Over two years ago, Mark and I began to earnestly seek and pray about where God was leading our family. We felt He wanted us to serve in a ministry type position but we had no clue where or how. We settled on that we wanted to be able to serve as a family and we started discussing what our passion was. It quickly led to us realizing we had a heart for families. We are sad to see so many families not seeking the Lord together and we felt that we might be able to do that.
We even went so far as applying for and attending a missionary conference with a world-wide missions agency. God closed that door (but not before we were able to meet some wonderful men and women who are serving God all over the world now), and were left, again, wondering exactly what God wanted for us.
This past May, we were reading a book on parenting, and I looked at Mark and said, "Maybe we should open our home up to families for Bible studies, fellowship, etc." He looked at me and said, "You know, I was thinking that would be a great place for us to start." We quickly realized that we had the resources available where we live now to do that but we did not have the space. Our home was great for us as a family, but once you added even one more family it quickly became crowded.
And thus, the search began. Our blessed real estate agent put up with a lot from us and worked so hard to get us in a home. She was amazing at looking and giving us insight in to homes we stepped in to. She had a sharp eye. We knew her from our previous church, so not only was she our realtor, she is also a great friend. And ya'll, we stepped in to some doozy of houses (Let me just say if you have your house for sale you need to clean it before you have people over). However, we also stepped in to some really, really nice ones as well. What I'm saying is, if you're in the area and are looking for a house, there are some awesome ones with the bedroom on the main level which is not something we need right now. Late night trips to the ER because a child had a bad dream and was coming down the steps. No thank you. Anyway, my June and July was full of house hunting and by the end, I told Mark I didn't want to look at another home. Mark said he would start to look online for a house and then call me and I would tell him where it was and why or why not it wouldn't work for us. It's safe to say I looked at every. single. home in our area that fit our size and price range. I am not kidding ya'll. I think our realtor counted over thirty homes we went in. At the start of the summer, there were a lot but we live in a military/fort area and when folks started PCSing here (permanent change of station, my best friend is an army wife so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about), houses started getting snapped up before we could make a decision.
We found what we thought was a great re-sale home and even had a contract on it. However, we soon found out that the foundation had some issues and that was not something we wanted to deal with. We canceled that contract and began the search again. Two days after canceling it, we found what you see on this post. It was in a great neighborhood and the layout was exactly what we were looking for and it was from a builder that we could trust.
And, and, and...it goes on and on. In short, we closed on this house August 4th and painted the following week and then moved in on the 11th. I know, I know. You all are wondering why in the world we painted a brand new house. Well, flat paint, seven sets of little hands, beige walls...all added up to my desire to put some color in the house and paint the most used (and abused) areas.
We're still moving in, getting settled, starting up school...so be patient but I will post pictures of the new house as soon as I can. Better yet, if you live in the area, just come by for a visit (and step over some boxes...even though most are unpacked there is still stuff everywhere).
We can't wait to see how God will use us and this house to bless and serve others around us. We have a big ultimate vision of starting a family camp. This house is just the jumping off place as we learn to serve Him with our whole heart.
Stay tuned. Life around here is going to be very interesting. Because it never was before!
Abbie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the kind words. You and Mark and the children really were a blessing to work with. I only wish you would buy a new house every year so we could spend that much time together again. :)