The Beginning

It all began here, in 2000 when we moved into a 1948 Cape Cod.  Ok, this is NOT my actual house, as we have no photos of my actual house due to the monster trees in the front yard that obscure its existence from the camera eye.  This is my friends house (Sheri Simpson) and it is just like mine, except I did not have the lovely big porch, or beautiful door.

It had original hard wood floors.  Original wood trim, stained glass windows in the bathrooms and beautiful built in's.  It was small, about 900 sq. feet, had practically no closets and the basement was like a dungeon.  But we loved it.  Love it still.  It had a huge back yard, grapes grew on supports all around the back.  The detached garage was covered in ivy and had a beautifully landscaped shade garden linking the deck to the garage.  Ferns grew in a bed beside the back and we put in climbing rosebushes to grow up the deck supports.  It was perfect for us.  Small, affordable, old and homey.  We lived there for almost 6 years.

It had it's issues, all homes do.  Honey Pie could not stand up to his full 6'4" height in the basement, rendering it useless for him.  The kids bedrooms were upstairs, ours was on the first floor, causing many a sleep on the couch nights battle for us.  The closets were wee, forcing me to hang my clothes in the dark unfinished basement, not a fun thing.  Many a time I showed up somewhere with a black skirt and a navy shirt, due to the poor lighting which only a bat could have matched colors in.  I had to do my writing, sewing, ebaying on the kitchen table and remove it each day.  The computer and sewing machine were constantly being pulled off the table and set in a corner, covered with a cloth.  But we were happy.

Honey Pie ripped up the carpets to unveil the beautiful wood floors underneath.  He sanded, stained and sealed them. The kitchen had, sadly, lost its original cabinets and the 1970's plastic looking ones were in need of help.  For my anniversary gift one year, he painted them white.  I painted everything white, the fridge (it was yellow) the countertop (beige) the light surround (red) and the dishwasher (black).  Yes, you CAN paint tile and appliances.  Use a primer made for it and it will take regular ol enamel paint.  You can paint your BATHTUB with this stuff!  It has to set for 2 weeks, then it is more durable than concrete!

To that home we welcomed baby Lincoln in 2003.  This posed a problem with eating time, our dining room was so small we couldn't fit his highchair in, so we positioned him in the doorway to the kitchen!  The next year we began the search for something bigger.  It was a bit cramped with 5 of us.  We prayed about the decision, talked to our parents for advice, and felt good about it.  We were hoping for a repo, something we could snag at a bargain price and put some work into.  And the hunt began.  We found 3, put in offers but lost them because our own house did not sell in time.  It was so discouraging, houses in my neighborhood that had only one bathroom, no yard, icky floors etc were selling at $20,000 OVER what we were asking.  House after house fell through.  The market was at its highest, homes were selling in ONE DAY... but ours sat unnoticed.  Our real estate agent was baffled.  We were too.  But hope springs eternal, and once you start looking at bigger homes it is hard to stop!  So we kept looking.  There was one house I completely fell in love with.  New construction, blue, a monster of a house that had been repoed, someone bit off more than they could chew and so it was on the market at a fraction of the price.  I just KNEW this was it.  It was about $100,000 above our price range (market value) but they were taking bids starting at just under our price limit.  It was perfect, even had a custom mail box built like a train. The Thomas the Tank loving boys were in heaven!  The bids went in, our real estate agent even threw in her commission to raise the bid.  Which we lost, barely.

Yes, I believe the steps of a righteous person are ordered of the Lord.  Yes I believe that all things work together for the good of folks who love God and are called to fulfill HIS purpose.  But I also know that disappointments hurt.  And that one did.  I really wanted that house, I really thought it was going to be THE house.  It was in a good school district, near my friend Carmen, in a good neighborhood.  It was big enough to house my dreams of hosting women's Bible Study in my home, the kids being able to have their friends over, Honey Pie being able to have a home office, me having room to house my artistic/business endeavors.  It was perfect... or so I though at the time.  Looking back, with the knowledge of what I know now, it was a perfect house no doubt, but not for us.  It was a 30 min drive from the church, the home God had planned for us is 3 min from the church, 4 min from my in-laws, 2.5 min from my sister-in-law.  We are able to do shared school runs, easy, fast drop in's, and countless emergency room visits are sped along by their quick access.  God knew, he cared.  Enough to say no.

Thank you Father, for knowing more than I do, for loving me enough to say "no", to say "wait"