Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone

I have been debating on writing this post, but I just decided that today I would go ahead and do it.

We are moving!  (Most likely - I have to throw that in there until both houses are closed and the name on the new house is officially ours.)

Ever since Nate and I got married I have been talking about moving.  For a long time it has just been talk - and I just enjoyed looking at what was available.  The closer we got to expanding our family, the more the talk became real.  Then Pumpkin arrived and the talk became serious.  So back in March we put our house on the market and had a contract within 4 days - with a closing in 45 days.  Whoa!!  We weren't prepared for it to sell that fast - but in this market and with a 6 month old I have to say I'm glad it did.  Just those 4 days of keeping it in show condition was awful!

Thus began our serious search.  Ideally we wanted to find our forever home (assuming that God's plan is for us to stay in Nashville for a good long time).  We saw some very nice houses and we saw some very sad houses that no one cared to take care of, but we just couldn't find the right house.  We were trying to take our time - we had a place to go in between if we couldn't find anything - so I was trying to be patient.  Finally, I decided we wouldn't find our forever home - we were too young - we just needed to look for a home that would be great for us for the next 5-10 years.  But we couldn't even really find that.  There was one that we thought was it, but the Lord continued to tell us to be patient even in that.

Then about 2 weeks ago the email came with THE house.  It was in a neighborhood Nate and I have talked about wanting to get in, but never thought we could.  It had just about everything I was looking for in a house (elaborate more later) and was in our price range.  So we went to see it the day after it came on the market and they had accepted our offer by that evening!!

Now - we still have around 3 weeks of waiting before I can be truly elated and jumping up and down.  But we are at least headed in the right direction.  You can be praying for all to go as it should.

But as I sat rocking my daughter in her room this morning and looking out into the house it started happening.  I began to see all the memories that belong in this house.  As much as I have complained about the size of the house and the lack of storage in the house - this has been a great first home for our family.  This is the house Nate had when I met him, we did a lot of remodeling together and made it our home, we lost our first baby in this home, but we also brought a baby home to this house, we got our first puppy in this house, we dealt with a lot of loss in this house, there is a lot of laughter and tears inside these walls.  The 4 1/2 years we have spent in this house will always hold a very special place in my heart.  So, I'm sorry to the house for complaining about all the frustrations, because the goodness of this house far outweighs any of the frustrations.  You have been a good home, but it's time for us to move on.

Some things I'm looking forward to:
Space and storage!- we tripled our square footage and doubled our yard (the yard I didn't think would be possible)
4 bedrooms - we have room to grow and to have company stay with us
A Basement - we now have a bonus room and I have a safe place to take my family during storms!
Master bedroom with a large closet and a full bathroom attached!!
Cabinets in said master bathroom - no more walking between two different bathrooms to get ready in the mornings
LAUNDRY INSIDE!!!!!!! - no more walking to the garage!  (Sadly this might be one of the things I'm most excited about)
A 2 car garage so I can finally park my car under roof
We can walk to a great park from our house

The new house needs lots of updating, but nothing we can't live with for awhile.  We will just work on it through the years as we need to.

I have had a lot of anxiety through this process.  I have tried really hard to let God carry the burden and I have done better than I thought I would, but still I faltered.  The human side of me seemed to forget that God is in control - no matter what, and in this situation - I still have to remember that.  It's not over yet and this great house is not quite ours.  But I'm trusting that whatever path God leads us down is for our good and though I may be heartbroken if it doesn't work out - He has a better plan.  We are blessed no matter what and I am so thankful to be able to have a roof over my head.

Thank you Lord!