and the rains came tumbling down

 

The wise man may have chosen a better location for his house than the foolish man, but in the end--the rains came tumbling down on both of them. 

And this has been one RAINY week, let me tell ya, buddy!

Last Tuesday, Mr. Perfect had some major car problems. My offering was, "Well, at least we still have my van." Then Wednesday, seemingly out of nowhere, the transmission goes out of my thus very trustworthy Jean-Claude Dam Van.  I got a rental car ($$$) to hold me over until I could get the van looked at, only to be told it would be nearly $600 for them to even take the transmission out to inspect. Funny that JUST the day before, I'd gotten a decent trade in quote on the van and considered it an option to sell to get us down to California where we could use any leftover money as a down payment on some SUV thing that we could actually drive all six kids around in. So, we're still kind of scratching our heads, unsure what to do right now about our sudden car situation, though my dear Peterson family has offered to help us come up with some type of solution.

*Meanwhile, my house went on the market which entailed a $55 key making fee (I've never had keys to my front door...I do now) and a $150 carpet cleaning fee. 

*$75 to get out of my gym membership contract.

*$100 for a doctor's visit.

*Some unknown $ amount for possibly having to re-retain my divorce attorney to get child support coming again.

*And all the normal monthly bills that still need paying.

For as thrifty and creative as Mr. Perfect and I are, it all seems like walking against a hurricane finance-wise at this point.

But, in the end, really--it's just money. And stuff. We can figure it out. Hurricanes end. And it will be worth it, like every good thing that requires an "effectual struggle." We are loopy in love, committed to one another and the bringing together of our lives and goals and families. Mr. Perfect asks me to marry him again every day.  And every day I say yes again. It's simply the kind of love you don't give up on.

Besides, I think you KNOW you've made a good decision when you get the answer straight to your heart in a moment of perfect peace and clarity, and have it reaffirmed repeatedly in that 'no denying it' way...and then things immediately start to go wrong. As if the devil would just love to stop something really awesome from happening by throwing all his lame, heel-bruising tactics in your path.

So, we're going to keep our eyes focused on one day at a time, fingers crossed for a little miracle or a few, and try to enjoy waiting out the rain in the house built on a rock--which I think is the perfect metaphor for what's in our hearts.