Psalm 40- The Long Journey Home

For those who want the short but sweet version, here it is: We sold our old house and bought a new one. It was a LONG, challenging journey but our new house is bigger and better and we've been living here a little over a week now. Now, for those of you who want the whole story, keep reading....

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

As you know we decided to try selling our house at the beginning of September. It honestly was a pretty impromptu decision. Three other houses on our street went on the market and with the first time home buyer credit we figured now was as good a time as any (probably better, actually). Our house was definitely perfect for a first time home buyer so we decided to give it a whirl. On September 27th we put in an offer on a house we fell in love with . It met all our specs: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, fireplace, family friendly floor plan, 2 car garage, yard, more square footage, etc, etc. and was in the perfect spot; close to Dimond, family, church, friends and ballet school! The seller's agreed to accept our offer which was much lower than the listing price once we were in contract with a buyer for our house. So, we decided to list our house with our buyer's agent, Ruth (who turns out truly, TRULY was sent as a gift from God) to try to speed along the selling process so we could get into the house we sooooo loved. Our house was officially listed with our agent on September 29th.

On October 3rd we found out the sellers of the house we wanted got a full price offer and accepted it so we were back on the house hunt (and none too happy about it) :( We looked and looked and LOOKED at houses in our desired area and there just didn't seem to be ANYTHING that fit us the way the "Terry house" had been a perfect fit for our family. There were really three categories of perspective houses: "ABSOLUTELY not, I can't believe someone's living in that place!" "Um, no thank you, probably not." and "Well, maybe if we could figure out how to wall that room different or fence that yard different this place maybe could work if we really were out of options." Not a very successful hunt. We'd pretty much exhausted all the options that met our specs and we had just one house left to check out. It was a for sale by owner and was literally the last place on the list of prospects.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 he lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

On the afternoon of September 7th we received an offer on our house. We decided to accept the offer and felt like the FSBO house might just be the one, given the timing. We looked at it that night and after about 45 minutes we felt like this place was a little more like it. It was plenty of space, and though the floor plan wasn't exactly the best fit, it had a great yard and wouldn't need TOO much overhauling to make it feel nice, fixed up and like home. It needed some carpet and paint and updates throughout but otherwise it was an alright place. We were ready to put in an offer and not feel like we were "settling" too much. We went home to wait for our agent to call with a proposed offer amount.

Lem was frantically checking his email watching for an email from Ruth and in came our automatic listing update. We'd been getting automated email updates whenever a new property that met our specs (in our area) came on the market. This particular update held 3 new listings. So, after a short discussion as to whether or not it was wise to "open that can of worms" so to speak, we opened it up. My jaw literally dropped and I'm sure my eyes about popped out of my head when Lem said, "BACK ON MARKET...guess what it is...?" THE TERRY HOUSE! The deal had fallen through with the other offer and it was back on the market-HIP HIP HOORAY!!! After about 2 minutes of debating and alot more prayer we made the decision to go with our original house love and put in another offer on the Terry House. The next day we wrote up and signed to submit our offer. We got word on September 9th that the seller's accepted our offer! My, oh my, God sure does work in wonderfully, awesome ways in our life!

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.

Sounds like a great story, huh? Happy ending and all...? Well, really, turns out that was just the beginning! On September 13th we got back the inspection on our old house and the buyer's inspector noted that the house needed a new roof. So for the next 6 days we were on the hunt for a roofer. It sounded like a simple enough solution to the roofing dilemma, the buyer's would up the purchase price by $4,000 to cover $4,000 of the roof and we'd cover the rest...somehow. It was definitely a struggle to keep our faith that God's hand was on this ordeal and that in the end, somehow He would provide us with a solution that was fair and affordable. We still felt like God was calling us to move to a new house and that He would get us there. After learning that escrowing the money (as originally planned) wasn't really the best financial plan for us we decided to get the roof replaced before we moved so we could use whatever company we wanted (i.e. the cheapest). On October 26th and 27th we got our new roof put on. With all the nonsense with the roof it took nearly two weeks to get a signed repair agreement for our old house. Then we had the inspection on our new house and the sellers agreed to do all the repairs we'd asked for-praise God, a break in the clouds!

12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 13 Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.

As part of our offer on the Terry House we'd asked for early occupancy since the house had been vacant for months and that would allow us to get the carpets and house cleaned and have the old house all ready for the new buyers to move in on closing day on November 6th. Once we'd had our inspection and appraisal we took Sycely on over to tour the new house. We showed her all around and let her check out her new room and get a feel for the "lay of the land" at our new home. On the 28th, just 2 days before we were supposed to get the keys we found out that the seller's never signed the early occupancy agreement and wouldn't until they got back the appraisal, so, here we were two days til moving and didn't know when we'd be able to move in. The appraisal had been done and finally on the afternoon of the 30th it came back to the lender and was sent to the seller's. By 11pm that night we still didn't have a signed copy of the early occupancy agreement. Did I mention that the sellers live in Oregon so every step of the process is further delayed by the added distance?! Anyway, Halloween morning we finally got the signed agreement (well, ONE page was signed anyway...they forgot to sign the second page!) and got the go ahead to move in.

