It’s sure been an eventful month!
We find ourselves reeling mentally and emotionally after hopping onto the roller coaster ride of making the firm decision to pack up our lives and get the heck out of dodge (I say that with no idea to what I am referring–what is this dodge?).
What I do know is that the first hill on this ride was a doozy!  Upon our return from a 33 hour trip to see our future home (about 20 of which was driving), we made the decision to move forward and place an offer contingent upon the sale of our home.  It was immediately accepted.  Within 2 days of this accepted offer, we put our house back on the market.  Somewhere in there we cleaned like mad people.  We cleaned closets, touched up paint, cleaned basement floors, shoveled snow, cleaned out drawers, scrubbed a ridiculous amount of surfaces, etc., etc., etc…
In the midst, we tried to be as available as possible to a beloved family member as she was hospitalized for several days with some pretty big health concerns (she is doing very well now), dealt with one miserable case of food poisoning (Christian won’t be eating there again any time soon), continued to work, do school, and the rest of regular life.
Within a day of our house listing hitting the interwebs we got calls for showings–two within the first four days!  For the first showing we were given only 6 HOURS to prepare!  Scramble, scramble, scrub and leave while strangers walk through your home and evaluate.  It feels like the SAT’s from high school.
*Let’s see how much you know about style and home-ownership.  No worries–it’s only one of the biggest tests of your life!*
We heard that both families really liked the house.  While we waited to see if they liked it enough, we did the wonder-if-we-should-get-our-hopes-up mental jig.  We dreamed about what it would be like if they wanted to buy.  We imagined what it would feel like if they didn’t and neither does anyone else and we set the whole thing down again and stay put.  We wonder if this whole thing was really God’s idea or just our silly two-year-loooong daydream.  We have blue days and hopeful days.  But the days feel endless when our minds reel from all of the possibilities.
And then we get the email.  The email we waited for for months last year.
They want it.  Quite badly.
And then we shift gears.  And sign papers.  No longer the “it’s.”  Now we’ve advanced to the “how’s” (with a not-so-brief stop at THANK YOU, JESUS!!!).  How in the world are we going to make all of this happen?  The planning, the trips over many miles with our stuff, the packing, the details, the finances…what have we DONE?
And then our minds travel to the leaving.  The leaving of all we’ve known.  The starting over in all that is unfamiliar.  The saying good-bye to this home that we built and in which we raised our family.  The gut-wrenching geographical separation from those we truly love.
And somewhere in the midst, our Provider keeps sending us little love notes.
Friends who are praying despite their sadness to see us go.  Some just encouraging throughout the tears, some having prayed and given us prophetic reassurances.  Everyone cheering us on to live our dream.
And the hope.  The hope spark has been fanned into quite the flame!  This little guy (hand-crafted for me by a dear friend) is the one personal item I left out for the house showings.  Maybe the new owners would need to see this little hope birdie ready to take wing, as I have.  His door, too, is open and he is headed for some other home–ready to fly.
Perhaps it will remind them like it does me, that–
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all…(Emily Dickinson)
And now we pack…