Now before you go crazy, let me say we are staying in Alabama! We’re just moving towns.
I know I just posted in December a really sweet post about our first home, and I won’t lie to you and say I never planned on moving because I knew we would move again eventually. It can’t be called “your first home” without at least one move, but I definitely did not think it would be as quick as it has been.
The last weekend of December, Aaron and I sat down and talked about a variety of topics, including our house. We had been playing around with the idea of moving for a few months and after a few weeks of prayer, we decided to sell our house vs. rent it out as we had originally thought. Our plan was to lightly look in the area we wanted and start preparing our current house, but we didn’t plan on actually moving until the late winter/early Spring.
We connected with a friend of ours who is a realtor and he emailed us a couple houses that Aaron hadn’t seen on Zillow. We looked at them before bed and a couple caught our eye but there was one that really caught out attention, so we set up a time to see it that Saturday.
Saturday morning (1.12.19) we went to prayer and towards the end of the service I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “you’re going to get this house.”
Believing there was a chance it could be my own thoughts, I kept it to myself. A couple hours later, we saw the house and loved it! It checked a lot of our boxes and had some pleasant surprises that we liked.
The downside was it was a HUD home (the government owns it). HUD homes are known for being a headache, but we decided to put in an offer. We honestly didn’t foresee hearing anything about the house or our offer for a while. Monday morning (1.14.19) we got an email stating they accepted our offer and what the next steps needed to be taken.
“We got it?” was a question Aaron and I asked with shock, excitement, and panic.
“Wow. Okay then. We better get going on selling this house.”
Monday evening was a mad-dash of cleaning, light purging and making a list of everything we needed to do before our house was listed. We were up until almost midnight and our heads were spinning from the overwhelming list of to-dos that suddenly landed in our lap.
Guys, it’s been an insane few days! Between miscommunicated earnest check amounts, down-payment requirements and working tirelessly to get our house in selling condition, it’s been an adventure, to say the least. However, despite all the crazy, God’s presence has been so evident and it could not be clearer that impossible doors are opening for us to get this house because of Him.
Aaron and I have been very surrendered with this process. We told God from the get-go if this was not the house for us, to tell us. But circumstance after circumstance has shown us that God has established that house for us!
In previous conversations, Aaron and I agreed that we felt like when the time came to sell our house, it would sell incredibly quickly simply because God would make it so. Now with another house dangling before us with a looming closing date, we need our house to sell fast. I caught myself getting overwhelmed at what I thought our house needed to look like in order for others to be interested in it. Thankfully, God graciously reminded me that it is not my job to sell the house. It is my job to prepare the house to the best of my abilities, but a box on the counter and food in the pantry will not sway the family that God has written to take over our home. If they are supposed to have it, they will see past whatever I think is bad and will love it for all the quarks we loved it for. I found so much peace in that and my anxiety went down tremendously.
It’s been less than a week since we saw the house that now says “off-market” on Zillow, but there is no doubt in my mind that God has and is paving a way for us to have that house. I guess that was the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear 😊
So now what?
Chaos. A lot of chaos! 😛
A lot of lists, cleaning, packing, and paper plates because of the fewer dishes the better.
I honestly wasn’t going to share this news until after we had moved, but I’ve learned that it’s a lot more fun when you guys join us on our adventures. So this is us. Living in chaos as we sell our house and buy a new one within a window that can only happen with God!
And with all the emotions of Heath Ledger’s Joker in the Batman movie, “And here. We. Go.”