moving day

It's really amazing that this day has finally come. It's been a bumpy 16 months for us as we've been looking for a new house. I still remember the day we both felt confirmation that this was the day to put our much loved little house on the market...and after hustling one week to get it ready to list, it sold the day the sign went in the yard. "Boy, this sure was easy", we thought. Haha. I'm sure in a kind way the Lord must have chuckled at us in that moment.

We've had some crazy twists and turns along the way... the house we wanted to initially buy, went under contract the day before our offer came in. Then we went to build a house...and had to wait because an abandoned gas line used to run on the property we were to build on and it needed to be inspected. A month later it passed inspection, we went to sign the contract and that day the builder, pulte homes, left the neighborhood (the 1st time in the history of this well known company). We move onto house #3...our offer is accepted. But one week before closing we learn our buyers loan was denied in underwriting due to some serious tax fraud. Back to square one.

We list our little home again...something like 40 showings later (no joke, it was A LOT, especially being pregnant with two little kids. just mention the word "showing" to me now and I get chills) we make plans to take the house off the market on April 30th because Ava was due in just 5 weeks. But then in mid-April we got TWO offers, we countered them both, and never heard back from either agent. They would not even return our Realtor's calls. It was totally bizarre. So when April 30th rolled around I breathed a sigh of relief, we get to have this baby in peace! But that morning, one of the realtors called to say her buyer would accept our offer. We had forgotten about the offers that came in two weeks prior! This buyer wanted to make good on the April 30th deadline for 1st time homebuyers $8,000 tax credit. So just 5 weeks before Ava was due, our house went under contract again!

What was supposed to be a May 21st closing date, turned into a crazy 3 months of dealing with a very unqualified 1st time home buyer, and her very lazy realtor and lender (who moved about as fast as box turtles. it was crazy). At the time, in order for the buyer to get the tax credit, she had to settle before June 30th. When that date passed and she wasn't ready for closing, we assumed the deal was done. Fine by me, I had little 7 day-old baby Ava and I was in NO hurry to move. Nesting was in full gear. But Uncle Sam came to the rescue and extended the required closing date, and on the morning of July 21st our realtor gave us a call to say, "we're closing today at 1:30pm". So we closed with about 3 hours notice and had an army of family and friends pack and move our entire house in just 2 days.

Since then we've rented a lovely home from some dear friends so we could take a breath and take our time looking for a new home. We've looked and looked, it seemed like slim pickin' this fall. A few weeks ago Joe looked at a house with our realtor, came home and told me he thought he may have just looked at the house for us. Sure enough, he did. We wrote up an offer the next day, to learn that another offer came in the same day. We just laughed. But in God's kindness, they accepted our offer and we closed this past tuesday, November 30th...exactly one year from the day we were to close and move out of our little house.

Its been quite a journey, and now at the end of it I'm quite convinced that the purpose of the journey was far more about my heart than about finding a house. I'm so grateful for the waiting and times of disappointment. They were painful at times, but brought about so much good. They exposed more sin in my heart than I could have imagined (it was a humbling season). But I have also come to a deeper and sweeter understanding of God as my loving Father and far better grasp what God's love and goodness towards me looks like.

Well, that was a long story! Sorry for those who took the time to read it. I've been reminded of late to "recount the deeds of the Lord"...He has been so good to us these past 16 months.

We're excited about moving tomorrow. Its sweet to see how God provided so much of what we prayed for. We love the house, yard and neighborhood. Maybe I'll get around to posting some pictures soon...but I'm thinking this is going to be a busy few weeks ahead of me!