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Sunday, July 3, 2016

The Dream Comes True

JMJ

So, here we are, the beginning of summer 2016.  I haven't posted anything in almost a year.  So sorry about that!  Let me see.  What has happened since then?  Well, we rented our house in town out to some lovely tenants.  Thank you, St. Therese, for working that out for us!  

In October, a friend in the area calls me and says she has a house in which we may be interested.  Sure enough, it's a Cape Cod on five acres.  I had seen it come up for auction, but when we looked into bidding on real estate at auctions, we realized we really need to be investors or have a lot of capital to tie up in the process in order to actually get into the house.  I remember thinking, "If only we knew someone who could buy the house for us. Then, we can buy it from them for a little bit more.  We'd get a great deal, and the other party would make some money.  Oh well, there will be other houses. . ."  

When this friend told me about the house, she said they had purchased it--sight unseen--intending to use it as a rental property.  When their family actually walked in and saw it for the first time, they all thought, "this house would be great for a family!"  So they began looking around the community for a family who was interested in a house on five acres . . . Well, that's us!  

Our new home

We went to see it.  We liked it.  We liked it more that we could admit to ourselves because we now know better than to get too excited about a house or property until it's a done deal.  It was a long process, but the sellers were wonderful people to work with and we had a LOT of help from friends.  It's amazing how God sends the grace (for us, usually through the charity of others) to surmount any obstetrical if we just let Him do it.  We closed in Jan.  We had plans to do "a little bit of work" on the place, and then move in by February.  

Our cat, Cutie, with her kittens that were supposed to be born at our new property.
This is on the deck of our rental house.  

The "just a little bit of work" turned into knocking down walls and adding a bathroom.  Jan. became February.  The Christmas season passed.  

Lent began.  It makes sense to move during Lent, right?  It is absolutely penitential to pack, clean, do projects at the new house, and keep living a somewhat ordered life with a family of eight. 

Then Holy Week came and we knew we would not be spending Easter Sunday at our new house. 

 The kids on Easter Sunday 2016 in the backyard of our rental house

We finally moved at the end of April.  The bedrooms weren't all finished, so all the kids slept in one room and Craig, Lucinda and I slept in the other.  All the extra furniture and boxes were stacked, floor to ceiling, in the two living areas downstairs.  The kitchen was a dream, though.  It was finished and made living like that completely bearable.  It was a long couple of weeks of trying to settle into the finished spaces at the new house while work was still being done and trying to clean and completely move out of the rental house.  Craig and I were tired.  The kids were fried.  But, once we were done with the rental, things got a bit easier.  Then the master bedroom was finished, and things got a little more comfortable.  Little by little, the guys finished major projects (God bless them for working so hard!!!) and Craig finished other projects (shelving, caulking, outlet covers, faucets, towel racks, etc.) and we now have a finished house!  Okay, well, it's never REALLY finished, right?  But we have come so far in such a short time. 

Cecily with one of our loads on "moving day"

Now, we are waiting for baby to come any day.  The house and the family are ready to welcome this new little life.  Ironically (or maybe not? You decide!) This baby and this house seemed to grow and develop together.  We discovered the good news of this baby in Oct., about the same time we first heard about the house.  Our intention was to be in the house LONG before baby came.  But as time passed and the renovations dragged on, we joked that we were "having a house, Spiering style." Which means that it seems like it's never going to happen.  Our babies usually come 2-3 weeks after their due dates.  The house just "came" 3-4 months after it's "due date".  In the whole scheme of things, it has been just like having a baby for us.  We couldn't be more in love with this place.  It was worth the work and the wait. 

Some of the kids standing in front of the new house.

God answered all of our prayers but on absolutely other terms than we had conceived.  Nothing about the way this house come to be ours was easy or how we planned.  But we have it.  We are grateful.  We love it.  

2 comments:

  1. So happy for you! Congratulations on the new baby and the new home! It's beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jessica! I know you've been through remodeling and know what it's like. ;) God bless you beautiful family, as well!

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