A friend recently said, “God, it occurs to me, is a lot like Tetris. He nudged and shifted all the pieces of your life until they fit together again just so.”

The Game

For those of you who don’t know what my friend was referring to, Tetris is an electronic game where “Tetriminos” (blocks) fall from the top of the screen, and the player is required to strategically rotate and move them around to land in ways that best fit the pieces already at the bottom of the screen. Horizontal rows without spaces disappear and the rows above shift down. The idea is to complete as many spaceless rows as possible before the rows with spaces stack up and reach the top, ending the game.

The Move

At the beginning of 2022, I shared my plans to move from Tennessee back to Texas. The first six months of the year passed quickly. I barely had time to think, I was so busy. After packing, packing, more packing, and moving stuff to storage in Texas, I’d decluttered the house and was ready to put it on the market. Unfortunately, because of unexpected distractions and complications along the way, I was about two weeks late in hitting the sell-in-a-day-with-multiple-offers market where people were paying “stupid, crazy-high” house prices. My frantic pace suddenly came to a screeching halt.

The Sale That Wasn’t

People were still buying homes here in Tennessee, but not like before. Still, I found a buyer some six weeks after putting the house on the market. The couple was moving to Nashville from Colorado for the husband’s work. They were so excited. My house was their future retirement home. Even better, it put them in a central location near their grown children. A couple of days after they made their original offer, we came to an agreement and signed a contract. Then it happened. Not two hours later the man went to work and his boss said, “Sorry, we’re not transferring you to Nashville after all.”

True, I was disappointed, but the couple was devastated. They’d already sold their house and couldn’t wait to move.

Finally—A Deal

As the months passed, I had showings and a few more offers, but none where a final agreement was reached. Friends and family kept asking me if I was okay. My answer was always the same, “Yes.” While I was tired of living in limbo and definitely ready to get on with my life in Texas, God had a plan. He’d left me in Nashville for a reason. I didn’t know what that reason was, I just knew I had to wait.

Time passed. The year was swiftly coming to an end when things took an unexpected turn. The week of Thanksgiving, my house showings increased. (According to my agent, people who look at houses at this time of year are serious buyers. She was right.) The week before Christmas I ended up with multiple offers, something this area hasn’t seen since the spring. And when I least expected it, I ended up with a contract.

The Reason

Like the game of Tetris, our lives are built on choices and changes we make over time. Looking back with 20-20 hindsight, I see how the Tetriminos of my life fell and were shifted into place. While I can’t know all the reasons an immediate house sale and move didn’t happen, I know some, and am thankful everything worked out the way it did. But then, God’s timing—not mine—is perfect.

As 2022 comes to an end, so too does my life in Tennessee. I’m excited about the new year and the next phase of life in Texas. I’m ready to plant another garden, write, enjoy family, write, get to craft projects I’ve put off, write, make new friends and get reacquainted with old ones, and write.

Whatever plans you have, I pray that 2023 will be a good year. But even if it isn’t, remember, if you allow Him, God will nudge and shift all the pieces of your life together with precision and perfect timing.

Happy New Year!