They pushed the closing of our house back a few more days. Which means we have to pay another month’s mortgage. Which wouldn’t be a huge deal, except that I thought we were done. I thought we were finished paying unexpected expenses.

We’ve already paid to fix the foundation. We paid to fix the air conditioner that was vandalized during the break-in. We paid to rewire most of the house. Paid for some miscellaneous minor repairs. Paid someone to water our grass for four months. Paid to repaint the whole interior. Paid to replace a set of doors. Paid two mortgages for five months. And we still have to repay our tax credit to Obama.

My first response to this latest news wasn’t rejoicing. I cried. A lot. And then we prayed together, reminding ourselves that we will continue to trust in the Lord even in the midst of bad news. We will choose to give thanks in all circumstances, even when it’s not easy. Or fun.

And then Mr. Right and I threw a dance party in our living room to cheer ourselves up.  Dancing silly hip-hop moves I learned in middle school to Sir Mix A Lot made us laugh until our sides hurt. And then we slow-danced to George Straight, right there, barefoot in our living room.

We decided to choose joy.

Fast forward to today… Mr. Right called me this afternoon with wonderful news. He called our bank and explained our situation, and we don’t have to pay our mortgage this month after all! The banker was so kind and offered a solution that works great for everybody… and we found out we get $300 more back on our escrowed taxes than we originally thought. So, we actually “made” some money today! (which is all theoretical since we’re still taking a loss… but less than I thought we would be losing as of this morning)

There will be some rejoicing going on tonight in the Wright household…

We continue to choose joy. And I may celebrate with ice cream.