Moving? Yes, we are moving again! We have already received a plethora of questions and statements, so hopefully this post will answer a few of those.
"You just moved!"
- Actually we moved into this home over four years ago. Even the five of us have a hard time believing that it's been that long.
"You just finished your downstairs!"
- It's been over a year since it's been completed and we have loved it! My large school room away from the rest of the house has really been a blessing! Marty did such an amazing job with the help of friends and family (and a good chunk of tax money.) Honestly, the only reason we could afford to live in this neighborhood was due to the unfinished downstairs. God blessed us immensely by providing this house at just the right time.
"You live in such a great area!"
- We have loved our neighborhood, especially our neighbors right around us! Smores & movie nights, special friends for our girls, the pool, the list could go on... We have loved the proximity to our church, extra curricular school activities, and Target. Let's be honest.
"Why are you moving back to Willow Spring?"
- We weren't looking in Willow Spring specifically. We always try to live as close to the church as possible, but ultimately, we desired more land and less house (the opposite of the American dream). We didn't want to put our current house on the market until we found just the right house. And we all truly believe that we did!
"How are the girls coping?"
- Amazingly!! Marty and I have said again and again how resilient they are. After we had another dream house fall through a month ago, I promised to never take them house hunting again. But without much choice, they came to see the house we are buying and we all fell in love with it! They have been faithfully packing, each in their own way. They have helped clean, do school work in random places, and watched many belongings be given away, sold, or tossed without complaint. I simply couldn't ask for sweeter children.
"Why move at all?"
- We have asked ourselves this question many times. But we have several reasons why we are:
1) More land and less house, as mentioned earlier.
2) Gypsy blood. Not really, but we'll claim it as both of us grew up moving often throughout our childhood.
3) We want to put down roots. To be honest, the last 18 months have been stressful. Without a pastor, my associate pastor husband carried a little extra and we can only claim God's strength and His grace to have gotten us through it. We had prayed over our future. Would overseas be an option? Should we move to another state for a job with more focus? Will we be able to blend well with our new pastor and his family? God has clearly answered no to the first two questions and has brought such peace to the last. We are so excited for the ministry to come at Fairview and feel very blessed to have our pastor! So, with that said, we feel that God has called us to stay in this area and we want to live in a house for the long-haul.
We knew that our current home was not our dream house. Never would be. But even with all the wishful thinking, this place has seen a lot of dreams come true. Our littlest learned to walk in this house, cartwheels and handstands were perfected throughout the living room, each of our girls became confident swimmers in our neighborhood pool, and our home was available to family on their way to Japan and Ghana.
So in less than two weeks, when we pull out of the driveway for the very last time, I'll hold back the tears. "Tears for all the dreams brought to life here. Tears for all the dreams waiting ahead. But mostly, tears for the God that never abandons this fixer upper, no matter what kind of flooring she's living on."
