When Life Hands You Lemons...or a Grenade
If you are visiting my page for the first time to peruse recent boudoir photos of my gorgeous clients-maybe skip this post. I promise to get back to your regularly scheduled boudoir programming next week! I clearly haven't written a blog in a long time because we've had a *bit* of personal stuff going on. If you're a recent client, you know we've been building a house for the past year. We were supposed to move in back in September, but 5 days before closing someone parked a car next to our house and set it on fire, burning our house down. As in a total loss. As in start allllll over.
Yeeeepppp. Upon hearing the news my jaw was at the exact same spot on the floor yours is now. You see, we are building in this super cute, 16 house neighborhood in West Midtown Atlanta next to the Bellwood Quarry park that's going in (I think they are calling it the Westside Reservoir Park). While there are multiple homes being built, there aren't currently any residents (we were supposed to be the first). They started the fire at 1:00am and our house provided the perfect cover to ensure the car would burn completely. At best, the criminal was trying to get rid of a stolen vehicle. At worst, the car was evidence to a much more sinister crime and they wanted the evidence destroyed. Unfortunately, the car was burnt so badly the police weren't able to pull a VIN at all. But God is their ultimate judge and I'm good with that.
NOW for the GOOD! If it had to happen, I'm so glad it happened to us. I know that sounds weird, but we hadn't closed yet-meaning it's ultimately the builder's responsibility to rebuild. We hadn't moved in, so our stuff (and ourselves) is all fine. We hadn't sold our condo yet, so we have a place to stay. We don't have kids yet and I know it would've been a lot harder on another family with little ones. Ultimately, while it is devastating and disappointing, it's just a huge inconvenience. We unpacked some stuff and stored some. We canceled furniture deliveries and returned a few appliances. But we'll get to have and enjoy all that in a few more months.
Extra bonus. My husband is INCREDIBLE. I'm so so so thankful to be in a marriage where as soon as the news hit our ears, his eyes were on mine telling me how sorry he was to ME-even as he absorbed the devastating news himself. He is such a selfless and giving man to me. Marriage is hard, but I'll cherish a bad day with him over a good day with anyone else. Another bonus. Our real estate agent, Heidi Baxter. She has been a beautiful blessing through even the first steps a year ago. She had to deliver the news-which is a horrible thing to be tasked with. Yet, we know with her guidance we have nothing to fear moving forward. She is top notch and if you're in the market for a realtor she recieves TOP marks from us-and we're sure to be her longest clients, lol!
All of that to say, sometimes life is just hard. Things happen outside of our control all the time. My initial response was definitely a lot of crying and even MORE chocolate, cheese and wine-I mean, let's be real. But I also know that God has a specific type of beauty for us to enjoy throughout this season. It'd be easy to be frustrated and sad that I don't get to have my Halloween house warming party or host Thanksgiving for our families this year (and trust me-those things really do suck!) But I'm also aware that I serve a God who's bigger than all this. He turns the ugliest, fiercest storm into a thing of beauty and that is something I definitely don't want to miss. Onto house 2.0!!!
