Well herrroooo,
I guess I should say Happy New Year! I am in awe that it's been 2 months since I've written to you lovely people. I hope the beginning of 2013 has been kind to you. Also, happy merry lent season for those of you who practice it. I asked Husband R if he was giving anything up for lent to which he replied, "North Carolina." He's a sassy one he is.
But alas, we have given up NC and are officially Georgians. When I explained to Toddling A that we were moving to Georgia she said "I not like that boy." Someone takes after her dad.
Anyways, I have a lot to say to you and my fingers are too cold to want to say them. I thought GA was warm. Apparently not. It's also rainy. Does anyone else feel like it's rained entirely too much as of late? The sun'll come out tomorrow, you can bet your bottom dollar. I haven't checked the forecast for tomorrow but I'm not betting my bottom dollar, then who will pay my heat bill if I'm wrong?
God is good all the time. Did you know that? I mean like all the time. Even in the rain. And the cold. He's still good.
Let me list to you my reasons as of late to prove to you He is indeed good, and faithful, and just and loving. This might be a long list. And that's a very good thing.
1. We listed our house on Sunday it sold on Tues. For the math challenged, the house was under contract in 3 days. What was the offer? 1k less than list price and no closing costs needed. Say what? It's true.
2. Part of the reason it went under contract is because I have snazzy, fancy friends who let us borrow all their nice and fancy things to stage our home. I mean top to bottom, furniture, decor, candles. All not mine all used to make the house pretty. And it worked.
3. We had these windows. These double paned windows. That had this sort of seal in between those panes. Those seals got lost. I looked everywhere. And condensation and foggy stuff crept in. Windows are expensive. Certainly the prospective buyer will want money or windows replaced. How about no. How about that buyer only asked for a $500 credit be applied to closing costs.
4. The real estate market is poor to say the least. We listed our house higher than any other house in the neighborhood had previously sold for. My realtor was nervous about the appraisal. The buyer's agent didn't think the house would appraise. My realtor who originally sold me the house was even doubtful. I was prepared for bad news. It appraised. Exactly for the list price.
You still there? Are you seeing a pattern? Good. Because it keeps going.
5. The appraisal came back a week before our closing date. That means a week before we were to turn over our keys to the new owner, we had no place to live. I had people offering us a place to stay. It was that bad. I called corporate housing and short term apartment people. It's expensive, say 2k more than our mortgage. Plus lots of money to cover our apparently scary and dangerous dog. Have you met him? So I google. And google some more. Are shelter's out of the question? Then, out of the blue, a vacation rental company pops up. A 4 bedroom lake house, available, in the off season. Cheaper than corporate housing and short term apartments. And the management are some of the nicest people I've ever done business with. Yes, I'm writing you from lakefront property. Beats an apartment hands down everytime.
6. We had seen probably 35 houses by the time we moved into our lovely rental. And I looked at 5 more the Thurs after we had arrived. Nothing. We even raised our price 10k. Houses either didn't have yards or were too old or had funky smelly things growing in them or they cost too much. Really. I gave up at least 3 times. Did I mention it either rained or snowed every time we looked? Think I'm lying? I was looking for houses during a tornado warning. My realtor she's a champ. Concluding we're not meant to buy a house just yet, Husband R and I set a deadline, a week away, if we don't find anything by then we rent something for 6 months. Bleh, okay. Saturday I'm back at it. Spur of the moment kind of deal. The last house we see at 4:30pm, could this be it? It doesn't have a fence. The kitchen counter tops are the color of poop. I'm not joking. And it's acrylic paint. Who does that?
But in every other way, it's exactly what we're looking for. Spacious, move in ready, minus those two things that can be fixed. Husband R drives from the lake house, an hour away to to see it. This better be it or I'm in trouble. Toddling A arrives and has to actually poop. It's probably the counter tops giving her the idea. She does so in the half bath, that has to be a sign we're home. We offer. 8k less than asking price. And we want the refrigerator and a home warranty and 3k in closing costs. We wait. And wait. And wait. 24 hrs go by. No word. This can't be good news. Hopefully they're working up a counter offer, I mean we did ask for the cake and icing too. Phone rings. Our offer has been accepted. No questions asked. No counter. You've got to be kidding me. Happy, happy dance. Hooorays all around! We went from possibly having to buy a house we could barely afford to facing renting for 6 months to actually buying a house that will have a lesser mortgage than our house in Charlotte. Here she is. I heart her.
Time to get honest. I did not happily float, skip or even glide through this process. There was doubt. There were tears. Gray hair and fever blisters. Sleepless nights. Yelling. But one thing that I noticed. That is different from stressful times in my life before. I could see God's hand. Actually SEE it. Times before, I'd get to the other side of a life event and look back and say, "Wow, God really knew what he was doing." Or "I can really see how God brought all of that together." But this time, I saw him during the decision making. I felt his presence and his words and his guidance the entire time. And on those days when I was drowning in doubt or pity He always brought me back. Sometimes with his word, sometimes through other people and most times through prayer.
