OK, so, yeah, I sort of abandoned this blog a long time ago. No particular reason, just didn't find the time to write any more. Much has happened since July 9, 2012. I have a job changing out computers for our regional healthcare giant and, oh yeah, Renee and I welcomed little Molly Grace into the world right at the tail end of 2012. She's changed our lives immeasurably and is our joy, to be certain. But I digress. We're uprooting ourselves to go live in a grown-up House that's bigger and newer than where we live now.
So this is how it went down...
Just before Labor Day, Renee noticed a house for sale in her mom's neighborhood. It caught her eye to the degree that she thought we should at least tour it to see if was as good as it looked in pictures. We were already planning to move next spring, as our older house really isn't set up for a family of three that hopes to be a family of four someday. The realtor who sold Renee's house prior to our marriage is also an longtime friend of hers so we enlisted her for help this time around. The house turned out to be all Renee hoped it would be and more. I accompanied her in the in the interest of being a good husband and a good sport, but didn't consider a move this fall to be a serious option. My wife, however, was fully invested in the house and it soon became apparent that we had a decision to make.
(aside: we also toured another house for sale in the neighborhood that same day. The smell of cigarette smoke knocked us all over immediately upon entering the house. I try to love everybody and not discriminate, but people, people, people, if you smoke, invest some cash in removing the smell before selling your home. It makes a horrible first impression.)
Renee and I prayed and discussed trying to move this fall instead of next spring. A big CON to doing so, was that, well, our current house was not ready for sale just yet. We came to the decision to go ahead and get the house ready for sale and try to get out this fall. Interest rates are rising, and our daughter's amount of "stuff" will rise with the coming of Christmas and her birthday soon after. This would make it more difficult to sell next spring, anyway. We reasoned that if God meant the house for us, it would still be available when we were ready to sell. We took a few weekends and I gussied up the exterior while my wife and her mom and sister worked on staging the interior just so.
Wouldn't you know "our house" went under contract on the Saturday that we were to tour it again! The price had been reduced since we saw it and that spurred heavier interest. We were undeterred, however, and determined to submit a back-up contract just encase anything happened with the first buyers. Our house went on the market and had seven(!) showings in the first week alone. All who saw it agreed that it would sell fast. We continued to monitor realtor.com and other outlets for new listings. Something popped up in a nearby neighborhood and we toured it on a Friday night. Alas, it turned out to be a real dud as its ultra-modern decor was too much for us. All the while, we fervently prayed for God to help us be patient in the waiting.
"Our house"suddenly became available a couple of days later, out of the blue. Big catch--BIG catch--the sellers had found a place of their own to buy. Their contractual obligations necessitated us removing the contingency from our contract on their house. Basically, we had to commit to buying without selling our house first. Huge, huge risk. Renee and I got another quick tour of the house, then went home and prayed over it. We slept on it and in the morning agreed that God was in this and we would step out in faith that He would work things out. Oh, and our Realtor was pretty darn confident that our house would sell fast. I had invested much money in renovating my house during my 11 years of single man-hood and in the couple of years of married man-hood, my wife and I kept at it.
Just before Labor Day, Renee noticed a house for sale in her mom's neighborhood. It caught her eye to the degree that she thought we should at least tour it to see if was as good as it looked in pictures. We were already planning to move next spring, as our older house really isn't set up for a family of three that hopes to be a family of four someday. The realtor who sold Renee's house prior to our marriage is also an longtime friend of hers so we enlisted her for help this time around. The house turned out to be all Renee hoped it would be and more. I accompanied her in the in the interest of being a good husband and a good sport, but didn't consider a move this fall to be a serious option. My wife, however, was fully invested in the house and it soon became apparent that we had a decision to make.
(aside: we also toured another house for sale in the neighborhood that same day. The smell of cigarette smoke knocked us all over immediately upon entering the house. I try to love everybody and not discriminate, but people, people, people, if you smoke, invest some cash in removing the smell before selling your home. It makes a horrible first impression.)
Renee and I prayed and discussed trying to move this fall instead of next spring. A big CON to doing so, was that, well, our current house was not ready for sale just yet. We came to the decision to go ahead and get the house ready for sale and try to get out this fall. Interest rates are rising, and our daughter's amount of "stuff" will rise with the coming of Christmas and her birthday soon after. This would make it more difficult to sell next spring, anyway. We reasoned that if God meant the house for us, it would still be available when we were ready to sell. We took a few weekends and I gussied up the exterior while my wife and her mom and sister worked on staging the interior just so.
Wouldn't you know "our house" went under contract on the Saturday that we were to tour it again! The price had been reduced since we saw it and that spurred heavier interest. We were undeterred, however, and determined to submit a back-up contract just encase anything happened with the first buyers. Our house went on the market and had seven(!) showings in the first week alone. All who saw it agreed that it would sell fast. We continued to monitor realtor.com and other outlets for new listings. Something popped up in a nearby neighborhood and we toured it on a Friday night. Alas, it turned out to be a real dud as its ultra-modern decor was too much for us. All the while, we fervently prayed for God to help us be patient in the waiting.
"Our house"suddenly became available a couple of days later, out of the blue. Big catch--BIG catch--the sellers had found a place of their own to buy. Their contractual obligations necessitated us removing the contingency from our contract on their house. Basically, we had to commit to buying without selling our house first. Huge, huge risk. Renee and I got another quick tour of the house, then went home and prayed over it. We slept on it and in the morning agreed that God was in this and we would step out in faith that He would work things out. Oh, and our Realtor was pretty darn confident that our house would sell fast. I had invested much money in renovating my house during my 11 years of single man-hood and in the couple of years of married man-hood, my wife and I kept at it.
Fast-forward to this past Wednesday. I approved a request to show our house on Thursday evening. Didn't think a thing about it. On Thursday evening after a stir-fry dinner at the mother-in-law's house, our Realtor called to say that the people who saw the house would likely have a contract for us by the end of the evening. An answer to prayers? I had been cautiously optimistic that something would happen soon but was a good bit skeptical as well. Well, she was right--contract came in at bedtime, a counteroffer was made and accepted yesterday. We close this time next month (unless the inspection blows up our house...fingers crossed.)
So our faith has been stretched by this whole process. Ultimately, it came down to "do we believe God or do we not?" Is he who he said he is and would be in the scriptures or is he not? Do we trust that he is in this process of uprooting ourselves and moving to a bigger place? Our answer has been "yes!" and we think it will continue to be. Our God is orchestrating our lives, folks. Our job is to trust and get the #%$@ out of the way.
So in the past couple of weeks, I've bought and sold a house, and got off work one day in time to make it to my daughter's 9-month health checkup.
When did I grow up?
from matlockjohn.blogspot.com
