“I’m really disappointed. But for some reason, I still trust him.”

Those were the words I typed to Faith on the morning of March 19th after she wished me a happy solemnity of St. Joseph, acknowledging at the same time that the occasion was marked with some sadness and lots of discouragement. It was not even 24 hours prior that I had received the news that my offer on THE house was rejected by the seller. In the days leading up to this one, I had prayed with a remarkable certainty that God he did, in fact, want to see me settled in my own little safe and secure home, and that He was leading me there. As the head of the Holy Family, I prayed with confidence that St. Joseph would help oversee the process and guide me safely into a home – and soon. This was my 7th or 8th (I lost track) offer on a home over the course of several years. I was sure this was the one. But as it turned out – it wasn’t.

I was aware that St. Joseph knew a thing or two about walking a long road. I had traveled the same road from Nazareth to Jerusalem, but in my car, I was spared from the dry air and hot sun. I prayed that he would keep walking with me, just as he walked – and led – his Mary.

While the disappointment did not mar my confidence in St. Joseph “for some reason,” it did make me question that I was on the right track with what I was seeking for my life. On the day my offer was rejected, I was sure this “no” was more than “not now.” I was ready to stop looking altogether. But I received good counsel that, while disappointing and frustrating, this “no” did not warrant putting the idea to rest. I resumed the search with an overemphasized and reluctant daughter’s sigh, saying, “fine…. I’ll keep looking…”

I wondered if God was asking me to make bigger compromises. So instead of sacrificing a garage or dining room, I began to sacrifice location. My search the next day included homes that were much further away from the area where I hoped to settle. Being close to those who are dearest to me was a non-negotiable that I suddenly began negotiating.

That same day, I wandered into the living room and noticed my egg chair sitting in the corner with it’s crisp and fluffy cushions. “Why do I have this chair, anyway? It’s too big for this space. And it’s not comfortable.” In my frustration (which was about much more than a chair!) I took a picture of it and listed it on Facebook Marketplace.

What came next was a total surprise: within 20 minutes, I had 40 women wanting to buy the chair. I messaged them all and declared a “first come, first serve” arrangement. My buyer arrived within 40 minutes. She opened her car doors and together, we began loading the cushions of the chair into her car.

She had a four-week old baby in the car and had just come from the doctor’s office. She seemed a bit flustered. So, I began to strike up conversation about the chair. She got excited, “It’s for my new house!” she said. “My husband and I bought a new home and are going to move there eventually. I’m on maternity leave and can’t help buy a few things while we prepare to move!” I congratulated her on the new baby and the new home, acknowledging that it’s a tough time to buy a house. “I’m so glad you found something!” I said, “I’ve been searching for years, with no luck. It’s a buyer’s market!”

Suddenly, the woman became very silent. She looked directly at me and asked, “What are you looking for?” I shrugged off her interest and said, “Oh, something small.” She insisted, “Like two bedrooms, one bath, a sunroom, finished basement, and a patio?”

I stared. This stranger just described a dream house. “That sounds amazing!” I said.

We looked at each other for a good long moment, standing in the middle of my neighborhood street, the baby cooing from his carseat nearby. The woman explained to me that they had no timeline and, because of the birth of their baby, had to put the sale of their current home on hold.

Friends, I suspect you can see the rest of the story starting to unfold. What happened next launched me into a new chapter of my life with unusual speed and succession of miracles. Within ten minutes of meeting this stranger on Facebook Marketplace, I had an appointment to see her home at the end of the week. There was just one problem: I didn’t know where the home was! I sent a text and what I received in reply explained every single step of the long journey I had taken to find a home of my own. The answer explained every “no:”

The address of the home was within walking distance – and literal eyesight – of the homes of nearly every single person I “do life” with on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. It was smack dab in the middle of my friends, my newest godson, and so many others. It was all too good to be true.

Two months later and it’s still too good to be true. I have a little cottage home of my own that is in excellent condition after a listing was created just for me by the seller. When the realtor told me that at the time, she said in disbelief: “The sellers said they really want you to have it.”

Why they wanted me remains a mystery to me. But I know that this was part of the plan all along. Remember when I listed the chair on Facebook Marketplace? Well, that day was March 19th – the feast of St. Joseph, just hours after responding to Faith’s text with, “…for some reason, I still trust him.”

But wait! It gets better!

When I finally saw the house for the first time in March, I stood on the front doorstep and looked down the street. There, I could see the top of a little grotto dedicated to St. Joseph in the neighborhood that I had adopted in 2020 during the pandemic, planting roses around it and tending to it for months on end along with the Carmelite sisters who lived nearby. The St. Joseph’s Grotto is my neighbor. All I have to to do is look outside my front door and I am reminded of both his journey – and his home.

This story is about so much more than me and my little cottage from St. Joseph. It’s an affirmation to anyone waiting or walking a long road that God is walking that road with us. It’s an invitation to invite St. Joseph on the journey with us. It’s a real-life example of how God is working beyond the “no’s” and breathing into the silence. He wants abundance for us, and He will keep wanting it, providing for it – even when we doubt and grow discouraged.

My little cottage is already overflowing with memories of backyard dinners, baking parties, game nights, toddler exploration, and quiet times for conversation, tears, and rest. My people make themselves at home in this place with me, coming and going as friends and loved ones do. Students know where to come for a home-cooked meal, friends who work nearby already know where to stop to share lunch or go for a walk, and Aunt Mary days of summer with my favorite little people are already in full swing. There is life in abundance, just as He promised. And I know He promises the same for you, too.

Where there is silence…
Where there is “no”…
Where there is discouragement…
Where there is a long, weary road…
Where there there is famine – He is there.

“He made him lord over his household, ruler over all his possessions.”