We prayed. Out loud. Together. Many times. Because you see, I read this "Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete. John 16:24"
And after the 35th house it struck me. Husband R and I had prayed for the home selling process, but together we had not united to pray for the home buying process. So we did. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't dramatic. We just asked in His name. And the next day we found it.
I know God answers every prayer. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is wait. And a lot of times the answer isn't really even what we were hoping for. But try to see his hand guiding you. Ask him to help you understand his ways. Thank him. It's extremely hard to be upset at your circumstances if your in a constant state of thankfulness. I promise.
On one of my trips to house hunt, before we had moved, and had to come stay in a hotel and Toddling A and I had to look for houses while Husband R worked, on one of those trips, we literally ran out of houses to see. But it was only 3:30 and Husband R didn't finish until 5 and Toddling A and I had no where to go. My champ realtor says we can hang out with her while she finishes up some other work and we'll head back to her office to see if any new listings had showed up. It's like a 30 min drive so toddling A falls asleep. I opt to hang out in the car, in the parking lot of my realtor's office so Toddling A can sleep. Fingers crossed she doesn't pee in her seat. We're still not out of the woods on bladder control while sleeping. So here I am, sitting in someone's car with my toddler snoozing and probably peeing and nothing to do but sit and wait and hope and fret. Then the sun came out. I rolled down the windows. It warmed up. I couldn't get any wi-fi for my kindle so I was forced to read. And read I did. About thankfulness. About how even in death Jesus was thankful.
In her book One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp writes
"“On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces …” (1 Corinthians 11: 23— 24, emphasis added). Jesus, on the night before the driving hammer and iron piercing through ligament and sinew, receives what God offers as grace, the germ of His thanksgiving? Oh. Facing the abandonment of God Himself (does it get any worse than this?), Jesus offers thanksgiving for even that which will break Him and crush Him and wound Him and yield a bounty of joy."
So as I sat in the car and read that, me who is not facing abandonment, who has been receiving God's blessings since this whole crazy uprooting thing began, started thanking God. I thanked him for the sun. Thanked him for my realtor, for Avery, for the money to even buy a house, for a husband who provides. I just kept going. And going. And I stopped worrying. And of course as the days went on and house was still yet to be found worry crept back in. But I tried to focus on being thankful. And on praising God.
And no, this season is not over, and really, is hardship ever over? Will things always go swimmingly? I'd bet my bottom dollar that it wont. But here's the thing. I'm learning and I'm growing and I'm keeping my eyes on Jesus. I'm figuring out how to be content. And I'm realizing I'm loved. And prayer works.
And painting your counter tops a poop color brown/green is a very bad idea.
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I guess I should say Happy New Year! I am in awe that it's been 2 months since I've written to you lovely people. I hope the beginning of 2013 has been kind to you. Also, happy merry lent season for those of you who practice it. I asked Husband R if he was giving anything up for lent to which he replied, "North Carolina." He's a sassy one he is.
But alas, we have given up NC and are officially Georgians. When I explained to Toddling A that we were moving to Georgia she said "I not like that boy." Someone takes after her dad.
Anyways, I have a lot to say to you and my fingers are too cold to want to say them. I thought GA was warm. Apparently not. It's also rainy. Does anyone else feel like it's rained entirely too much as of late? The sun'll come out tomorrow, you can bet your bottom dollar. I haven't checked the forecast for tomorrow but I'm not betting my bottom dollar, then who will pay my heat bill if I'm wrong?
God is good all the time. Did you know that? I mean like all the time. Even in the rain. And the cold. He's still good.
Let me list to you my reasons as of late to prove to you He is indeed good, and faithful, and just and loving. This might be a long list. And that's a very good thing.
1. We listed our house on Sunday it sold on Tues. For the math challenged, the house was under contract in 3 days. What was the offer? 1k less than list price and no closing costs needed. Say what? It's true.
2. Part of the reason it went under contract is because I have snazzy, fancy friends who let us borrow all their nice and fancy things to stage our home. I mean top to bottom, furniture, decor, candles. All not mine all used to make the house pretty. And it worked.
3. We had these windows. These double paned windows. That had this sort of seal in between those panes. Those seals got lost. I looked everywhere. And condensation and foggy stuff crept in. Windows are expensive. Certainly the prospective buyer will want money or windows replaced. How about no. How about that buyer only asked for a $500 credit be applied to closing costs.
4. The real estate market is poor to say the least. We listed our house higher than any other house in the neighborhood had previously sold for. My realtor was nervous about the appraisal. The buyer's agent didn't think the house would appraise. My realtor who originally sold me the house was even doubtful. I was prepared for bad news. It appraised. Exactly for the list price.
