. It’s even BETTER.

As I sit here today, I am grateful. Living in California for the past four years has really made me appreciate every rainstorm. It symbolizes life and growth and I have grown so much this year and even more just since we’ve moved back in Illinois. Especially with gratitude. I am so grateful for this home, and my family, and my husband’s job, and my kids school, and our health, and our town, and for the wonderful opportunity to have a window where I can sit and just watch the rain. Thank God for unanswered prayers.

I don’t know why God had us go through all the tears and anxiety and depression of the other house falling through (and it was A LOT) but, the end result is pretty amazing. Plus, we are in a town/neighborhood that we wanted to live in back 2012 (it was way too expensive at that time).
Isn’t it so true…Divine punchlines do take a little bit of time!

Have you experienced unanswered prayers? Leave a comment and tell me about it.