The Pruning: The New House...

From the get go, I need to confess something to you.

My dream house is a 1970's ranch.

I know.

If you feel the need to back out of the room slowly, I totally understand.

During our last house hunt, in 2011, I saw several ranches.  Some updated.  Some not.  And still others updated but poorly.  I fell in love with them then (except the poorly updated ones) (I'm not into buying someone else's mistakes)  (We can make our own, thank you very much).

The bedrooms were larger.  The kitchens had solid wood cabinets.  The ceilings were lower (and in our land of deregulated energy, that's an important point).  The houses are, by nature, longer, so the lots were wider and, I thought, more functional for things like running and playing.

Chris did not share my enthusiasm.

He thought exactly what most of you probably think.  They were dark and old and stuffy.  He saw lots of wood paneled rooms and wooden baseboards and brown cabinets.  And short bathroom vanities.

(Incidentally, why is that?  Were people shorter 40 years ago?)

Three years into our vaulted ceiling, laminate cabinets and second story, he said those sweet words all humans (much less wives) long to hear...

"You were right."

Well.  Of course I was.

Now, thanks to HGTV and Fixer Upper, it's all the rage to buy rundown 70's ranches and turn them into modern day dream homes.  So lot's of folks are on the hunt for those things now.  But I needed y'all to know I LOVED THEM FIRST.

I tell you that to get you caught up on our house hunt.

Houses sell around here in hours.  Even in the areas we were looking in, they go in just a few days.  A weekend maybe.  So on a Friday, I saw several houses pop up as possibilities.  My realtor set up the appointments for Saturday morning.  The kids and I went to the gym and then loaded up for a fun time of exploring new places.

The first one we had scheduled was a remodeled 1970's ranch on an acre lot.

It was gorgeous.

I stood there in the kitchen.  Looking out of the window over the kitchen sink and cried.  My view of of a huge backyard surrounded by trees.  Plenty of room to run and play and jump and climb.

Then my realtor said, If you want to put an offer in, we'll need to hurry.  There's already one offer.

I told him to call the seller's agent and tell her WAIT FOR US.  I needed to talk with Chris.  He was at graduation and I knew there was no way I could talk to him until that night.

As we drove away, I pleaded with my Father.  Please, Lord.  That's the house.  That's OUR house.  Please.

We saw two more houses that day.  Both bigger but both were on lots about the size of our current house.  Which, in case you've forgotten, was .13 of an acre.

Point. One. Three.

Rhys fell asleep while we were driving home so I got AK some ice cream and called Mom.  I was so excited.  I couldn't wait to tell her about THE HOUSE.  I just KNEW it was meant to be ours.

But it wasn't.

My realtor called me about 20 minutes later to say the seller's had accepted the first offer.

I was crushed.

Depressed, truthfully.  Chris was perplexed.  He did not at all understand how I could have gotten that attached to a house we never even made an offer on.

The night was long.  What with me pleading and questioning God.

All along this journey, my desire has only been to be found faithful.  Give up a small group?  Okay.  Let go of our house?  Sure.  Wait for the house You provide?  Yes sir.  Pay off debt and downsize?  Absolutely.  Move to a new area?  Yes, to wherever.

So why, after all that, was I crying myself to sleep over losing a house?  Why was that house not THE ONE?  How long would we have to wait?  

Let's not forget...12 days to homeless.  

Honestly, I felt like this was another thing God was calling me to release.  My dream of a remodeled home on a larger-than-the-average-Texas-neighborhood-lot.  

The next morning, just after church, another house came on the market.  

It's kinda odd for houses to hit the market on a Sunday.  It was unexpected.  When I opened up the info, I really liked the house.  Not my dream ranch, but completely move in ready.  New paint, new flooring, new appliances and EMPTY.

The empty part is important because, again, 12 days to homeless.

Of course, there was a downside to the house.

A pool.

Chris said it was up to me if we wanted to see the house.  No pressure, or anything.  I mean, look, we're gonna be moving in with our parents soon and this house is really nice and all, but you just TAKE.YOUR.TIME.  Whatever.

(He didn't say any of that.  I THOUGHT all of that.)

After church, I made a Walmart run.  Alone.  Spent the entire time, which included plenty of time for me to wonder around aimlessly, thinking about the house.  

And I decided it was worth looking at. 

If we got there and the entire backyard was a pool, it was a no.  But if we got there and the house and lot were awesome and it just HAPPENED to have a pool, then we'd consider it.

Again, let me remind you, houses sell in days.  Hours, sometimes.  The amount of time we had to "think" was pretty limited.

After lunch, we drove out there, just the four of us, to take a look at the lot.  When we drove up, there was already a family looking at the house.  At this point, it had been on the market for five or six hours.  A drive around the block (or several drives around the block) and the family finished their visit so we could take a peak at the backyard.

The backyard was huge.  The side yard was huge.  The pool was gorgeous.  And so was the covered patio and deck.

We called our realtor.

An hour later, we were in the house.  An hour after that, we were making an offer.  An hour after that, the seller's accepted.

A house.  And a pool.

The next several days were filled with lots of anxious prayers and discussions with Chris.  We knew we loved the house but a pool?

Over the next weeks, we visited the house several times.  I poured over pictures.  Made plans for furniture.  Strategized the kitchen organization.  Looked for fabrics.

My anxieties were calmed more and more each day.  Some in watching my kids learning to swim.  Rhys is well on his way to being a fish.  Even Aubrey Kate, despite all her protests, was doing remarkably well in a short amount of time.

And then God began showing me, in many ways, this house could be the answer to my long-prayed request for Him to "fill my house."

