This is the absolute last time I move

It has been crazy nuts over here as we iron out the last of the details before closing our our house on Monday. I was on the phone so much today that my battery actually died. And my battery never dies. In the process of calling all the utilities to move up the turn-on date because our closing date moved up, I ran into a problem with the electric company. Because it just wouldn't be buying or selling a house if there wasn't a least a little drama involved. It was one of those situations where everyone was blaming someone else and it could all be fixed if I just agreed to pay money I didn't owe on the dubious assurance that someone would reimburse me.. Grrrr....

Then the paralegal called with the check amount that we need to bring to closing, but it was over $1000 more than the original estimate. Sure! No problem! I've got some loose change here in my pocket that'll cover that! While I waited for the mortgage guy to call me back with an explanation, I sat stewing at a red light half-listening to the radio and cursing a few people in my head. One of those 60-seconds-of-encouragement spots came on and guess what the guy was talking about.

Houses.

About being content with what we have, whether it's a shack or a mansion. About focusing on the fact that God has met our need.

It was 2x4 theology at it's finest (that's when God smacks you upside the head with the truth exactly when you need it). One 60-second fluffy feel-good message, but it put my problems in perspective. A few minutes later the loan officer called me back and explained that the paralegal had misunderstood the HOA fees and had miscalculated our closing costs so that the number she gave us was far, far too high. Crisis averted and I had just been wasting my energy and ruining my mood by allowing myself to get stressed.

I spent the rest of my evening not even thinking about moving or houses. I helped some friends get ready for a garage sale to raise funds for a trip to China to provide an English camp for children, to provide help and money for an orphanage, and to donate money to earthquake relief efforts. Our Bible study class has been donating stuff for months and we've collected enough that our friends' driveway and front yard looks like an enormous flea market. So if you're near the Matthews area of Charlotte tomorrow, please come over to see us and Buy Stuff! And Donate Money! And Send Your Friends! We've got some great stuff there. I should know. I've seen it. Heck, some of it was ours that we just flat didn't want to move.

The craigslist posting is at http://charlotte.craigslist.org/gms/808667133.html.