110 Apple Lane

I wrote this a year ago, but with everything in limbo, it wasn’t a good time to publish it. Now that the house has been sold and my parents are moved and settled, I’m happy to put this out there.

My parents are selling their house. Josh and I have always joked that we would buy it someday. That property has become our green retreat from the blah of the beige desert and it’s hard to believe that my favorite place on earth will no longer be there when I land in the US. I mean, it will be there, but someone else will be enjoying the clucking of chickens in the backyard, the splashing of the fountain raining down into the pond, and soaking in the sun in the front yard.

We knew a move for my parents was in the nearish future so Josh and I had talked about buying the house from them when they retire. We have looked and researched and scoured the area for a similar property over the years and have never found one we like as much. So that was our plan. To sock away money for the next year or two and when the time came, to propose that we take over ownership of our favorite plot of land.

But suddenly their retirement was in the near future, rather than the distance. What if they looked into moving now, rather than a few years from now? Josh and I didn’t have nearly enough saved to make a down payment on the property and after thinking about it for a few weeks I had the feeling that it didn’t make sense to give up our flexibility and be tied to such a big anchor back in the US when we spend 90% of our time in the Middle East. Plus, long distance home ownership adds stress and expense and I’m always looking for ways to decrease my stress, not increase it. So I told God, “Lord, I trust that someday, at the right time, you will provide a place for me to have my own garden, chickens, and green space that’s even better than 110 Apple Lane. I trust you to provide instead of trying to take matters into my own hands.” And I let it go.

About a week later, my parents got the great news that they could retire and move to southern California to be near my sisters and all of the grandkids. Such a shock. So much faster than we ever expected, but a great thing for everyone. And my heart was already prepared to let the house go.

Calvin has already found a place to move — he has been amazing with being at peace and not being stressed about being suddenly uprooted. God has provided an internship in an area that he was already working in, and housing is included.

I have no idea what next summer will look like, as when the house sells we’ll be officially homeless in the US — I’m going to have to find an address to use and change all of my banking/voting/mail info. But it will work out. Maybe we’ll travel the US in the summer and explore more of that part of the world. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the perfect place for us someday.

And now, writing from 2020, I’m thankful that we let that dream go. I still miss it and I missed being in California this summer, but it made staying here over the summer (stuck because of Covid) a much easier choice. Now to wait and see what comes next. I’m not even going to try to guess . . .