Our God is an awesome God! So much has happened over the last week, it's almost hard to comprehend.
My first day with 8th graders was Monday. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be, and I could definitely feel the power of prayer. Eighth graders really are not a whole lot different than 5th graders, just taller. There are a few marked differences, however. It doesn't take nearly as long to explain something, and you don't have to play 20 Questions before an assignment can begin. However, it takes them longer to get through anything "creative". My biggest challenge so far has been learning all their names! I give them candy every time I call them the wrong name, so they don't mind it too much.
Now, back up about two weeks. We had found a house in Kalamazoo that we really liked, but it had water issues in the basement. The seller didn't think it was an issue, but we disagreed. Before putting an offer in we wanted to have a basement company come in and take a look at it. On Monday morning (the first day of school for me) Jeff met the basement people at the house. We had two companies look at it. Both said it would cost $10,000 to fix it. Now what were we going to do? Our realtor asked Jeff if he had any extra time that morning. A house came on the market on Saturday that she really wanted to show us.
I get a call as school gets out saying that I have to come see this house. I go over there and, yes, it's a great house. It is a two story house that has almost 2000 square feet of living space, including a partially finished basement. It filled all of our "musts" and many of our "wants" - 1.5 baths, four bedrooms, 2 stall attached garage, within walking distance of a park, on the north side of the city, close to 131. It was priced like a short-sale, but wasn't. The current owner, for emotional reasons, just wants out. We could afford the asking price, but could we push our luck and get it for less?
We put an offer in on Tuesday - along with three other people. After hearing that, we upped our offer to asking price. I really thought there was no way we would get this house. It could easily have gone for more than asking price, and the buyer would still have been getting a great deal. To be honest, it was really an emotional night. Between school starting and ups and downs of house hunting, I had just about had it. I kept praying, "God, I thought you were making it so clear that we should be in Kalamazoo. Why is this so hard?"
Wednesday morning, I woke up with a song from church stuck in my head. It's based on Psalm 40, "I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." OK, God, I get it. I'm waiting on You. So, what are You going to do?
Wednesday night, we got the call that our offer was accepted. Once again, it's all in God's timing. We got a great deal on a house - and it's a house that we don't need to do any updating to - with everything we wanted! One of the reasons the owner liked offer so much is that we could close soon. Hopefully, depending on how inspections go, we will close by the end of the month.
God is good!
My first day with 8th graders was Monday. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be, and I could definitely feel the power of prayer. Eighth graders really are not a whole lot different than 5th graders, just taller. There are a few marked differences, however. It doesn't take nearly as long to explain something, and you don't have to play 20 Questions before an assignment can begin. However, it takes them longer to get through anything "creative". My biggest challenge so far has been learning all their names! I give them candy every time I call them the wrong name, so they don't mind it too much.
Now, back up about two weeks. We had found a house in Kalamazoo that we really liked, but it had water issues in the basement. The seller didn't think it was an issue, but we disagreed. Before putting an offer in we wanted to have a basement company come in and take a look at it. On Monday morning (the first day of school for me) Jeff met the basement people at the house. We had two companies look at it. Both said it would cost $10,000 to fix it. Now what were we going to do? Our realtor asked Jeff if he had any extra time that morning. A house came on the market on Saturday that she really wanted to show us.
I get a call as school gets out saying that I have to come see this house. I go over there and, yes, it's a great house. It is a two story house that has almost 2000 square feet of living space, including a partially finished basement. It filled all of our "musts" and many of our "wants" - 1.5 baths, four bedrooms, 2 stall attached garage, within walking distance of a park, on the north side of the city, close to 131. It was priced like a short-sale, but wasn't. The current owner, for emotional reasons, just wants out. We could afford the asking price, but could we push our luck and get it for less?
We put an offer in on Tuesday - along with three other people. After hearing that, we upped our offer to asking price. I really thought there was no way we would get this house. It could easily have gone for more than asking price, and the buyer would still have been getting a great deal. To be honest, it was really an emotional night. Between school starting and ups and downs of house hunting, I had just about had it. I kept praying, "God, I thought you were making it so clear that we should be in Kalamazoo. Why is this so hard?"
Wednesday morning, I woke up with a song from church stuck in my head. It's based on Psalm 40, "I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." OK, God, I get it. I'm waiting on You. So, what are You going to do?
Wednesday night, we got the call that our offer was accepted. Once again, it's all in God's timing. We got a great deal on a house - and it's a house that we don't need to do any updating to - with everything we wanted! One of the reasons the owner liked offer so much is that we could close soon. Hopefully, depending on how inspections go, we will close by the end of the month.
God is good!
This is the only picture of the house that I could down load from the website. I'll get more pictures soon!
In typical two-year-old fashion, upon seeing the first box put together, Faith exclaimed "It's perfect!" and jumped right in.
2 comments:
So happy for you both! Thanks for sharing that testimony! God is good, and we just need to let him do his thing!
When I saw the picture, it reminded me of Laura Meyer's house...crazy! Can't wait to see more pics!
Again, so excited for you guys!
Congrats! The Lord provides in amazing ways, huh?! The outside view is great! How fun to be able to make it your own and settle in! Can't wait to see more pics!
Gretchen
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