I know what you mean. Hopefully God gave our hearts something we needed in all of this.
Well I never said free will was going to be easy. lol As far as what people mean when they say free will...I can't guaranty that every person has the same definition. You see how many beliefs are out in the world. If you go out into the internet you will see the confusion of different people trying to figure it all out between each other, just like you and I.
The difference between my story of building my house and Jonah's is that he was in rebellion, I was not. God still gave him free will despite it all and God got what He wanted as well due to allowing some life altering things to happen to Jonah to help him decide and make that free will choice to do the right thing. I always wished that the bible would have told more about Jonah to see if he changed his stubborn ways...or if God just needed him that one time.
If I had chosen to go ahead and build my house out of God's will, I would have had the most horrible time juggling my time and energy to being and doing everything at once for everyone. Basically it couldn't be done... Yet, I would have learned a lesson from it. Putting first what should come first, and that is God and His will. I would hate to think what would have happened to change my mind if I said no to God like Jonah did. We have had many tornadoes in surrounding towns lately. :(