A New Chapter

“I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless he sees that it is good for him to wait.” — C.S Lewis

April of 2017, we sold our 3 bedroom, 2 and a half bath subdivision home, in hopes of building a little white house on a farm. We decided moving in with my parents to save money while building would be the best option. We packed up all of our life’s possessions and crammed them into the most affordable storage unit we could find in the little town we intended to move to. Myself, my husband, and our then 3 year old, moved into my parents tiny guest bedroom where we shared a single dresser, one very small closet, and a full size bed. (Yes, we’re still alive to talk about it today. Shocker, I know.) To say it wasn’t difficult would be lying, but it was actually quite doable. However, after finally getting settled into our new little love nest (“love nest” is a bit of an exaggeration when there’s a 3 year old sleeping between you), my parents decided they wanted to move as well. Yes, you read that right. Just one short month after moving in, they put their house up for sale and so began the journey of finding a house large enough for us all to rent. Well, let me back up a little. In the process of us moving in with them, their business (the company that they own), relocated a little over an hour away. After one too many long work days that accompanied a very lengthy drive time, they determined a move was in their best interest. Thus, the search for another house. After weeks of looking, calling, crying, praying, and all but sending out a full on search party, we finally found the perfect house. Once again we packed up what few belongings we had at the time, and moved. We signed a year lease and all commenced to searching for land to build on. Let me just pause for a second and go ahead and let everyone wanting land know that finding and buying land is no easy process. This little escapade was no walk in the park and cannot be in any way compared to purchasing a home already built. It took months and months and a few more months to find land worthy of buying in our price range. And as awful as finding it was, it was nothing compared to actually buying it. One would only assume that when something is for sale that the owner would want to actually sale it. Apparently this isn’t always the case. Once we put our offer in on the land it was literally as if no offer was made at all. No one got in a rush to accept our offer. No one hurried to discuss terms of agreement. Details weren’t important. In fact, the contract took months, yes, MONTHS, to negotiate and finally be accepted. Upon approval, we then had to wait another agonizing amount of time before the contract could even be signed by the seller. But, finally, after the new year and a terribly harsh winter, (that sounds weird considering I live in Georgia, but it’s true, we had over a foot of snow at one point), a closing date was set. Which then was rescheduled. Twice. (I promise you, I am not making this stuff up!) Anyways, moving on, let’s fast forward to May. The end of our one year lease agreement quickly fell upon us and by this time, we barely owned our land, much less had our houses built, so once again, we were on the prow for other living arrangements. After a continuous and tiresome search, we found ourselves moving in with more family. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Why, after a year, had we still not built our forever home? Why does everything I seek to pursue seem to be so out of reach? We had already lived with family for so long, and I desperately needed my own home. But, we were out of options and our family was gracious enough to offer us their home. In the mean time I had found out that I was pregnant with our second child. This news naturally brought us such joy and was a welcomed change of circumstance. It was as if we were finally being given reprieve. Little did we know, however, that the happiness would only last a short moment. Soon after announcing our pregnancy, I found out that I was having a miscarriage. I was devastated, but trusted God’s will. The pain was far greater than I was prepared to handle however, and knew I needed my own little home to nest in. Obviously we didn’t want to purchase a home since we were building a house, and rentals weren’t available for a couple of months so, thanks to the advice of friends and family, we decided to purchase a camper. Yes, we bought a camper to live in! Why not? It’s a tiny house on wheels. When we get tired of the scenery we can just up and move to new! I’m just kidding, I mean we literally can do that, but that was certainly not our driving factor. No, the cost, lack of pressure, no leasing contracts, and no set time frame were just a few obvious reasons. So, as of June 23rd, we have been proud camper owners...or dwellers...or both? Whatever we are, we are exceedingly grateful for our a new little home. I am still learning the tricks of the trade. Such as how to cook in such close quarters without setting off the smoke detector. Or how to wash my hair and shave my legs before running out of hot water. Nevertheless, that’s a story for another day, one of which I cannot wait to share. For now, this is where we are in our lives, and despite not being where I thought we would be, we’re enjoying just filling up the pages of this chapter, and are always praying to be in God’s perfect will.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.” -C. S. Lewis