Be not afraid … amid the challenging economy

DEBRA TOMASELLI | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Posted: 06.01.09

I didn’t expect to like this house so much.

It was a move, after all, prompted by financial needs, not desire.

Every other move my husband and I ever made was exciting, triggered by promotions and growth. We outgrew the townhouse we owned as newlyweds, graduated to a four-bedroom house with a fenced yard when we had kids, and finally built a spacious home on a lake with an in-ground swimming pool, embracing 14 years of happy memories.

There, we celebrated first Communions and confirmations, proms and graduations. There we enjoyed Brownie meetings and Bible studies, soccer parties and Kentucky Derby festivities. The home was like a dear friend, but recently, as we struggled with declining incomes and increasing expenses, the answer became clear: We had to part with it.

I cringed when the realtor arrived. He sat down at our kitchen table and pulled out charts, facts and figures, and I turned my attention away to the music I had playing in the background, “Our God is an Awesome God.” Earlier, I had plugged in the CD, knowing we’d need a little divine strength for this transaction.

And divine strength we received.

In the weeks that followed, my husband and I stood in the front yard and prayed that God would send just the right family to buy our house. And that prayer was answered.

We raised three daughters who attended Catholic schools. The family that bought our home had two daughters, both enrolled in Catholic schools.

In the hectic days that followed, we searched nonstop for a new house. Many homes looked suitable until we really considered living there. One was too big; another too small. One needed too many repairs; another was priced too high.

Then, finally, at the insistence of a friend, my husband and I visited this house one Sunday after Mass. We fell in love with it as soon as we stepped inside. French doors and expansive windows offered a breathtaking view of the backyard, which included a massive oak tree, a prayer bench and a tranquil canal.

We felt blessed. Not only did the house suit our financial needs, but the sacred setting was out-of-this-world.

One night after moving in, while eating our dinner on paper plates amid stacks of unpacked boxes and rolls of shelving paper, I looked at my husband.

“If we could move back to our old house tomorrow, I’d say, ‘Forget it, I like this house more,’” I said. “Do you feel the same way?”

Smiling, he nodded.

Neither one of us expected to feel that way. It was a move prompted strictly by the economy, one we didn’t want to have to make. But I am convinced that the good Lord goes before us always, anticipating our every need. There is no reason to fear the changes in life, even if we think we do not want to make them.

Our God really is an awesome God.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11).

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