Stephenie and I have been looking for our first home since January and I must say it is not always a fun process. We first started looking in one part of town. We found a house, made an offer, but did not receive an acceptance. OK, no problem. Let's keep looking. We spent the next three weekends looking at several homes all built in the last few years. It seemed like every home we liked had a major hang up. Bad location. Too far from my job. Built right next to some commercial developments. Built right next to a busy road. OK, you get the point.
After all of those appointments we switched gears. We all of a sudden began to look at houses located 20 miles away from that part of town. Not only was this a completely different part of town, but we began to look at houses half the size and 40 years older. Yeah, big change. In this particular neighborhood we made two offers on two separate houses both of went bust. Our issues changed a bit. Foundation problems. Aluminum wiring. Outdated fixtures.
We then went to a slightly different location. As we were in the middle of making an offering on a house we saw another house and switched to make an offer on that one. The house we are going for is 37 years old and hearing the inspection report was not a ton of fun.
During this whole process we have made offers on four houses, backed out of two, and changed our minds about as often as Bill O'Reilly talks about boycotting France. I have told Stephenie multiple times, "I don't think I would like being our realtor!" We are a moving target with ever changing wants in a house and unable to commit. Now, I know our realtor gets a nice pay day when we do close on the house, but I'm sure our realtor has had easier clients. (Did I mention that I have called our realtor with questions on multiple occasions at 9:30 p.m.?)
All of this being said I have been thinking a lot about a different home. I have been thinking about an everlasting, all victorious, God-exalting, and Christ savoring home. This whole home buying process and caused me to think about "a better country, a heavenly one." Maybe I need to realize that our homes on earth are temporary and imperfect. They will always break down and need repairs from time to time. There will always be a closer home to my work. There will always be a bigger home. There will always be a nicer home. There will always be a home with less problems than mine. I think that I have fallen too much in love with the things of this world. I need to be like Abraham in Hebrews 11:10 whom it is said,
"he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." I need to focus on the city that God has prepared and remember that I am a "stranger and exile on the earth." Heaven will never need updates or repairs. We will never desire another home than Heaven. Now, I'm not advocating becoming consumed with heaven, I just think it's biblical and helpful for us to cultivate an eternal perspective.
Blessings to those who read this and let us "seek the things above, where Christ is exalted at the right hand of God."
