"This is Kelli from 'ABC Title Company' calling to let you know that your the sale of your home has officially closed and is recorded at the courthouse." I had no idea that such a simple message would have brought a flood of tears and emotion. We had signed the closing documents the previous day but, knowing we still had six weeks to move out, I hadn't given it much thought. Until today. I walked back in the house with a different set of eyes. No longer would I take Millie on our morning walk on the beautiful trail or watch my boys scurry off to school on their bikes along that same trail. My kitchen island, which has served as the background for so many heart-to-heart conversations will soon belong to another family. My basement (or the 'testosterone dungeon' as I sometimes refer to it) was no longer a room I avoided but somewhere I wanted to hang out with my kids. My backyard --which is miniscule and backs up to a busy road--felt huge and beautiful and peaceful. Suddenly, everything I disliked about this house had become so sentimental.

Five years is more than enough time to become attached. Even to something you're not that fond of. Although I KNOW God has a perfect place for our family it's still hard to say good-bye to four walls full of memories. Even though I always knew in my heart we wouldn't settle here forever, I still "nested" and made it a home. And even though it technically belonged to the bank, I still thought of it as OUR HOME.

Yesterday as I sat here crying out to God for peace and direction, an email popped up in my inbox from a dear friend who walked a similar path in the Spring. Here's the most important part of her message:

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." ~ Isaiah 43:19

"But for now, dear servant Hope, listen— yes, you, my dear daughter, my personal choice. God who made you has something to say to you; the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you. Don't be afraid, dear servant Hope, the one I chose. For I will pour water on the thirsty ground and send streams coursing through the parched earth. I will pour my Spirit into your descendants and my blessing on your children.They shall sprout like grass on the prairie, like willows alongside creeks. This one will say, 'I am God's,' and another will go by the name Jacob; That one will write on his hand 'God's property'— and be proud to be called Israel." ~Isaiah 44:1-5

I am holding on these promises. For in spite of how I "feel" in this "desert" time, I know I can trust that He who has made these promises is faithful.

As all of our moms always said, "when one door closes, another one opens." Cheesy? Yes. Simple? Yes. True? Absolutely!