You still there? Are you seeing a pattern? Good. Because it keeps going.
5. The appraisal came back a week before our closing date. That means a week before we were to turn over our keys to the new owner, we had no place to live. I had people offering us a place to stay. It was that bad. I called corporate housing and short term apartment people. It's expensive, say 2k more than our mortgage. Plus lots of money to cover our apparently scary and dangerous dog. Have you met him? So I google. And google some more. Are shelter's out of the question? Then, out of the blue, a vacation rental company pops up. A 4 bedroom lake house, available, in the off season. Cheaper than corporate housing and short term apartments. And the management are some of the nicest people I've ever done business with. Yes, I'm writing you from lakefront property. Beats an apartment hands down everytime.
6. We had seen probably 35 houses by the time we moved into our lovely rental. And I looked at 5 more the Thurs after we had arrived. Nothing. We even raised our price 10k. Houses either didn't have yards or were too old or had funky smelly things growing in them or they cost too much. Really. I gave up at least 3 times. Did I mention it either rained or snowed every time we looked? Think I'm lying? I was looking for houses during a tornado warning. My realtor she's a champ. Concluding we're not meant to buy a house just yet, Husband R and I set a deadline, a week away, if we don't find anything by then we rent something for 6 months. Bleh, okay. Saturday I'm back at it. Spur of the moment kind of deal. The last house we see at 4:30pm, could this be it? It doesn't have a fence. The kitchen counter tops are the color of poop. I'm not joking. And it's acrylic paint. Who does that?
Time to get honest. I did not happily float, skip or even glide through this process. There was doubt. There were tears. Gray hair and fever blisters. Sleepless nights. Yelling. But one thing that I noticed. That is different from stressful times in my life before. I could see God's hand. Actually SEE it. Times before, I'd get to the other side of a life event and look back and say, "Wow, God really knew what he was doing." Or "I can really see how God brought all of that together." But this time, I saw him during the decision making. I felt his presence and his words and his guidance the entire time. And on those days when I was drowning in doubt or pity He always brought me back. Sometimes with his word, sometimes through other people and most times through prayer.
We prayed. Out loud. Together. Many times. Because you see, I read this "Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete. John 16:24"
And after the 35th house it struck me. Husband R and I had prayed for the home selling process, but together we had not united to pray for the home buying process. So we did. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't dramatic. We just asked in His name. And the next day we found it.
I know God answers every prayer. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is wait. And a lot of times the answer isn't really even what we were hoping for. But try to see his hand guiding you. Ask him to help you understand his ways. Thank him. It's extremely hard to be upset at your circumstances if your in a constant state of thankfulness. I promise.
On one of my trips to house hunt, before we had moved, and had to come stay in a hotel and Toddling A and I had to look for houses while Husband R worked, on one of those trips, we literally ran out of houses to see. But it was only 3:30 and Husband R didn't finish until 5 and Toddling A and I had no where to go. My champ realtor says we can hang out with her while she finishes up some other work and we'll head back to her office to see if any new listings had showed up. It's like a 30 min drive so toddling A falls asleep. I opt to hang out in the car, in the parking lot of my realtor's office so Toddling A can sleep. Fingers crossed she doesn't pee in her seat. We're still not out of the woods on bladder control while sleeping. So here I am, sitting in someone's car with my toddler snoozing and probably peeing and nothing to do but sit and wait and hope and fret. Then the sun came out. I rolled down the windows. It warmed up. I couldn't get any wi-fi for my kindle so I was forced to read. And read I did. About thankfulness. About how even in death Jesus was thankful.
In her book One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp writes
"“On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces …” (1 Corinthians 11: 23— 24, emphasis added). Jesus, on the night before the driving hammer and iron piercing through ligament and sinew, receives what God offers as grace, the germ of His thanksgiving? Oh. Facing the abandonment of God Himself (does it get any worse than this?), Jesus offers thanksgiving for even that which will break Him and crush Him and wound Him and yield a bounty of joy."
So as I sat in the car and read that, me who is not facing abandonment, who has been receiving God's blessings since this whole crazy uprooting thing began, started thanking God. I thanked him for the sun. Thanked him for my realtor, for Avery, for the money to even buy a house, for a husband who provides. I just kept going. And going. And I stopped worrying. And of course as the days went on and house was still yet to be found worry crept back in. But I tried to focus on being thankful. And on praising God.
And no, this season is not over, and really, is hardship ever over? Will things always go swimmingly? I'd bet my bottom dollar that it wont. But here's the thing. I'm learning and I'm growing and I'm keeping my eyes on Jesus. I'm figuring out how to be content. And I'm realizing I'm loved. And prayer works.
And painting your counter tops a poop color brown/green is a very bad idea.
