The Story of House Number One

Moving Day, June 8th

So here we are, six weeks after our move into our new home and I’m just getting back into a normal routine. We’ve been busy with unpacking (of course), weeding the extensive flower beds (still working on that one), and painting the school room so it’s ready in time for school this fall. But despite all of this busy going on, I hope to be back blogging weekly now. I’ve missed this small space.

We originally walked through what would be our new home in the early spring, right before putting our own home on the market. We fell in love with the property, location, and that the house was big enough to accommodate all of our needs and would be something we could “grow into” as the kids got older. The kids started calling it “House Number One” to differentiate it in their minds from the other houses we’d looked at.

We put a contingent offer on the House Number One right as our own house hit the market. The offer was declined, due to the fact that the owners thought we’d have a hard time selling our house, since it only had a two bedrooms.

We were disappointed, but decided to just concentrate on selling our home, as we’d have more bargaining power once our own house had a contract on it. As I shared previously, it actually only took 20 days to get an offer that we accepted on our house. Our realtors told us that we should wait to submit a new offer on House Number One once our house had passed all of its’ inspections. It was hard to wait! I was worried House Number One would slip away!

I knew I’d be really disappointed if someone else got the house. It just seemed so perfect. Too perfect, almost! Every other house we’d looked at had some “issue” or just didn’t feel right. I’d already mentally moved in and decorated House Number One! I had a hard time visualizing us anywhere else. It had room for a homeschool room, a guest room for visitors or if a family member might have to move in with us someday. It was perfect for entertaining, and the yard and driveway were perfect for my kids who love to ride bikes like extreme sport athletes! It was in a quiet neighborhood a little more out in the country than our previous home.

But I had to hold my desire with an open hand, trusting that God would provide what we needed at the right time. It was just a house after all, and I didn’t want to make the house more important than it needed to be. I’d lived many years in a little bungalow and been perfectly content. I didn’t want my contentment to hinge on getting this specific house. That said, house buying is definitely an emotional roller coaster!

At last we drafted our second offer on House Number One and submitted it. We waited.

An answer came back and we were told the owners would come down a certain amount, but not any lower. And our offer had been lower than they were willing to go. So we resubmitted another offer coming up a bit more in what we were willing to pay.

And that’s when we got the call one night, right as I was putting the kids to bed. Our offer had been accepted!

We were so excited, I ran back to tell the kids the good news! We were all stoked!

The whole process of selling our little home we’d put so much sweat equity into and buying a new home was really quite a faith journey. We weren’t sure if the house we’d end up with would be something we really loved or merely practical in size to meet our needs.

But God went above and beyond just meeting our needs. Instead, He provided us with a place that we love and hope to make memories in for many years to come!