Alright so this piece was done by me…started by a prompt given to me by Jake (the part in a different color)…Tell me what you think…Oh and just to let you know, it’s about two pages long in a word doc…so make sure you have some time so that you can read it. 

Ashley

Redirection

            I was out riding Sam, my favorite horse, out on my favorite trail.  The past couple of days have been wearing on me, and Sam doesn’t talk much at all. It’s just quiet, and that’s so good nowadays. But now, I realized that I’m late, so I head on back towards the house, picking up about every thought that I laid down out here. But life goes on and here I go.  As I removed Sam’s saddle and bridle, I heard the footsteps and voices heading to the barn. 
            “Are they here again?” I thought as I took a deep breath.  But then I realized that it wasn’t who I thought it was, and their tones were much different than what I was expecting.  “Could it be that we finally have some good news around this place?”
            The two men entered the barn and there were mixed emotions on their faces.  My brother looked as though he had just heard the best news ever.  My husband, though he was excited also, looked as though he had something gravely important to tell me.  They both walked over to me silently and all I could do is wonder anxiously.
            “What?  What’s wrong?  What’s right?  Why these faces?”
            David looked to my husband who gave him a nod and then to me. 
            “You will never guess what we just got in the mail.  I hurried over as soon as it came in,” he started and then stopped as if he wanted me to actually guess.  But I was not in the mood for guessing games. 
            “Okay, then why don’t you just tell me?”
            “You’re not going to guess?” he said excitedly.
            “Well, you said I’m never going to guess,” he rolled his eyes, “and at this moment I tend to believe you.  What is it?  What did we get in the mail?”

            “We got the house!”
            “THE house?  I thought you said we didn’t have a chance at getting it and that some big honcho was biding on it.  You said there was no way.”
            “I know what I said and honestly I didn’t think we had a chance.  But we got it.  Now all we need is government approval and we can start finding orphans to fill it.” 
            “How is this possible?”  I looked to my husband with my mouth gapping open and tears filling my eyes.  “The bid we put in wasn’t even the asking price.  We just…I don’t…Oh my goodness!” 

            David passed me the papers and I read them looking for a wrong name or something.  This couldn’t be real.  We had bid on so many houses but none of them compared to this one.  This house was exactly what Peter and I had always pictured.  It was huge and fit the purpose so well and now it was ours.  All we had to do was wire the bid and sign the deed and it was ours.  I just looked at the papers shaking my head, stunned and amazed. 
            “I’m gonna go and start putting together the paperwork for it,” David said as he turned and left the barn.  It was so convenient to have a realtor in the family. 
            I looked up at Peter, “Can you believe it?  It’s ours.  We are actually going to do this.  We are going to hire a staff and have children in a house.  And we are going to…What?  Why aren’t you excited?  This is what we wanted.  Isn’t it?” 

            “Yes, this is exactly what we wanted and I am amazed that the doors have opened up for this.”
            “I hear a ‘but’ coming.  But what?”

            “But I don’t think that this is the house we want.”

            “What?  Why?  When we saw this house we thought that we were supposed to bid.  We were so sure it was perfect.”
            “I know.  I know.  While we were walking through it we really felt like it was a God thing.  But I’ve since been feelin’ that it isn’t it, and that there is something better, or maybe not better but just different.”  Seeing my face, he continued, “I’m sorry I was going to say something earlier but I didn’t think we would get anything back from it.  I thought that we would be outbid and that it would just fall by the wayside.  I also knew you were really excited about it and so I thought that maybe I was not hearing right.  But then when I saw that note, I knew that this wasn’t it.”

            “Do you know why this isn’t the house?” feeling the sadness begin to creep up in my heart.

            “I’m not sure yet but I know it has something to do with the area or the house itself.  There is just something about it that doesn’t sit well with me.  I know this is from God and even though it’s disappointing and frustrating I want to follow it.  We have to follow Him or this isn’t going to work.” 

