For Sale (Part 1)

I logged on to tell you about the wild path that God has led us on this year and how it has grown our faith.

Early this year, we began plans to build an addition on to our current home. We were going to add on to the master bedroom and also add a school room, specifically for homeschooling. It would be like a typical "second living room/den" but designed to hold bookshelves and house a couch and table for homeschooling. The master bedroom addition included several upgrades: a full bath (we didn't have an on-suite at our first apartment or house, and at our current house we have a half bath), a nursery attached (you may have noticed we tend to have a new baby every couple of years, and kids stay in cribs about that long), a walk-in closet, and a fireplace. God has given us the gift of babies and put the desire to homeschool our children in both of our hearts since childhood.

We drew out plans and called builders/contractors. They told us to start by getting our land surveyed, which we did. Next, to maximize the area where we were going to put the addition (and enjoy our yard more), we paid to have fourteen pine trees taken out. Later, our neighbors told us that was an answer to the prayer they had prayed when our house went up for sale in 2019. We planned to finish the addition (which Matt would largely do himself once we got past the foundation/frame) by September, to start the school year strong and be ready when the next baby came.

On a walk with a mama friend at the beginning of March, she mentioned a house in the neighborhood that was going up for sale later in the year. She was disappointed she couldn't wait that long to move, and I understood her interest! I'd always liked the exterior of that house. They do their landscaping well, and it has a set of dormers on the front (something I've always been attracted to). It's on the same block as my in-laws, and in our current neighborhood.

When I reached out to the owner, he confirmed. Yes, they were retiring this summer and moving out of state. Yes, they'd give us first dibs on the house. Yes, it had an extra living area downstairs (school room), a first floor master bath (no on-suite, but still it would nice to be separate from the kids), and an extra bedroom.

Our plans for the addition halted, and we began to save up money for a hefty down payment. We hadn't seen the inside or talked price, but we could prepare in that way while we waited!

Summer ended, and fall arrived. We found out we were expecting (a 4th girl!). The house on my in-law's street (let's call him Mr. Coke) got in touch. They were under contract for a house in Tennessee and things were moving forward. Still, not ready for us to tour or to offer us a price, but he wanted to keep us up to date. We started looking at loans, pre-qualifying and such. 

Then, Mr. Coke messaged once more to say his wife was having heart issues. The doctor said she shouldn't leave the area or have any stress in her life for the next six months. Understandably, now they weren't sure what their future held, which also affected our plans. With a baby due in February, we wondered about the plans God had set in motion. We had a down payment saved and the pre-qualification. 

Maybe God had another house for us?

We love the area we live in. We're less than ten minutes from both of our parents, we live central to the interstates in our area (Matt works all over Hampton Roads washing windows, so he heads all sorts of directions every day), we're closer to church than our last home was, and the city we live in has lower cost of housing than the neighboring city (which we live less than seven minutes from, and safety/crime is comparable). We had no interest/need to leave the area.

Then a house went up for sale within a half mile of our home...