I started finding Love Notes from God all over the house.

Unbelievably, I would only lose two cabinets in the kitchen.  TWO.  The cabinets are actually WOOD.  Imagine.  No more peeling laminate.  My pantry is equally as big as our last house.  And it's better laid out.  It has more shelves because it wraps all the way around the pantry instead of on just two walls.  Thanks to those two things, I have not had to give up any...ANY...of my beloved hospitality pieces.  Not a cake plate.  Not a single crystal glass.  Not even a chalk board sign.

God's Love Note #1.

The kids' rooms are larger.  Truly, the rooms feel huge.  And we have a "study" which we will be using as a guest room/playroom.  So my kids will have plenty of space to play in their rooms AND still have a space to store toys outside their rooms.  That leaves them with more floor space.  AK's room, specifically, was really cramped in the last house.  It was hard to play her memory game in her tiny floor.  Now she has ample memory game floor space.

Plus, there's still plenty of wrestling space.  Because PRIORITIES.

Bigger rooms and a playroom/guest room = plenty of places to play with visitors and a place for visitors to stay.

God's Love Note #2.

Our living room is larger.  The last house had an odd, cramped layout.  This one is more spread out.  We don't have a fireplace but that's incredibly okay.  We rarely used it.  Without it, we have more useable wall space and more flexibility with furniture arrangement. The living room also feeds directly onto the patio and deck.  Really, that extends our living space significantly.  We have ample space for visitors to, well, visit.

God's Love Note #3.

The dining room is larger.  My end chairs actually FIT on the end of my dining room table!  They did not in the last house.  In fact, the dining room table barely fit in the space.  It was awkward and crazy crowded when people, you know, actually SAT at the dining room table.  Now we have plenty of room to walk and sit and visit.  AND the dining room is connected to the kitchen instead of down the hall.  In fact, the kitchen table and the dining room table are next to each other.  We can seat 14 people between the two tables and the separation is minimal.  It's fabulous.

God's Love Note #4.

And obviously, our yard is bigger.  It's a third of an acre.  More than double what we had.  Our backyard green space is about the size we had.  Only wide instead of long.  We have a covered deck and patio so plenty of room for us to grill, eat or just sit outside.  The pool is gorgeous with a waterfall and lights we can change from white to red to green to orange.  You know, for holidays. And football season. The side yard is huge and the front yard has a big tree just perfect for climbing.

We feel like we're on vacation almost every day.  Swim, grill out dinner, eat...all that can be done outside.  Such a blessing for our family.  These are the days and memories that will make up my children's childhood.  Easy days spent together.  I get teary thinking about it.

God's Love Note #5

We have ZERO windows directly across from us.  The view out the kitchen window is our neighbor's house but that's the only window without a nice view.  Even that window looks directly (and by "directly," I mean 15 feet away.  Which, as a reminder, is far better than the six we had previously) at their brick house instead of one of their windows.  With all that space around us, the house is bright and cheery.  Even though we no longer have vaulted ceilings, the house feels more open and airy simply because the sunlight can actually reach our windows.  No more waiting for snow on our neighbor's roof to reflect light into the house.

God's Love Note #6

And let's just get to the heart of the matter with the pool.  During those days of the option period, when we knew we COULD walk away from the deal if we felt led, we questioned just about everything.  We have a friend who used to own a pool business and currently has his own pool.  We talked with him about the expense and the time involved with maintence.  And honestly, we were surprised.  The expense and the time were completely manageable. Because we were saving so much on property taxes, lower house payment and insurance, we could give a little on the energy costs.  

We also had to consider what a pool means.  

And let's face it, a pool means people.  With the pool, we can be the place were people can gather.  We can invite the kids' friends, our friends and Chris' colleagues over and actually have something to draw them here.  Who says no to a pool?!?!?  

We've been praying for God to "fill our house" and He answered by giving us a house, a yard and a pool designed for hospitality.  

God's Love Note #7

My heart wants to explode with gratitude.  I cry every time I think about it.

Both sets of parents have been here now and both have said, "Y'all will be so happy here."  And heaven knows, we feel the same way.  But our prayer isn't that we will ONLY be happy here but that God will use the house (and, yes, even the pool) to build His Kingdom.  

Sometimes, what you think is the answer to your prayers (the remodeled 1970's ranch) is not the answer but the preparation.  God needed to remind me, by putting the two houses right next to each other in our search, that His plans are better than my own.  What I thought I wanted wasn't at all what I needed.  I needed THIS house.  

I got everything I thought I would get in that 1970's ranch.  A larger lot.  Larger bedrooms.  Wood cabinets.  Lower ceilings.  One story.  And we DID NOT get things like possible lead paint, old, leaky windows, poor insulation, and questionable wiring.

God is good.

I'll post pictures as I finish getting rooms done.  I am in LOVE with decorating and unpacking this place.  Every day, I fall more in love.  

 Here is The House.  Or The Nest.  Don't you just love that tree???  Rhys is gonna almost kill himself on that thing.  Oh, the memories he will make!

And here is The Pool!  It looks much larger than it is.  But it is by far big enough for my littles and ten or so friends.  So when are YOU coming to visit?

This is the day we saw the house.  The kids couldn't resist.  They were soaked and it was totally worth it.

And THIS is my favorite new addition to the house.  I'm practically drooling over it.  Yummy.  Since we don't have a fireplace (or a mantel), I'm creating focal points.  This door is gorgeous.

Thank you for praying with us through this season.  We are grateful and humbled.  Now we move on from The Pruning into the next season, which we are praying, will be a season of sowing and growing.  Being here, in this new season, is amazing.  And filled with absolute anticipation!