Saturday, August 31, 2013

God is moving...and so are we!

We have exciting news! This time we are not bringing home a new kiddo...instead, WE are moving to a new home! It has been such a long, frustrating journey, but we made it!

We started looking for a new house soon after we brought Laron home. We are in a small condo that is, nearly, exploding with 4 year old energy, but like most things in our life, God, continuously, works patience in us. In 18 months of looking, we have probably looked at 100 homes...but only placed two offers. The first offer was a month in and we were outbid; the second offer was a few months ago and although it was accepted, we had to withdraw based on the inspection. I was sick over it; I was so disappointed.

In January, I wrote a post called Doing More. Dreaming Bigger. I wrote:
It's more than just a home to me. I am looking for a sanctuary. A place to hold as many beds as possible. There has to be enough room for our kids to be loud and crazy and have room to explore. There has to be room to hold impromptu worship services and prayer sessions. I need a dining room table that seats ten. Because I only have a glimpse at what God is doing, I have to be prepared.
God is faithful and he continues to write a story more beautiful than I could.

Our original plan was to keep our condo as an investment and rent it out when we purchased a new home. Last week, we decided to change our strategy. We decided to sell our house on our own and listed it on Zillow. I listed it on Thursday and put a sign out on Friday night. We had our first buyer come walk through on Sunday night. Before she came, our little family gathered in the garage and prayed. We prayed for God's favor, that our condo would sell, quickly, and easily, without hiccup. The buyer walked through and asked where she could sign. She had come prepared to pay for our condo in cash and wanted to ensure we were taking it off the market.

Eek! Why are we surprised when God pulls us through?

I teared up when the woman told us that she had been driving through our neighborhood, every week, for several months, waiting for one of our condos to come up for sale.

We went to dinner to celebrate and Ty said, "Mom, we don't have anywhere to live, now!"

I was a little keyed up over the excitement of it all, but I had a strange peace. Why would God sell our condo so quickly, just to leave us homeless?

We poured over houses on the internet for two days and then scheduled to walk through four on Tuesday night. We liked the first three...but number four was it.

We knew as soon as we pulled in the driveway. During my second walk through, I stopped in front of the kitchen window. One of the boys was running down a hill and the other was swinging high in a tree swing. I cried at God's goodness.

We found the perfect house in the country, on acreage, to raise our family.

We put an offer in, but I didn't need to wait for the agreement. I knew it was ours.

Needless to say, it's been a very eventful week!

I am so excited at the possibilities our future holds. We will be living in a city, with a school district, that we had not prepared for. That can only mean one thing. God is on the move.

I only snapped a few pictures before we left, but here is our beautiful soon-to-be oasis!




Praise God!

22 comments:

  1. God's plans are so much better than ours! Congrats it is a beautiful home!

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  2. CONGRATULATIONS, so happy for you all!!!

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  3. this is amazing!!!! congratulations!!! just imagine the boys building forts in the woods.... wow!! they are going to LOVE it. And i would think to compare this house with the one you were heartbroken over? no comparison? hehe... HE is amazing and always in control.

    thinking of you guys...such an exciting time xx

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  4. Praise the Lord dear.. God is simply awesome!!

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  5. Love... I am trying to back-read your blog... so excited for you and can't wait to see where this next chapter takes you!

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  6. So amazing! I can not wait to see where this takes you! I am trying to make my way thru your older posts!

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  7. It's a beautiful home...congratulations!

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  8. So beautiful! Congrats!!!! God does work in mysterious ways! :)

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  9. So excited to see how God fills your new home!!

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  10. Goosebumps. I got goosebumps reading your post. Congratulations on the new house. I know you will enjoy it and fill it with love, laughter, and grace.

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  11. I am so thankful you posted this today. As we have been in talks with our agency, and moving forward in our journey to bring home one or two kiddos, I have been so stressed over space in our tiny tiny Cape Cod. While it is my dream home in style and charm, its not perfect for a growing family. I have been sweating the details SO SO SO much I can't even tell you. But this gives me such peace. If God is going to grow our family through some amazing twist and turns, He will provide the space for them.

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  12. Beautiful home!! Congratulations!!

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  13. It looks amazing!!! And what a wonderful story of how it all came to be. Congratulations!

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  14. Congratulations! It is a beautiful home. Looks like a great place to raise and family and make many memories!

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  15. God's timing and plans always leaves me humbled.

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  16. We are preparing to make that same leap in less than six months. I have been praying about it for about as long, for our house to sell, for the family whose house we are going to buy and that the timing and finances all work out. After consulting with a realtor we have decided we will try and sell our home the same way you did. Did you use an atty. to draw up the paperwork? How did you know what to do as far as that was concerned?

    Congratulations! The boys seem to be loving it and it is obvious God is at work. :)

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    1. Liza,
      Be sure to call a title company before you put your house on the market. Ours gave us a For Sale By Owner packet that was super user-friendly. It literally walked us through every step and had every document that we needed in it. We had purchase agreements sitting on the kitchen counter with our Seller's disclosure when we showed the house for the first time.

      We did not hire a lawyer.

      However, we were going to hire a realtor friend to help us with the paperwork IF the buyer had realtor representation. We were willing to work with buyer's agents. We ended up selling it to a buyer with no realtor representation, so we felt comfortable handling everything ourselves. It went very smoothly!

      Most realtors will only charge you $500-$1000 to do the paperwork for you.

      I hope that helps!

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  17. Beautiful home!! Congratulations!!

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  18. God sure moves fast when he knows we are ready to do His will!
    I've thought about adoption for years. I would research it off and on but in August 2015, I FINALLY took it to God. I asked for direction and help. Suddenly, it came to me that my tiny house was not ideal. I contacted a realtor saying I would be ready in the summer of 2016 to make a move but then things stated to FLY!
    The next week, a house in my dream neighborhood went up for auction and over the next 3 months I won the auction, closed on the new house, moved into my new house. Fixed up and listed the old house and had a contract in 4 days, closing a week ahead of schedule.
    We closed on the old house the day before Thanksgiving and that weekend, I contacted DHS. December has been a whirlwind, but the background checks, fingerprints, and other steps have gone faster than what I was told (by DHS) to expect.
    I don't know why I'm always surprised by the speed with which God makes things happen!

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