            My arms dropped down to my sides.  He reached out and pulled me to him.  I buried my face in his chest and let the tears come.  At my side, the papers crumpled in my hand.  I knew that if Peter felt that way there wasn’t any changing him.  He knew these things better than I did, though if I really truly thought about it I could understand why but right now there were too many other things to think about.  I just had to trust his guidance and believe that he was following God. 
            “Peter, when is it going to happen?” I said, talking into his shirt.  “We started working on this project how long ago?  It’s been twelve years.  We were waiting for God to give us a green light and then He did.  So we traveled across the world went shopping for a house,” I pulled away from him a bit hysterical and pointed at the picture, “this house.  This is the house we saw in our dreams, in our imaginations.  And now it isn’t the right house?  I don’t understand!” 

            “It doesn’t make sense to me either but I know this is God.”

            “I know,” I said through tears, “I know it is or you wouldn’t be saying this.  You want this house just as much if not more than I do.  I know that…”  I couldn’t talk anymore. 

            My chin dropped.  Thinking about the orphans that we could be helping right now but couldn’t, I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I felt like I was going to fall over my heart was in so much pain.  Peter pulled me to him again.  I put my arms around him and just cried.  After standing there for many minutes, Peter lifted my chin so that I was looking him in the eyes.  I tried to calm myself a little bit so that I could at least see him. 
            “God said it, so it is going to happen.”  I started to pull my chin away but he just held on gently.  “This is not our dream that we are dreaming, it is His.  That being the case, He will make sure that it turns out the way He dreamed it.  Maybe the children, our children, are not ready for a real home yet.  Maybe this house is falling apart.  Maybe there is something shady about the deal.  There are a billion different reasons as to why this could be a bad decision.  But no matter the reason if we don’t follow where we are lead then we will not be doing anyone a favor.” 
            I nodded.  He wiped the tears from my cheeks and kissed my forehead.  I took a deep breath and swallowed the rest of my tears. 
            “I have to go tell David not to waste anymore time filling out the papers,” Peter said as he looked my face over to make sure that I would be okay for the moment. 
            “Okay, I have to finish brushing poor Sam down,” I said as I turned to my horse.  “He’s been waiting ever so patiently.  I’ll be in as soon as I’m done.”

            “Sounds good.  I will talk to David about our other bids and see about checking up on them.  And you and I will talk about the rest of things when you get in.  I will have a pot of coffee on.”
            I smiled at him.
            “Okay, I’ll be in soon.”
            He turned and walked out of the barn.  I picked up the curry comb to brush the mud off of Sam’s coat.  As I did the tears began to silently fall again. 
            “Father, I know you are in this somewhere,” I said aloud as I looked up at the barn ceiling.  “Please show us where we are going next.  Please give us a clear cut answer.  I don’t want to have to wait another twelve years before we can get this close again.  We know You put this in our hearts.  Guide David and Peter to the right house.  If we have to go back over there to look again, please line everything up again like You did last time.  ‘May Your kingdom come and Your will be done in this situation as it is in heaven.’”
            I began to scrub the mud off of Sam’s legs, waiting and listening.  Then I heard it and I began to feel a peace about following Peter’s gut feeling.  I knew that it was God.  It didn’t completely take the edge off the pain but it was good to know.  As I continued and finished with Sam I felt more and more at peace.  By the time my beautiful, silent Sam was back in his stall for the night I was ready to talk about it.  I was ready to find what was right, letting go of what looked so right.

            The sky had turned dark while I had been in the barn and as I walked to my house I saw my husband shaking hands with David, who was leaving.  I was glad.  Though I loved him, I was ready to have my house quiet and to myself with Peter. 
            “Bye David,” I said as I gave him a hug.
            “Bye sis’, we are going to find your house.  I have a new lead.  I don’t know that it is God but it is definitely brilliant enough to be.”  We both laughed a bit. 
            “Thank you for working so hard on this.”
            “Hey, I told you as soon as you started this project that I wanted to help you guys find a house.  I meant it wholeheartedly then and I mean it just as much now.  You are putting me in no inconvenience.  You just keep your head up and let me do my job.  Okay?”
            “Okay,” I smiled and took a deep breath.  “Okay.”
            “Alright, I will see you as soon as I hear anything.”  He smiled at me and got into his car.  “Bye.”
            “Bye,” I yelled and I waved at him as he drove down the street.
            Peter came up behind me and slid an arm around my waist.  I looked up at him and then leaned my head on his shoulder.  We turned and walked towards our house.