Transition

Whoa! It's been a while since I wrote. Here's a quick catch up of the past three months. The end of February we moved from Florida back to our hometown in Wisconsin. It was a wonderful decision and we all instantly felt like we were home. Although we were not really. We moved in with my Mother-In-Law and spare me the jokes. She is a wonderful and kind woman and has made out transition back to the area a true blessing. Although it has been crowded and cramped and often looks like a tornado hit the place It has been nice to share in her company.

The first couple of weeks here were spent looking for a house. Since leaving Wisconsin three years ago we have been renting. First in the panhandle of FL then in an apartment near Clearwater. It was a hard transition. Besides leaving the only place i had ever called home, and ll my friends, and family I had left a beautiful century old home that my husband and I gutted and restored. I loved that house. I love the community we had in our neighborhood. I loved walking to downtown and all the shops. I really hated renting. I felt as though I had no roots and no community. The panhandle was hard because we were very isolated from town and had to drive everywhere. It felt so wasteful. The apartments were actually a little better but by nature they are transient. People come and go so quickly. We met and said goodbye to great and wonderful people. We were never meant to be at home there. It was a transition.

One night on a solo walk I broke down. Walking through the area with tears streaming down my face I cried out to God. "WHY would you do this? I've left my family, all my friends, all my kids friends, all my dreams and my beloved house!" The response I got was instant, crystal clear and cut right to my heart. Believe me this was NOT a common occurrence for me to "hear" from God so boldly and it struck me so strongly I almost fell over. It went something like this...

"Who's house was it that you lost?

You didn't own that house.

You made payments on that house but it was never yours.

Everything you have is mine. And I am loaning it to you."

Whoa.

Well that was a wake up call. And I needed it. Flash forward three years and now we are house shopping, again. My husband and I, however, have approached this new purchase entirely different. Instead of looking the biggest most impressive thing we could afford in the best neighborhood we want our new house to truly reflect who the real owner is. We want to set down roots on the only firm foundation. Of course a house is just a space it's the people in it that will reflect God's glory. But anyone who's been through a church building campaign knows that facility does help. So we had some specific things we wanted to achieve.

1. We wanted to have enough space to host people in our home and share the love of Christ.

2. A yard big enough to establish a garden and share the bounty of our provision.

3. A footprint small enough to not be wasteful with God's resources.

We began hunting right away but two weeks after arriving in WI I got a call that my grandmother in was dying and I drove, by myself with all three kids to Kansas to say good-bye (this should be a post in and of itself). When I returned my husband had found "THE HOUSE". I agreed to go look at it but honestly didn't even give it much of a thought. The space was larger that I had really envisioned and it was more than we had agreed to spend. The layout was good and although it was a large home it had all new windows and a brand new boiler for the radiant heat and no air conditioning (you don't really need it up here). All things that would be good for efficiency. The yard is large and sunny but with a large shade tree on half of it. There was a room that will function as a perfect play room right across the hall from the living area perfect for kids to play whole grown-up talk. it really was all the things we had been hoping for.

We decided to make them an offer. It was LOW. The house had only been on the market for 2 weeks and we knew our offer was low. We did not want to insult them but it was really all we could afford. Along with our offer we sent them a letter, telling them who we were and how much we liked the house and appreciated the great care they had taken in maintaining it. We told them about our kids and our plans for the place. To our surprise they accepted! They told their realtor that they knew the offer was low but that they loved our letter and wanted us to have the house!

God is so good. Although His plan is full of curve balls and adventure, I'm hoping that this will be our last move for a looooong while.

Of course this post does not even break the surface of what has been going on I'll post more soon but in the meantime here's a picture of our new "mission house". We are praying that we will continue to stay true to the vision God has planted in us. To live humbly and lightly, to share, give and love. To keep our doors and hearts and eyes and ears always open.

And if your ever in the neighborhood pop in!