HUGE News 73

I have a slight confession...  I wrote this post on Sunday.  I knew already that it had sold and that it was scheduled to close this week (potentially, you know how these things go).  The house pictured below has SO many reasons for my heart to sing attached to it. 

 Another confession...  My heart has not always sung about this house.  Well, perhaps it was singing, but it was one of those annoying, whiny songs that have way too many long, drawn out notes.  You see, it has been a huge financial burden on our little family for a really long time now, but as you'll see below, it has come full circle.  

Not a photographer.  

This may be longer than my average post, but this is a truly monumental turning point for us.

74.  This was our first home as a young married couple.  When we came home from our Honeymoon, this is where we came.  We're one of those old school couples that didn't live together before getting married so we really started out together right here.

75.  We got to experience that new married couple old house fun, like a broken AC (the first time we turned it on.  After the inspection), a flooded garage (resulting in a new washer and dryer, and a busted dishwasher the first time we used it.  Those seemed stressful, but deep down, I loved every second of it.

76.  We put a lot of love and personal touch into this house and with that came a huge sense of satisfaction and personalization.  The inside was pretty much done (besides issues noted above) when we bought it, but the outside was...  Ugh.  We laid a concrete driveway and patio in the back, we made the little garden, we laid all of the sod (by hand.  the week of our wedding), put in a fence, and put up the pretty front door.

77.  We were privileged to be "landlords" of this house to our besties.  It was so fun to watch another brand newly married couple get off to a great start of their marriage in this little home.  I hope that they will always think of their times under that roof as happy ones and I hope that they can think of this house as a blessing to them also.

78.  This house brought me to a whole new level when it came to praying.  What happened with the sale of this house was completely out of my control.  The Circle Maker  book that I am completely obsessed with talks about praying through...  AKA keep on praying and pray hard.  I had worked like it depended on me and the only thing that I could do after that was to pray like it depended on God.  He came through.  Big time.  Honestly, this is the first time that this control freak was able to step back and let it go.

79.  I think that there might be some kind of theory about needing information and just then the right kind of teacher shows up (I'm really bad at phrases).  I wanted to share this quote that I came across just this week. Coincidence?  Maybe, but how many coincidences does one have to experience before they start thinking that it is coming from elsewhere?

"We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary - we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!"- (Paul, Romans 5:2-5)

Right now, my containers feel pretty over-flowy!  Patience is so hard sometimes, but in the end, it always makes sense!  Even what I considered troubles can make sense now.  Do I like them, no way, but I feel like I "get" them now.

Now I hope that this house can bless it's new homeowner.  It's amazing what it has done for us. 

Farewell to 4348.