fixer upper...
I am way, way behind here. Three weeks since my last post, and I think that might be a record. I swear I look up and a week has passed. Time is moving quickly, and so are we.
We put our house on the market in April. I don't know why we chose to move at this particular time. We've been discussing the idea of moving since we got married four years ago, and there were plenty of seasons within that period that would have been more ideal. But now, being one job down and with a baby, we listed our house. And we prayed, "Lord, you know what's coming our way. If this move is not a wise decision, just don't let it happen and we won't force it." I've learned that forcing our wants never works out in our best interest and so I was fine either way. If God allowed our house to sell, we'd move. If He didn't, we'd stay. Four weeks later, an offer came in that we accepted and a few weeks from now, we'll have a new home.
About a week before our house hit the market, I saw this one. A few days before we went for our first viewing, it was taken off the market. Go figure! I was disappointed because this was the house I had hoped for. I loved the neighborhood and I really loved the potential. We kept waiting and looking and finding houses that were only okay. And because four weeks feels like four years when you're showing your own home, we decided we wouldn't get our hopes up and place an offer on another house until we had an offer on ours. We quit looking, kind of believing a sale wasn't in our future because after a dozen showings without a single bite, things looked bleak. And so the night that we finally got an offer, we jumped back on the MLS website and discovered that "the house" had just come back on the market. Talk about perfect timing and answered prayers!
I keep telling everyone it's an old home. But that "old home" is only 8 years older than me. So really, it's a young home now that I come to think of it. It's also a fixer upper, which is exactly what we wanted. I'm sure you're thinking, "What are they thinking?" Because we have a baby and have never done this before. But everyone has to start somewhere. And is there ever a perfect time to move and fix up a house, anyway?
Are we in over our heads? I don't think so. Is it going to require time and work? Yes, a lot of both. But isn't that the case for all of life's worthwhile adventures? You see, I've come to learn that when we take things one step at a time, when we trust the Lord for guidance and seek His wisdom, and when we partner with others who will be faithful to help us and walk with us through the process, we can do it. It doesn't mean there won't be moments of frustration or doubt. It doesn't mean that everything will go smoothly and without a hitch. There will probably be surprises, twists, and turns we never expected. But we'll grow. We'll learn, we'll be refined, and we'll come out on the other side a different, and hopefully better, person for it. And when all is said and done, we'll look back and see God's goodness woven through every moment. We'll see how He helped us when we didn't even realize it. How he really did work everything out for our good. How He gave us grace and mercy exactly when we needed it. And we'll be amazed at how gracious our God continues to be even when we don't deserve it.
"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." - Proverbs 14:1
We put our house on the market in April. I don't know why we chose to move at this particular time. We've been discussing the idea of moving since we got married four years ago, and there were plenty of seasons within that period that would have been more ideal. But now, being one job down and with a baby, we listed our house. And we prayed, "Lord, you know what's coming our way. If this move is not a wise decision, just don't let it happen and we won't force it." I've learned that forcing our wants never works out in our best interest and so I was fine either way. If God allowed our house to sell, we'd move. If He didn't, we'd stay. Four weeks later, an offer came in that we accepted and a few weeks from now, we'll have a new home.
About a week before our house hit the market, I saw this one. A few days before we went for our first viewing, it was taken off the market. Go figure! I was disappointed because this was the house I had hoped for. I loved the neighborhood and I really loved the potential. We kept waiting and looking and finding houses that were only okay. And because four weeks feels like four years when you're showing your own home, we decided we wouldn't get our hopes up and place an offer on another house until we had an offer on ours. We quit looking, kind of believing a sale wasn't in our future because after a dozen showings without a single bite, things looked bleak. And so the night that we finally got an offer, we jumped back on the MLS website and discovered that "the house" had just come back on the market. Talk about perfect timing and answered prayers!
I keep telling everyone it's an old home. But that "old home" is only 8 years older than me. So really, it's a young home now that I come to think of it. It's also a fixer upper, which is exactly what we wanted. I'm sure you're thinking, "What are they thinking?" Because we have a baby and have never done this before. But everyone has to start somewhere. And is there ever a perfect time to move and fix up a house, anyway?
Are we in over our heads? I don't think so. Is it going to require time and work? Yes, a lot of both. But isn't that the case for all of life's worthwhile adventures? You see, I've come to learn that when we take things one step at a time, when we trust the Lord for guidance and seek His wisdom, and when we partner with others who will be faithful to help us and walk with us through the process, we can do it. It doesn't mean there won't be moments of frustration or doubt. It doesn't mean that everything will go smoothly and without a hitch. There will probably be surprises, twists, and turns we never expected. But we'll grow. We'll learn, we'll be refined, and we'll come out on the other side a different, and hopefully better, person for it. And when all is said and done, we'll look back and see God's goodness woven through every moment. We'll see how He helped us when we didn't even realize it. How he really did work everything out for our good. How He gave us grace and mercy exactly when we needed it. And we'll be amazed at how gracious our God continues to be even when we don't deserve it.
"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." - Proverbs 14:1
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