When a House Becomes a Home

I am sitting in my driveway watching my children play as I type this post, which is a pretty common occurrence; however today it feels different. You see  my husband and I have been together 10 years and during those 10 years we have moved 4 times, which means we have  packed and unpacked boxes, changed and re-changed our address at the post office and on every document known to man, uprooted our lives and attempted to establish the best life we could for our family at our current temporary location 4 times. Luckily for us, when we moved the last 3 times we only had our daughter and she was young so it wasn’t overly traumatizing. The last move we made was 4 1/2 years ago into a lovely neighborhood with lots of kids within a stones throw of where I grew up and where  my parents still live. The house needed a little work but compared to the dumps we had found ourselves living in before it was a mansion. It had a little bit of land and was situated smack dab in the middle of the best part of town so it was like having a little piece of the country in the city. It was perfect except for one thing…it was way out of our price range and we could barely afford the rent. We knew that this would be yet another temporary home and that we shouldn’t get to attached. By the time the first year was up on our lease, I was days away from having my son and the thought of moving was a depressing one. I wasn’t real sure how we were going to manage to pay the rent and pay for another kid, but I was certain I didn’t want to leave . I convinced the landlord to let us stay another year even though she lived out-of-state and really just wanted to sell it so she didn’t have to deal with it anymore. She even said if we would like to paint the kids room we could but it would be at our own expense. We had never had that option before so we jumped on it and gave my daughter the pink princess bedroom she always wanted and gave my son the most awesome nursery I could think of (within budget). We found ourselves in the same predicament yet again 9 months later when we found out that I was pregnant again with our youngest son. God had managed to provide the rent money every month but we were still pretty skeptical about how we were going to pay the rent and feed, cloth, and raise 3 kids, but we again found ourselves begging our landlord to let us stay 1 more year until hopefully we could find something more permanent. She agreed and said she would come down on the sales price a little if we wanted to buy, but our credit was less than perfect and the price was still out of our range. So on went the year and on went the memories. I had now given birth to 2 kids while living in this house, graduated college, began homeschooling, etc. The memories were piling up, my kids were making friends, we were making a life for our family and it felt somewhat stable. I liked this feeling and the thought of leaving it all behind was a sad one. This house that was supposed to be a temporary place of residence was starting to become our home. We spent this past year working diligently to fix our credit so that when the time came to move again we might possibly be able to buy a little something so our kids didn’t have to keep going through this life altering upheaval. When we got to the end of our lease our landlord told us we had 6 months to buy or find something else. So we began the search. We looked and we looked but nothing seemed to be what we were looking for, nothing seemed to be home. The economy had really taken its toll on the housing market so the prices weren’t too bad and I thought well, maybe, just maybe the landlord would come down if we could prove the house was worth way less now, but I wasn’t even sure we could get financed if she did. We prayed, and we prayed, and we prayed and finally decided to take a leap of faith and apply for a home loan because at this point the not knowing was worse than the knowing. The mortgage broker came back and told us that we had been APPROVED for a USDA loan with no money down! I was in shock and still not real sure they had the right people but I was gonna take it. Now came the hard part, getting the landlord to agree to a price in our price range. It was actually easier than I thought…we offered, she agreed. She just wanted to be done with it. So the long process starts and we hit a few bumps along the way but with lots of prayer we muddled through. Tuesday we closed on our house. The house that we have lived in and made memories in for the past 4 1/2 years was finally ours. We didn’t get keys, a garage door opener, or any of the standard closing day riches. Our landlord didn’t even come to the closing as she signed everything from a far. We didn’t have to pack boxes, pick our new rooms, unpack and feel all giddy about our new home like most people who buy their first house. We signed the papers and went back to the same house that we have lived in for the last 4 1/2 years. Nothing was different about that house when we got there, nothing about us had changed except for now we were responsible if something broke, but it was different in a way that I could never explain. We were finally home. No more worrying about moving, no more worrying about how my kids would feel when we left their friends, no more…we were home. My kids are beyond happy and I have to say I am pretty thrilled too. Our house still needs some work, mostly wallpaper removal, paint, new carpet and that will all come in time but they say that home is where the heart is and I know that is the truth because every time I walk through the doors of my house now I know that my heart, and my family belongs here. Little did I know, that if we waited on His perfect timing God had planned for this house to be ours all along. I am grateful for my hardworking husband that made it all possible and a God that takes care of me in ways I don’t deserve. My heart is full of joy, excitement, gratefulness, and love. I am home…Home Sweet Home!!!!

We bought this sign in Tennessee on vacation last year and put it under our bed until we bought a house of our own to hang it on. After closing on Tuesday the sign went up!!!