Moving Along
Friday, November 5, 2010 at 9:41PM I've been wanting to write about our move for a long time and I always forget!
I have ADD!
It's kind of a crazy story. Mike and I have been talking about buying a house for quite a while. We have lived in Dallas for almost four years, in two homes, both owned by our church. We are in a great neighborhood, and since our house is church-owned it is obviously conveniently located as far as Mike's job, Christian and Eliana's school, kids' choir, Bible study, piano lessons, and numerous other things for which we head up the block.
However, the house that we live in now, like the one we lived in before, is old. There have been updates, like new flooring in the kitchen and central air/heat, and while those things are nice, it's just the truth that it's hard to add those things to an old home and have it work really well. It's a big house with a lot of character and a lot of problems.
Now, I know that any house has problems, new or old. This older home has some troubles that make it make sense for us to look to buy; plus, financially it's wise to put money into owning a home rather than renting. (Look at me sound like I know what I'm talking about!)
Anyway, we looked online about a year ago, half-heartedly checking out some homes that were relatively close and then some that were quite a ways out. To buy a home in this immediate area requires a 12-digit salary. Even if we could manage to find a house that was low enough to purchase (which we couldn't), the property taxes would send us out of the neighborhood for sure.
I am the kind of person who doesn't like to wait, so once the idea was put out there that we might move, I was all,"When are we leaving? When can we go? Can we go look at these houses? Could we do it before the end of the year?" Mike, at that point, needed to finish his dissertation and that was a priority, so looking at houses got put on the back burner. I had my eye on a really cute house that was about 10 minutes away and not too high (relatively speaking!)...but I had to give up on going to check it out and as I monitored it online I watched as it went under contract and then finally sold.
The year went on (2010 now) (Does anyone else find that really hard to believe?) and we didn't really talk much about moving for a long time. Then about a month ago one of the pastors at the church announced to the congregation that his family had received and accepted a call to another church in another city. They were moving. They are friends of ours and I was saddened at the news that they were leaving. I spoke to the "her" half of the couple later that day and told her how surprised I was at the news, but she was happy and at peace, so I was too, for them.
At the end of that week Mike passed the "him" half of the couple and jokingly (or not?) said,"Hey, we should look at your house!" Our friend passed on a bunch of info to Mike, improvements that they had made on the house, square footage, and other pertinent stuff that you would want a potential buyer to know. He told us we should come to dinner that Saturday and check out the house. Finally, they needed a decision as soon as possible since they were getting a realtor on Monday but wanted to give us a chance to get the house without a realtor involved.
This was on Friday. As in, three days before Monday.
I was a little freaked out when Mike told me all of this. I mean, I know that amazing things can happen in a three-day time period. But making this decision so suddenly seemed crazy. Nutty. Totally insane.
We went over on Saturday and they gave us an official tour of the house, telling us of the changes they had made, which included new hardwood throughout the bottom floor, remodeling the kitchen, stuff to the bathrooms, replacing key features/parts (something to do with the garage door, and the AC unit, for example) and yard improvements. I have to say, the yard improvements alone are amazing. We have visited with them several times during the last few years, and I can tell you that the difference in the backyard is great, between then and now. He made the changes himself, and he did a wonderful job.
We had dinner with them and then headed home. We had that night to think about it, as well as Sunday and part of Monday. But he needed an answer by Monday sometime, and it was only fair since getting a realtor as soon as he could made sense for them.
I struggled with it, y'all. I lay in the bed, tossed and turned, thought and prayed. Mike and I tried to talk about it, but it is very hard for me to talk about something like this. He wanted to know what I thought, and I didn't even know what I thought, so how could I tell him? It was frustrating. I didn't know what the best thing to do was. I thought about how much the kids like it here, how convenient it is to be so close to the church, how late we are all the time and we're so close...how were we going to be on time ever if we moved further away? Christian was so upset at our last move, and that was just around the corner! Literally, the same block, just the opposite corner.
And that's not even mentioning the convenience of our location in general, related to stores/malls/restaurants.