We took a few loads over in our vehicles that day and Lem and his dad with some help from his bro got to painting the master bedroom and Ella's bedroom. They also got our bed filled and warming up so it'd be ready for our first night. It wasn't until the next morning that we learned the carpets had never been cleaned...soooo, we couldn't put any furniture in the girls' room our first day/night in the new house! AARRRRRGGGHHH! So, technically we were in and living in the new house on Sunday, November 1st, we just couldn't really use half the bedrooms. Not quite a seamless transition for our girls like we'd planned. They did both spend the first night in their rooms, Sycely's mattress on the floor, Ella in the playpen but it wasn't until the next day after the carpets dried that we were really able to get much of anything done with their rooms. That same day we found out the the fridge wasn't working so it was more phone calls to the selling agent (whose assistant apparently quit w/o notice and w/o figuring things out with our sellers) so we spent the first 5 days with all our fridge stuff in coolers on the back deck...that sure put a wrench in things for us, especially the girls.

4 Blessed are those who make the Lord their trust...

Meanwhile back at the old house, the carpets were getting cleaned, some tile work was getting done and everything was getting professionally cleaned for our buyers. All the repairs had been completed so we were officially done with our responsibilities there. On November 5th the re inspection on the old house was completed (the tile work was still not done!) and there were some discrepancies between the items listed as required repairs on the original report and what the reinspect was showing (about 6 hours before closing!!!!) Eventually things got worked out with the inspector and we were given the go ahead to close at 4:00 that afternoon. Then we got a call that the Title company didn't have our closing documents (are you kidding me?!) less than 2 hours before closing. Our lender called over and they were actually at the Title company waiting for us, but they had to be fedexed to Oregon for our sellers to sign which put us in jeopardy of not being able to record on our closing date (November 6th) the next day. We went in and signed all the closing documents for the sale of the old house and the purchase of the new house with a lady who actually goes to our church and prayed our sale would record on Friday. It didn't end up recording until Monday, but praise God, as of Monday, November 9th, we officially own our new home!

5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. none can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.

On a side adventure, Lem and Ian headed out to Eagle River after we closed to pick up our new fridge. Our agent was buying a new one and just felt so bad that no one had taken care of our fridge situation that she offered to just give us her old one. It's only a couple years old and is nothing fancy but it was free and it keeps our food cold (inside the house!). Ruth has been such an amazing, unexpected blessing to us. She has gone so over and beyond for us in so many ways. She definitely looks at her work as a service to the Lord (which she told us the first time we met her) and we have definitely benefited from her dedication to that service. What a blessing this sister in Christ has been to us! So, we now have a new fridge, and we got a super great steal of a deal on a new washer and dryer from Lowes our first week in the new house. Now I can do laundry, cook meals and even store the leftovers. I just can't reheat them because, believe or not, the microwave stopped working after the first time we used it (yeah, the day AFTER we got the new fridge). Fortunately our home warranty will cover getting it fixed or possibly replaced so we should be hearing about that today.

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
All in all, it's been a whirlwind 2 months for us. It's been a challenge trying to keep things consistent and stable for the girls when we had stuff packed up and potential buyers wanting to come look at our house at all hours-naptime, dinnertime, bedtime. Then or course there were all the ups and downs of putting in our offer then missing out on the house we loved, then getting the offer on our house, then getting another shot at the house we loved. Follow that up with some major hurdles to clear on both the selling and buying sides of the table and we found ourselves facing some tests of our faith. But like Abraham, even when there was no reason for hope, we clung to God's promise and faithfulness. Even when we didn't know how we were literally going to put a roof over our heads, I kept on packing. We just kept saying, and believing, we are moving, God is moving us and He will bring forth solutions in His timing and as our faithful God does, He fulfilled each one of His promises and had brought forth abundant blessing in our lives. We have an amazing, beautiful (almost twice the square footage) home that meets all the needs and so much more of our family, is more convenient to all our activities and is going to allow us to do so much for His kingdom. Oh, and did I mention that selling our house allowed us to pay off all our credit card debt, too?! Through the whole journey we tried to bear in mind that "you can't have a testimony without a test" and sure, we had some pretty gigantic tests, but just look at the testimony we have to show for it!

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. 10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly.

Our new home features 1900 plus square feet, living room, dining room, kitchen (with pantry), family room (with fireplace), breakfast nook, coat closet, access to our backyard and 2 car garage and a 1/2 bath/laundy room and all new carpet downstairs. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms plus the spacious master suite (our favorite part of the house-no this picture does not do it justice at all!) which boasts a fabulous walk-in closet and its own fabulous bathroom with Jack and Jill sinks and an amazing oversized soaking tub! The girls also have their own bathroom (with a linen closet) upstairs. Our back yard is has a great deck with outdoor fireplace and lots of space for us to enjoy our summers and is even somewhat sloped so we have some sledding fun this winter, right at home!

Following are some pictures of the house to acquiese all of you who keep harrassing us for photos! We're just starting to get things up on the wall and tackle the decor end of things so these pics are nothing fancy, just kind of a rough idea of our floor plan, etc. And my camera was on some weird setting when I took them so I apologize for the lower clarity. I promise to snap some more and share them once we get things looking a little more homey.