Hey, all! What a rollercoaster the past 2 months have been. Last I wrote, the house we found fell through and we were back at square one. Part of me struggled with buying a new house so I had to do some heart evaluation, which never comes naturally to me: why a new house? Is it the comfort, convenience, image? No, actually it’s not. I really would be happy in an older home and almost wanted to get one to prove it. But Jonathan and I both agreed that we needed the simplicity that a newer house would bring. He needs to really focus on his job right now and not be divided or distracted by a house that’s broken and needs a lot of work. Also, newer homes have better technology and safer/greener building codes (at least in NC) than even houses built 10 years ago. Both of these values go back to our Family Mission Statement: we want to be good stewards of our time, energy, resources, and the environment. We feel that at this time in our lives, a new house does meets those priorities the best, even though the initial price tag might be more.
So God provided a brand new house in Cary, which is a suburb of Raleigh. It’s on the edge of town, but not completely out in the middle of nowhere, and Energy Star certified, 1/2 acre lot, 4 bedrooms, 2900 sq ft, and in a master-planned community with a community pool, fitness center, parks, walking trails, etc. I admit I’m not as emotionally excited as I should be, probably because I’m just ready for it all to be over with. It’s toward the entrance of the neighborhood, which concerned me, traffic-wise, but there are sidewalks to keep the kids out of the street (a lot of neighborhoods here don’t), and there’s not much traffic right now anyway since a lot of homes aren’t built yet. Jonathan sees it as being the “beachhead” or “gateway” to the neighborhood and we are praying that God would use us here to be a light for Him.
So we’re moving out of the moldy rental (as it will forever be nicknamed) this weekend, cleaning and turning in keys by Tuesday, January 31st. But our new house will not be ready until February 10th (an improvement over Feb. 16th). So our stuff is going into storage and the couple that lead the home church we attend have graciously allowed us to stay with them in the meantime. I am hoping and praying that it will be a time of blessing for both us and them.
Thank you for all of your prayers for us during this time of transition. We really are loving it here in this new place and look forward to what God has in store.
