T minus 3 Days

Wow, it's really been a whirlwind around here lately.  Here is a picture of our foyer full of boxes from the attic that needed sorted-

And it was filled up two times after this with even more boxes/totes.

About 95% of it was given away.

The 1st Goodwill drop off I felt a sudden pang of panic.

The totes of kids clothes from the past 15 years were gone.

We were all in.

No turning back, no turning back.

"I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back."

Philippians 3:14

The wall hangings and knick knacks have been taken down too.  All except a couple things in Little Misses room.  I am having a hard time with that for some reason.

But we only have today and tomorrow to sort.  Then Weds is moving day.  Which for us means moving stuff to the trailer and others are coming to get anything they called dibs on(mainly furniture).

Thursday and Weds will be cleaning days too since we turn over the keys at 3:30 on Thursday.

It feels more real but still not fully wrapping my mind around it.  Only 2 more night in this house.

Wow.

When we bought this house we thought we'd be here till we died.  

"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9

We got word today that the appraisal came back fine, which is what we were anticipating given the feedback from the appraiser.

Ok, better get back to work! Just wanted to give everyone a quick update.

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Appraisal

Quick note to thank everyone for the prayers for our appraisal this past Monday!  The inspector was a Christ follower also and loved to hear about the adventure we are about to embark on.  He also talked about various members of his family who are pastors and about his faith.  It was awesome!

There didn't appear to be any issues that will come up and he said that the report will be done in a week.  He thought that the July 2nd closing date may be pushing it but wasn't positive.  But we are proceeding with what info we have and that's that our closing is still scheduled for next Thursday.

NEXT THURSDAY

Holy Crapola that's soon...

Been trying to go through things but we've been dealing with some sick kids this last week and Baby Girl only wants me.  So we've been using the front carrier a lot but that limits how much bending I can do.  I did tackle the homeschool cabinet today.  

Here is what it looked like before

See why I have been avoiding it?

Feeling a little overwhelmed and it's been surreal.  It hasn't sunk in yet. I took things off the walls and shelves today so that made it feel a bit more real.

Ok, got to hit the hey.  Bubba is leaving for a 3 day missions trip early tomorrow.  Pray that him and the others have a safe trip and that he can be the hands and feet of Jesus to others.  

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Family Pictures!

I was drawn for a free Mom and Me session with a local photographer. It's the lady who did Baby Girl's newborn photos actually.  And since Hubby was at the photo shoot to help corral kids, the photographer was gracious enough to let him jump in for a family pic-

Many, Many Blessings,

The Mama

Inspection Results

So we got through the inspection!  In the end the buyers asked us to take care of a couple electrical issues and that's it.  The repair guy is coming today so that will be done.

We are still waiting on our house to be appraised.  We thought we'd hear from them Tuesday to set up a time but still have no word.

The hard part is that I have been waiting to go through some things and get rid of furniture till after appraisal.

Our closing is set for Thursday July 2nd so I really got to kick it into high gear!!!  That's 14 days!!

And you know how it is.  you want to have everything out a day or two before so you can clean.  And then the new owners will have their final walk through 24 hours beforehand.  So that really leaves like 11-12 days to get stuff sorted and out of here. Of course we still have regular life going on too-jobs to go to, baseball games 3x a week, church camp, mission trips, nursing a 6 month old baby whose going through a growth spurt(meaning she is nursing all the time right now), birthdays, corralling a toddler, fixing meals(ok, we've been eating out a lot. you got me there),etc.  Can't regular life just pause when something like this is happening??

I've kind of disconnected myself from the emotional aspect of all this. I've had to just focus on what needs to be done.  The tears will come later...

On a more cheerful note-here is Baby Girl's 6 month picture:

She's babbling a lot more and just learned to shake her head.  

Many Blessings,

The mama

A Praise and a Prayer

The good news-

Our sidewalks were replaced by the city 8 years ago when we first moved in and it was a hefty bill that the homeowner's had to foot.  We made payments up until our very last one which fell right when Hubby had lost his job in 2012.  So that payment got put as a lien on our house.  We went to go ahead and pay it off today and were told it had already been paid through our escrow account and was taken care of!  That was $500 we didn't have to spend!!  Praise God!



The bad news-

Just heard that the title company is running a week behind which holds pretty much everything up( besides the inspection which is already scheduled).  Can you pray that things get sped up at the title company and that they get to our stuff sooner than expected?

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Inspection

So we got great news today(our family understandably thinks it's awful).  The buyer's lender is not requiring an FHA inspection!!!

Talk about 'An Act of God' !!  

*insert happy dance*

Our buyer is still getting an inspection though.  That's fine with us.  It's actually the same guy that we had inspect the house when we bought it.  He'll be here on Monday.  

I was busy pricing title insurance today along with doing some deacon duties for a family at our church.  I got a very basic grocery list done and Hubby is out now shopping for me as I feed Baby Girl.  

