A New Start (pt. 2)

I truly had planned to finish this earlier in the week but life got busy so here I am today.  Happy Mother’s Day!

The rest of the house buying journey (with a little background)….Last spring we decided when we finished camping in Georgia we would return to Ohio to sell the house.  So after several weeks of cleaning and downsizing, we were ready to put it on the market.  We had several lookers but our first solid offer was in November which was the month we had returned to the RV park in Georgia.  We accepted the offer, moved the greatest part of our belongings in storage, packed the RV and returned to Georgia believing we would be living there for a while.  Then after 6 weeks the buyer’s financing fell through and the house was back on the market.

In February, 2016 we found the cutest little bungalow in Fernandina Beach (FB), Fl.  After securing financing, we made an offer on the house. Unbeknownst to us, the house was a foreclosure.  A few days after we made our offer, we were told we were the highest so it appeared it was ours.  3 days later our realtor called and told us we had lost it.  Uh….ok.  I have to admit we were disappointed. The following day we were on our way to Savannah, and I came across Psalms 27:14 “Wait with hope for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart be courageous. Yes, wait with hope for the Lord.” I shared it with Terry and I said I know it doesn’t make sense but I think we will have another chance on the house.

The following week our realtor called and said he didn’t know why but they had opened the bid again. Did we want to make our highest and best offer?  Of course we did.  This is where the story should end, right? But it didn’t.  We received the same response, we didn’t get it.  Truthfully, we kept believing it was ours.  Crazy…I know.  The following week the realtor called and said the same as the week before.  We did this dance for the next 2 weeks…making the SAME offer and being told we didn’t get it and then it happened.  Mike the realtor sent us a text and said he thought we had a contract.  Within the next two days we had signed paperwork and a closing date.  We were ecstatic!  But the story doesn’t end there….you see, we were getting cold feet about making payments and caring for 2 places so we had also been praying God would lead the right people to buy the Ohio house before we had to make the first payment on the FB home.  5 days after we received our paperwork for the Florida house we were signing a contract on the Ohio house. God is amazing!

Now before you get the wrong idea I want to clarify something.  From the beginning we felt God was leading us to move closer to our children.  We have 2 of our kids nearby and the 3rd may eventually come this way too.  God did not have to answer our prayers in the way we asked but in His goodness, He did.  Our little home is a dream for me.  I’ve always wanted to try ‘city’ living in a beach bungalow.  The house was built in 1954 but in 2007 someone had the same dream as me and totally renovated it.  If I didn’t know better, I would say Terry designed it because it was well planned & whoever did it, had his good taste.  Downtown Fernandina Beach is only a mile down the road and the beach is 2 miles.  Last weekend was the Shrimp Festival and we walked to town everyday to enjoy the festivities.  There is no way we could have achieved all of this on our own. 

Only a loving Heavenly Father could put all the pieces together and make a beautiful picture designed just for us. And He wants to do the same for you if you will only trust Him.  His plans will be different for you but His plans are always going to be for your good because He’s a good, good Father.:)

Love & Blessings…..