Sunday night, after refusing to tell Mike what I was thinking (mainly because I couldn't decide what I was thinking) I had gone to bed and was lying there, totally miserable. I felt like I was trapped. I had asked him if I didn't give him an answer would he tell them no, and he said,"Yes." It seemed like it was all up to me, and I hate making decisions. I can't even figure out what to make for dinner, let alone make a life-changing, whole-family-affecting decision. I couldn't sleep, and all I could think about was what we should do.
I wanted very much for God just to tell me. Give me a note or something. An email? Facebook? Anything to let me know which direction was the right one. I was going over the house again in my mind, thinking of all that they had done to make it a sweet and lovely home. I thought of the small downstairs and how simple and easy it might be to take care of. I thought of the carpeted upstairs and how I could get it vacuumed fairly easily. I thought of the smaller bathrooms and the newerness (that is totally a word) of them. I thought of the wonderful yard that the kids could play in, that had grass (!) and not dirt all over, and which I could see from the kitchen. I thought of the laundry room that is right next to the door that leads to the garage, where we would come in and I could take the kids' clothes off from school right there, send them to the bathroom right next door, and then on to get new clothes for the rest of the day, around the corner in their rooms. Finally, I thought about the nine-year-old next door who was homeschooled...and I couldn't get away from that thought.
Here was the Lord handing us this huge blessing, cutting out all the work for us - all the time looking, driving, dealing with the kids running around like maniacs while we tried to check out house after house and pay attention to someone who was trying to make a sale. Here was a house that we knew had sweet owners, dear friends who had made it a home while they lived there. How precious was it to think of buying a house from someone we knew and loved? Which was next door to a homeschooling family? With a daughter the same age as ours?!
Suddenly I knew what we ought to do. It seemed like not accepting this opportunity would be like looking at God, who had a giant box wrapped in beautiful paper with a gorgeous bow, and yelling,"Where is my present?!" like a spoiled baby. I knew at that moment that I knew better.
It still seems fast a lot of the time, and I can't say that I am looking forward to the move...but I do feel a peace about it. We are losing a great deal of space, but I think that is a blessing, too. I can't manage this big house. It's too much room to take care of, and we have too much stuff. This is going to force us to get rid of things, and we are going to donate a lot of what we don't need to a couple who are adopting from Africa. They are having some yard sales to help with their adoption fees, and it is an honor to think that we might be able to participate in helping them bring home their baby.
No house is perfect. But I think this might be just what we need, in order to live a more sane, and more normal life. We will be afforded the opportunity to live like regular people, which is something that we have never done before. That sounds ridiculous, but it is true...from being in school, to Mike having a job which required him to travel half of the time (in Louisville), and then to living in a neighborhood in which we don't truly fit in and which allows us to live in a kind of dreamworld, we have always lived in this strange not-quite-real-world reality. I think after 13 years, we ought to give the real world a shot.
I wish I had pictures to show, but I don't yet. I might soon, but it may be another month before I can take pictures over there. Our move won't happen until early next year, which is fine with me! I have a little time to go through things and try (really try!) to get organized and to do this well.
That is also something we ought to give a shot!
So, that is the story...and it's the kind that doesn't really have an ending, but instead is actually a new beginning. We'll be writing it as we go along!
Reader Comments (6)
Yay for you! I have been wondering about your move. Glad to hear it's all working out.
I wish you the best of luck in sorting through all the extraneous junk before you move. Think of how wonderful it would be to unload your boxes in the new house and be able give everything an actual home because you didn't have all of the miscellaneous anymore. It's not something I've every been able to accomplish but I really want this for you!
That sounds like a good plan! Congrats!!
Congrats! This is all very exciting - both the house AND making a big decision peacefully! I am happy for you Christina.
I could so relate to how you felt! I hate making decisions, "trapped" is the perfect word. And then there's the breakthrough when you realize what's right. I'm really excited for you! Can't wait to see pictures. We've moved 13 times and rented always until we moved to Canada. I felt like we entered the real world too (except the Canada part ;) ).
I want to ask questions about the church owning your home and how that works and what that means to moving and all the stuff about which I'm quite confused but it seems too personal so instead I'm saying - congratulations!!