Well, We’re moving!

June 2, 2016

by — Posted in Life at Home

We’re moving soon!

Let me just preface this with our backstory. The TL:DR version is that we tried to by a house 2 years ago and it all fell through. It was heartbreaking. We were devastated. We stopped looking and just settled back into our house, had another baby, and life went on.

Fast forward to a few months ago. Some friends of ours approached us about buying their house because they would like to build. We were terrified at first to even consider this a possibility because we were still so skittish from our first experience, but we proceeded with caution as they checked out the prospect of building. We love their house and it would be a great fit for our growing girls, giving us the space we’ve always hoped for. We told ourselves, “there are a hundred ways this could not work out and only one way that it could.” That one way would be if it’s where God wanted us to be in his timing.

There are some major differences between the house 2 years ago and this experience. And really, they have very little to do with the houses themselves, but everything to do with our hearts and perspective.

First, we don’t NEED to move anymore. The first time, we thought we just NEEDED to move, that we couldn’t possibly live in our house any longer. We had come to detest our house and it’s small rooms and no extra space. We were certain there was no possible way we could raise TWO children in this 3 bedroom house. Talk about first world problems. We managed to have 2 girls in the same room just fine. Sure it was rocky for a few months while they were learning to sleep together, but we think it’s so important now that even in the new house they’re going to share a room! To be honest, we could probably get by in this house, and be content for another few years. Contentment, that’s what we learned.

Second, we weren’t TRYING. Last time, we searched for months before we found a decent option. It wasn’t a perfect option (though I still think it would have worked pretty well). We made every effort to show our house as often as possible. Multiple open houses. Living in near-perfect conditions (with a toddler no less) for months… exhausting! We were trying so hard (read: worrying so much about something out of our hands).  This time, it just fell in our laps. And everything is somehow working out perfectly without much effort on our part. Seriously, we listed our house for sale by owner wondering if we didn’t need a realtor to get the word out there. We questioned whether we could really get our house sold by ourselves. We listed on Monday and by Tuesday evening we had an offer. By Wednesday, we had a signed contract. And Thursday our custom ordered “For Sale” signs arrived. (Money well spent, right?) We had 5 showings in the first 2 days and then we were done! We haven’t had to live in a show-ready house this time. It’s pretty obvious that someone is working this out for his purpose.

Third, we weren’t TRUSTING God. Last time, we tried to dictate what we had to have in a house. When we lost it, I mourned it for a long time. When I had those moments of sadness, I would simply say, “God, you knew my heart and you know my need.” That was my prayer for months. Rather than trying to explain to him what kind of a house I wanted, or what it must have, I just trusted him to know me better than I even knew myself. This time, we are getting exactly what we need. No more, no less. This house doesn’t have every thing we could ever want in a house. (But let’s be real, what house does? Unless it’s like a million dollar mansion.) It only has 3 bedrooms, which is the same number we currently have. And yet, it has the exact things we wished for. An office and a bonus room, which effectively means (since the girls are sharing a room) that it has a guest room. It’s a great space to entertain with, to have college kids over, to house guests, to live! And we are stoked! There are a million things to do, but that’s another post. I can’t wait to share my super awesome moving plan too!