Thursday, August 23, 2012

All things new...

For the last 5 years Caleb and I have lived with our kids in a two bedroom, 1 bathroom house.  I was pregnant with Ava when we bought this house and we thought it would be a good house for about 5 years.  We figured after 5 years, we would outgrow it.  Who would have known that after 2 years, Anniiyah and Makayla would come to be a part of our family for a while?!  Our house felt really small during that season with all three girls sharing 1 room (and did I mention we don't have closets...we have 1 half closet)...but it worked.  I won't go into detail about the creativity needed when three small people all need to go to the bathroom at the same time and you only have 1 toilet.  We have put a lot of offers on houses over the years.  We have tried to buy houses in our neighborhood, our friends neighborhoods, random neighborhoods close to ours, etc.  We have only ever been slightly motivated to get another house (which meant putting really low-ball offers on houses) because we really didn't know what neighborhood made the most sense for us to stay in.  This year though, we have felt GREAT about staying in Pittsburgh.  We know that this is our home.  I am not saying that nothing could or will change, but at this point, we are here and and we love our community.  We realized that where we lived was more important to us at this point than what we lived in (but please don't get me wrong, we wanted more space! We just wanted to be wise about where we looked).  So, we waited.  About 2 months ago we put an offer on a house only a few houses away from ours, but the process was taking forever.  About a week after we submitted an offer, we found another house about 4 blocks away from our current house.    It took me a lot to want to even think about moving away from our current neighbors on Coleman St!  I LOVE my street.  I felt a strong pull though from God through prayer to consider other options for houses in our neighborhood.  We decided to put an offer on the house that was 4 blocks away and we prayed for peace in where God was leading us to move.  Long story short, we got rejected from the house I really wanted.  I was incredibly sad and didn't understand.  I tend to get overly excited about things, and in my head I had already started dreaming and planning for this house.  Shaqwanda had talked about having a room in this house where she could live and work on homework while she works to finish senior year.  I was already planning the block parties we could have, the new neighbors we would meet, the guests that could stay with us, the babies we would now have room for, and a lot of other things that would allow us to share life with the people we love.  We continued to pray for wisdom and I kept telling Caleb that I was holding out hope that something was going to change.  I got a call from our realtor a week ago saying that the deal fell through and she asked if we still wanted the house.  YES!!!!  And so I calmly said "I think that would be good."  Our offer was accepted on Wednesday of this week and we are now moving toward closing in a couple weeks.  Something that seemed to drag out for forever is now actually happening!  Wednesday night we always have dinner with our neighbors.  We have been doing this for a year now and I look forward to Wednesday night every week.  This week was really special for me because we all got up from dinner and walked over to our new house together.  Everyone was excited with us and I am glad we got to share our joy with so many people that we love so much.  I am thankful for this new house but I don't want to forget the joy that our Coleman Street house has been for us.  Regardless of space, so much life has been lived in this house.  We have brought home our babies to this house, we have spent most of our marriage in this house, we have met and gotten to know the most important people in our lives, in this house.  We have played hundreds of games of Elimination in THIS kitchen.  We have eaten countless meals with WAY too many people sitting in THIS dining room.  We have worn down the carpet with all our clothes always being on the floor in THIS bedroom.  Every inch of this house represents a significant piece of our story and our journey.  I will always love this house.  BUT I am excited for the "new."  I start a new job on Monday.  Though it was hard to leave something that I had loved so much behind, I look toward the amazing opportunity that is up ahead...a job that I thank God for providing to me.  I don't feel like a new house was "necessary."  I do however want to be thankful to God for ordaining our steps and going before us.  I do want to trust in his plan and his purpose for our family.  I do want to use this new space to be a safe and warm place where are all welcome and a place where "family" is known and extended to anyone that wants to be part.  And to be really honest...I am super excited to have closets!

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