I think it’s time for another update! Things have been happening so fast. God is definitely on the move here. On April 25 we took that giant leap of faith and made an offer on a (third!) home (which was accepted within 90 minutes of our signing the papers!) before selling our house. Have there been nights with little sleep and knots in our stomachs at times? I would be lying if I said “no”. Believing we were walking in obedience we continued moving forward. On May 2nd we had the home inspection done, the sewage system checked out and had an underground oil tank sniffed out and located by a trained dog (!).
On the morning of May 3rd we received a call from a realtor wanting to show our house at 1:00. That evening we received an offer on our home!!! Our home had been on the market just 3 weeks and a day! That could almost be classified as a miracle in the suburbs we live in! Only one home in a one-mile radius has sold in the past 3 months. On May 10 our home had its inspection. We don’t have the results yet but are praying there are no big surprises.
Yesterday I got an email from our lender saying that by May 15 the appraisal on the home we’re buying will be complete. Lord willing we will be able to close by our May 24th closing date. Sooner would be even better☺ The house is not occupied. We are hoping to be able to paint the entire interior and then get moved in before we climb on the plane June 2. That’s asking a lot but God is moving in all of this!
Until the appraisal of our current residence is complete we can’t start whipping out boxes and getting down to serious business so we’re trying to find things to do that won’t make messes…. sort, give away, get bids, choose paint colors (spent a long time on Skype with Will and Mandy last night, the artists in the family, trying to decide what color of roof and exterior paint would not compete or look awful with our next door neighbors – not such a simple task!), make hard decisions about what can’t go with us because there won’t be enough room, and so on.
As I look back on the past month I don’t know how I/we’ve been able to do all the “house stuff” – meeting the realtor again and again, signing papers again and again, being there for the inspection, going to the bank several times to sign forms, keep the house “perfect” for showings and open houses, helping our housemate with some of her packing to move, all while John was involved in many meetings related to the accreditation process at WPC and we attended the awards and Honors chapels and an evening of presentations by five Religion and Christian Ministry majors, a music student’s recital, student-directed One Act plays, W.A.R.M. (Western area ministers’ meetings), WPC Board of Directors dinner where the same five RCM students told stories about their internships, played our regular Thursday night volleyball at church, played in/attended the WPC Jazz Concert, attended a friend’s funeral (John spoke) out of town, went to the baseball game of one of our church’s youth, had the Missions class over to our home for their last class of the semester, had meetings with our Germany trip team, including a meal planned, shopped for and prepared by them at our home, attended the Bridgetown concert (an amazing WPC male students’ musical group), helped serve breakfast on campus Sunday night (yes, breakfast at night!) before finals week, attended the commissioning of the graduating Education majors, hosted a Religion & Christian Ministries party at our home (thank goodness a wonderful staff person took care of the food!), attended a reception on campus for the graduating seniors and their families, drove down to Eugene to attend part of the Church of God Spring Celebration, attended (Gwen played trumpet, John introduced a student speaker) WPC graduation, made the rounds to several graduation parties and joined our former Sunday School class for a pitch-in Sunday after having taught our last class with the college aged students this school year, not to mention John’s preparing final exams, giving finals, having exit interviews and then grading everything, turning in grades and doing department-related administrative stuff, preparing for the fall and dealing with the ticketing and logistics for the trip to Germany. (A huge prayer request: we are dealing with a ticket that had a mis-spelled name. It is a difficult and “stomach in knots” situation for John…please pray for it to be resolved so that we can all travel together and without having to spend tons more money.)
Perhaps you get the picture and more fully grasp the reason why we want to be within walking distance of campus! And why we need your prayers for strength and for this “move” and the process to continue to go smoothly. Please join us in praying that the appraisal of our home will be at the agreed-upon purchase price.
Stay tuned for the next update. Now, moving on to the tasks of the day while thanking God for His moving in all of this…!
Wow, I am worn out. But I can pray. Shirley
Praise our faithful Lord for His amazing work thus far!
Whew! Don’t know how you get it all done and keep on keeping on… Praying for your strength and stamina. (Maybe you need to “simplify” on number of activities…? 🙂