As I unpack our Christmas decorations, I finally found this kitchen towel. I had been searching for it, and it was the absolute last decoration in the very last box to unpack. 😂 This was a gift given to me just before Christmas last year from my younger sister.
Our family had been looking for a home to buy. I had dreamed of owning our own home since I was a little girl. At that time, we thought we’d be going back to Romania, but we wanted to purchase a home to have somewhere to call home no matter where God led us.
In November, we found a home we liked, and we filled out the paperwork for a mortgage loan. Everything was going according to plan, and my sister gave me this adorable Peanuts Christmas kitchen towel and cookie cutter to put in our new home. Everything was progressing. The mortgage company kept reviewing our situation, and my family and friends reassured us saying, “This is normal.”
Black Friday came and went, and I bought nothing because the mortgage company was reviewing our everything, and I did not want to mess anything up in this process, but again, everyone said, “This is normal.”
Christmas crept closer, and my husband and I bought no gifts for our children or each other, except for a few small things, like candy and trinkets, but everyone told us, “It will be okay because the home will be the best gift your kids could ask for.”
The week before Christmas, I bought a bow to put on the front door. After all, it was the only gift we had for all of us, and the home builder said everything was finished and ready to move in. I couldn’t wait to put my big bow on the door and cute kitchen towel in our new home–OUR HOME. We had all of the preapprovals, thumbs ups and yeses from the mortgage company and the home builder, and now, we just had to wait for the final loan approval.
Two days before Christmas, we finally got the call from the mortgage company. I excitedly ran to the phone, but to my surprise, I heard, “I’m sorry, but it isn’t going to work. We can’t approve your loan. I’m sorry. Have a good Christmas.”
To say I was devastated is an understatement. I dropped to the floor and fell apart. Her words threw the stone that caused my dream to crumble only days before “the happiest day” of the year. Joe and I looked at each other. Joe was angry. I was broken. We had nothing for our kids but some stocking candy, dollar-store trinkets, and a big bow to put on the front door of a home we couldn’t buy. I cried like I have only cried once before, and that was when my best friend died in a car accident.
I sat in a chair and wept on Christmas eve, and then, God said, “Get up. Wipe your face, and let’s celebrate. It’s Christmas.”
I didn’t know what God was doing, but I knew He is always faithful–when He says yes and when He says no, and He gave us a promise in His Word, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5b NLT)
So, Joe and I took some of our savings and bought a few last minute gifts, and we got up Christmas morning, and we celebrated the greatest day of the year, the day our SAVIOR was born, and guess what, despite the sorrow and loss, Christmas came, and we made beautiful memories with our children.
Since then, God has shifted EVERYTHING in our lives. We have had health scares and healings before our eyes. We have had God shift the plan for our lives from our plans to His. We have watched God take that original home away and give us a home we love even better, and we watched God provide some furniture, appliances, and decor to put in our home when we initially moved into it without a fridge and only owning two air mattresses. Seriously! We didn’t even have sheets for the air mattresses, and the great part is, He is not done yet.
Saints of God, there will be seasons in our lives where it feels like the death of a dream, like two days before Christmas 2025 for us, but then, there are also seasons where we will watch Him move heaven and earth to pour out His favor and provision upon us and remind us that He never leaves us in the valley, nor does He ever abandon us.
God is faithful in the desert, and He is faithful in the fertile fields. I am reminded of that today as I remove the packaging from my Peanuts Christmas towel that has been waiting a year to see its day in the sun. Today, know that even when we get a closed door from God it’s because He’s not done yet. So, don’t stare at the closed door and allow it to embitter you. Trust God, even when sorrow comes. He’s still working, even when we can’t see what He’s doing. So, praise Him for the opened doors, and praise Him for the closed doors because He’s not done until He keeps every promise. His plans are good because HE is good.👐🏼❤️🥰 He never fails!!!
Psalm 27:13
New International Version
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