Little Miss is staying a few days with Grandma so I can try to get more done in the house(that's code for get rid of crap).  

I have decided to focus on the house 1st and then the trailer after that.  There is a lot to do but it will get done.

I was greatly reminded of this today:

I told him and he heard!!!  Keep the prayers coming everyone!  

Many Blessings,

The Mama

Offer Accepted

We accepted an offer today.  

It was a bit lower than we wanted but after looking at numbers and ultimately praying about, we decided to trust God that he would make up the difference somehow.

It has been an emotional week to say the least.  You would think 2 years would have prepared us for this but it somehow hasn't.  We had many tears again this week and some panicking and questioning God ("Is this really what you want us to do God?  Because you know, we will be homeless after this...").

I am the first one to say that hope is a good thing.  I hate it when people say,"I don't want to get my hopes up."  I often think and sometimes say, "Why?!  Hope is a good thing!  It's what you do if the situation doesn't turn out how you want it that is the issue.  But hope is never a bad thing."

So what I'm about to say isn't meant to be pessimistic.

The buyers have an FHA loan.

I think my mouth dropped open and the blood drained out of my face when we found this out.  I asked if the lender knew our house was built in 1900 and the buyer said yes.

Older houses often have a hard time passing an FHA inspection.  Things were just different back then with regulations.  It's not that our house is deadly or there are shards of glass sticking out anywhere or holes in the floor that you will fall through.  It's just things like handrails weren't such a big deal back then and a chimney was considered a 'firewall', ya know?

The main thing with an FHA inspection is that the buyer no longer has the choice whether they want that issue fixed or not.  If the FHA inspector says it needs taken care of then it has to be taken care of or the deal is off.

Now, the buyer could potential be the ones to pay for repairs if the sellers won't.  Or the buyers could try to get a conventional loan.  Or the buyers could agree to pay more for the house( if the appraisal supports it) so the seller can have the funds to do repairs.  So there are options if things come up.

I feel like it will take an act of God to get the house past an FHA inspection.  But good news! We see 'acts of God' all the time in our lives as Christ followers!  Those things that seem impossible and insurmountable but then they work themselves out without a hitch.

So there is hope!

If it's in God's will then it will happen, if not, then it won't. Plain and simple.  Takes the pressure off of us.

If everything goes well then we would like to be on the road in August. So pray for the following:

• A good FHA inspector and that anything that comes up requires minimal finances.  
• That the appraisal comes in for enough.  The same  FHA guy that inspects the house will simultaneously do an appraisal. 
• Pray that the underwriters work quickly.  

We are hoping that we will get the inspection/appraisal next week.  I'll keep you posted!!

Many Blessings,

The Mama

"Prepare The Boat"

It has been 2 years( July 1st) since God ambushed us laid this RV thing on our hearts.
 

TWO YEARS

I have been reminded over and over again of Noah and how it took 100 years from when God 1st told him to build a boat for a flood till when the flood actually happened. That is a looong time of preparing and waiting.  I wonder if Noah ever thought,"Is this really going to happen?"

So last month when I was praying earnestly for God to give me wisdom and clarity about where and what we should be spending our money on right now, I was impressed upon with this statement:

PREPARE THE BOAT

Over the next few days when I would wonder if we should do this or that project to the house it would pop in my head again:

PREPARE THE BOAT

Our 'boat' is our RV.  So I made a list of everything we would need to get the RV livable/functional for full-timing it.  And I stopped spending on the house.

We got some bigger ticket items like a Telescoping Ladder, a Weight Distribution Hitch( we settled on an Equalizer), X chocks along with little, but vital things like shoe racks and wire shelving for example.

I bought paint to start on the cabinets too.

I have no idea when our house will sell but I will be obedient and prepare our RV.  It does take faith to do this because it takes up money- money that could be used for other things.  Especially since Hubby has 2 weeks of shut down coming up at his job.  I would like to keep that money as a safety net to be honest.  It makes me feel secure.

But welcome to the world of FAITH!  It is operating WITH OUT a safety net, hence the faith part. And God wants to rely more on him than our bank accounts anyhow.

And guess what?

We had a family look at our house on Sunday who really wants it. They had already been to the bank to apply for a loan for our home.

Sunday night we were texting back and forth offers and answering questions like,"How soon could we take possession of the house?".

In the end we told them what we needed to get out of the house and they were going to talk with the bank to see if that amount was doable.

Tonight they said it was looking good.  They were getting other info to the bank that was requested.

So we'll see how it all shakes out.  Maybe this is the one and this is why God told me to 'prepare the boat.' Maybe it's not but it doesn't change that I will listen, follow and trust him.  

I will keep everyone up to date and will also be taking before and after pictures as we get the RV ready to live in it full time.

How do I feel about all this?  Excited to potentially be done with showings but terrified and sad to leave our family and friends and head into the unknown.

It's been a reality check that's for sure.  

Many Blessings,

The Mama