There's really a lot of backstory to my story-that's the nature of stories, right? But, those backstories are painful and deep, so I'll save those for now. We'll start with the happy story, the ending. The end of the story is ALWAYS better than the beginning. And, while it won't seem like the end for a bit, really, it is. Of course, it's its own beginning, too. But, well, let's just begin, and the pieces will come out as they are supposed to.
We've been renting for a very long time (backstory number one). Those of you who have rented know that, while it is a wonderful blessing to be able to rent, there comes a time when it's time to look for something that is yours.
In our case, it really isn't so much the part where we don't like where we live, it's that we no longer FIT in this house. To be fair, really, we should fit, but there are 7 of us. If we had stuck with only 2 or 3 kids, it would have worked for a lot longer. But, we didn't. God sent us 5 kids. Thankfully, all five of them are healthy! That means, they grow, and grow, and their clothes get bigger, and their shoes get bigger, and well, next thing...the room that fit them a few years ago, no longer does. We actually have started a Konmari journey (its own story), but even purging things (many still to purge) brought to light that our rooms were not getting any bigger, and the people in them were.
However, just because you see a problem, doesn't always mean that your solution and God's solution are the same. He might not even see it as a problem. This is where trust and hope and prayer and more trust come together to create patience as we wait for God's solution. Sometimes, these answers take a long time. Sometimes, the answer is no. And, sometimes, the answer is yes. But, almost always, the answer doesn't look at all like we had planned.
Last fall, our town got a Dollar General. Don't worry, this really is an important part of the story!
First off, we live in the country. We live about 8 minutes from the nearest village, and another 20 to the city with stores. Before this fall, all we had here was a gas station that carried the basic necessities. So, for us to get a Dollar General was kind of like when towns got a Walmart back in the '80s. Yes, I'm old enough to remember how that felt. No, I'm not old.
Once the Dollar General opened, we would stop there often. Sometimes daily. Sometimes more than once a day. Thankfully, the newness has worn off and we don't go in there as often. But, it ended up being a very big piece of our story.
The road we would take home after leaving the Dollar General would take us down a road on the edge of town that we didn't usually drive down before the store opened. Once in a very long time, maybe, but certainly not often. But, because of the Dollar General, I saw the sign. The for sale sign. The for sale sign in the yard of a house I had wanted to live in for a very long time.
Since I had decided many years ago that it was time to move (see how God and I have different plans), I was usually pretty up on the local real estate market. I would check the local online listings, hoping that the right mix of house and cost would, somehow, be listed there for me. It didn't happen. I did help my father in law find out about possible rental houses, though, so all was not lost.
Believe it or not, I had finally stopped looking at listings. That is another story of its own, but I hadn't looked at the real estate listings in many months. But, it wouldn't have mattered, because this house was not listed on the sites I usually looked at. So, I would never have seen it, except for the sign.
In an unfortunate situation, the previous owners had stopped making payments on their house and it had fallen into foreclosure. This particular home was foreclosed by the USDA. We didn't even know they made house loans, but they did, and this one didn't work out. So, it was now going for auction.
As with any foreclosure, the house had not been lived in for awhile. And, there was a huge catch. Three years ago, our area had a wind storm. It took out many trees and caused a lot of damage. For this house, it caused extra damage. One of the large trees in the front yard had fallen on the house. It caused roof damage, and took out two of the windows, in addition to less significant damage. To be honest, it looked a lot like a train wreck.
I had always been interested in the house, but wasn't sure it would even be livable, or even salvageable. And, I wasn't sure if we were really ready to undertake such a large project. The house was to have an open house a week later. So, I put it on my calendar and said a small prayer for God's will, not knowing what might come of it.
And, with that, I will end this post. Here are some photos of the outside of the house when we first saw it.
Continuing the story:
Part Two
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