Walther

After touring many homes, being out bid on homes, searching for a rental, desperate for a home, we finally bought a home!  That was quite a process.  We would be scheduled to see homes and before we arrived they were sold.  The market had really picked up and the options were getting limited.  We looked into renting, but it cost more than buying a home to resale.

 

We had made a full price offer on a home and I was sure we would get it, but it didn’t happen.  I was very disappointed and began feeling desperate.  We had to be out of our home in less than a month and we had no definite plans on where we would be going.  Finally a home came on the market, we toured it on my lunch break and made an offer.   Another couple was bidding on the home as well and they demanded the curtains.  We said the seller could keep them.  We got the home.  Isn’t that crazy!

 

When we toured the home there was a tree in the back yard with a tree face.  It caught my attention and I thought it was a very neat thing.  When the sellers moved they took the tree face.  So I found one online that looked like a kind old man and his mouth doubles as a bird feeder.  I decided to call him Walther.

 

I have quite an imagination and as I worked through the ups and downs of where we would be living, I knew without a doubt that God had been directing us to the home we bought.  He had a reason and that would be revealed later, but the process was important too.  The first home we made an offered on wasn’t what we really wanted but we would have made it work.

 

Going from a country acre of space to a smaller city lot was going to be a change and I hoped at least to find a corner lot that would provide a bit more space.  We wanted a fireplace and at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  We expected that the remodeling would be mostly updating an older home.  Each home we looked at we had to compromise on something or it required major renovations and we rationalized that we would only be there for 2 years before we sold the property and moved again.  So we could live with less options.

 

God had something different in mind.  The home He lead us to to buy has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces, 2 living rooms and is on a beautiful corner lot with extra parking, all for less than we offered on the first home!  Only God could do that.  And if that wasn’t enough, the previous owner was an incredible gardener and she had beautifully landscaped the entire property.  We didn’t find this out until spring when everything bloomed in such beautiful colors and variety.

 

So why do I call my tree Walther…… because it stands for:

W- what

A- A

L-loving

T- thing He did for

Her –  Her

 

God did this for me.   A smiling fatherly face on a solid old tree reminding me, “I’ll take care of you, I’ll be here with you, I’ve brought you here and I’m watching over you!   I see you!  I’m proud of you, you are mine.  My daughter!  A love of my life, joyful to watch, pleasure to teach, disciplined with love, arms to hold you, voice to whisper to you.  A heart to comfort you and plenty of provision.  You are mine!  I Love you!”

 

As I sat at my kitchen table, which was the only furniture upstairs for the first three months of the remodel, I would look out the deck doors and see Walther.  A beautiful reminder of God’s love for me and a strong encouragement of promise through the tough renovation moments.

 

I told my granddaughters about Walther and every time Kyrie goes into the back yard she waves and says, “Hi Walther!”  God is so good!

 

My prayer

Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I will look to the Lord; 

 I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me

 

Father, Thank you for the special way you communicate your presence to me.  Your reminders of your watchful eye, your generous provision and your love overwhelms me.  I am so blessed to be Yours.  Thank you for guiding us to what You knew was best when we were willing to settle for less.  I am in awe of You! Amen

 

Where does my help come from?

Zephaniah 3: 17

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”