It's really a tale of three houses, but more on that later. Often we forget about the blessings that surround us because we're busy moving onto the next thing we need to do or want to do or even have to do. But this very true story is written as a reminder to our children and friends as a tale of God's love and faithfulness towards us. It is a reminder to us as well!
Since the passing of my wife's wonderful parents, she had wanted to leave our home of many years to go to one with main floor living spaces. Our kids grew up in a wonderful home with a very large yard, one where we planted every square inch of trees, flowers and shrubs, added fences and paths and a patio, and in later years, a small but charming greenhouse and garden. It was the perfect spot for more than one wedding, numerous parties and BBQs, outdoor dinners with friends and family, large gatherings for church events and more. So many memories wrapped up into a modest house purchased long ago.
The inside was no less perfect for our family of six. Most all the bedrooms were on the top floor with one on the main level and another in the basement where the laundry was located. We were on the top floor with main living areas downstairs. This meant doing laundry required walking from the upper level to the main level and down to the basement several times with arms full of the laundry basket and poor sight lines at best. Not at all a bad set up but one that became of increasing concern for my wife as we got older and all the kids moved out. Her parents had almost the same arrangement in California. Once my father in law fell and was no longer mobile, my wife began to desire a different floorplan for us.
To say I was resistant would be to put it kindly. We had spent years, over three decades in fact, in that very house. We moved to Colorado before any of our children began school, and our fourth child was born here. Since my wife grew up in a Kodak family, they moved often to various states as a kid. My father moved us all too often mostly within Orange County. So much so that when my mother and I counted the places, I lived in 21 different locations by the time I was 18 years old. Only the last six years was spent in two spots. I never really settled anywhere in my heart. Friends were very hard to make as we were constantly shifting around.
When my wife and I married, we both prayed and asked God to give us one location and one house to raise our children through all their school years. And He honored that request. The month before school began for our oldest son, we moved to Colorado and settled into that same house for 35 years. Our kids grew up with the same friends from school and church, and they still have those same friendships today.
Fast forward many years later. The house is now just the two of us. No kids and no more pets. The trees are big, the foliage grown in. Spots of lavender, yellow daisies, and roses. New wooden floors, fresh carpet and paint, new modern lighting, a nicely refreshed kitchen, a leaded glass window by the front door, and bead board embellishment on a prominent wall. Our home was finally truly the way we wanted it.
One day last summer, I was ready. I'm not sure if it was my tiredness over "discussing" the issue or what. But I let my wife know I was ok with the plan to move, so the house search began.
We drove and drove the Metro area, looking at everything that fit our budget, but we also had other priorities. We wanted a house with two living areas so we could host Bible studies and if we desired, could split up men and women for two prayer groups and more personal ministry. We wanted extra bedrooms to host visiting family and friends from all over the world. Lastly, we wanted smaller yard to maintain, but whatever we found had to have lots of mature trees. I just couldn't start all over again.
It was that last piece that eventually caused us to remove new builds from our search list. Every series of models we looked at came with barren plots of dirt and nothing more. The thought of it was quite depressing. I just couldn't go there as our previous backyard was now a mature one and had given us much pleasure be it drinks for two on the patio or large parties and even weddings.
We contacted our realtor, our friend, and had he and his wife take us to a few places. One was nearby in a nice neighborhood, but it was very small and had a basement that had clearly been poorly done, probably been used for a marijuana grow house. The next one was the opposite side of the spectrum- in a beautiful area 15 minutes south of our existing home. It was grand, but it would need both a full basement buildout and an entire paint job on the main floor. One large tree in the background, but it was basically all grass and no plantings of any type.
The next house just down the street was beautiful but small, and no back yard to speak of. Our kids and their spouses would not all fit into one room, making family gatherings hard. Later, we walked into one owner hosted open house that could have been great, but it was marred by so much furniture and a refrigerator in the living room and dark, dark colors that we couldn't see past it all.
Our search continued until we thought we had finally found "the" house. It was about 30 minutes south from two of our local kids. A bit out of our initial price estimate, but it seemed cozy and on a well treed street. Just like in the South, the branches from one side of the road touched or almost touched the branches of those planted on the other. We went by it several times even though the owner had just taken it off the market, thinking that it would return. This is common practice in our area, and the holidays were not too far off. One day, we happened to drive by it, when just ahead of us a woman pulled into the driveway. I hopped out and asked if she was the owner and expressed interest in the house. As it turned out, she graciously told me she had just signed a long term rental agreement, and yes, it was a great house. I was devastated to be honest.
The next evening, my wife was on one of the real estate sites and decided to up our price range by a mere $10K just to see what would happen. Bingo! A great looking house in our favorite neighborhood popped up. Uncharacteristically, she called our friend and asked for a showing that same evening, knowing full well that a house like this one would disappear soon. He set it up.
The floor plan was perfect, and the neighborhood was one we loved. The inside had its issues, but they were easily overcome with time, elbow grease, and some cash: It all needed paint, particularly the dining room that was dark brown with gold and silver flecks- including the ceiling painted the same as the walls. A few other rooms were painted in very bold and bright colors we did not like. The kitchen appliances needed replacing as they were dented, scratched, and in disrepair. The cabinets were a bit beat up. Some needed repair or repainting. I wasn't thrilled about the tile flooring throughout, but only because we had installed incredibly beautiful real wood floors in our existing house a few years prior. The backyard was an all stone patio with a few fully grown trees. No room for new plantings in the ground. The exterior of the house hadn't been painted since it was built twenty years prior- and it looked like it. But these were all fixed with time and some money. Best of all, it was in our price range.
As we were wrapping up our tour, my wife and I felt confident this was the house for us. We could just see ourselves living here! As we were walking out, another family came in for their second look at the house. After a long talk with our friends about the house, we decided to make an offer- and a good one at that. We didn't want to lose this home. The floor plan was hard to find on our general area. And the neighborhood couldn't be beat.
Once our offer was accepted two days later, it was time for all the inspections. Everything looked great- with one not so minor exception: The sewer line would probably need major repairs in the next few years. Major repairs. The broken and troublesome portion ran from the backyard under the sidewalk to the front of the house and then under the driveway to the street. This meant full tear up on all the concrete and then repouring it. Then things got even worse. The electrical lines next to the sewer were entangled with it, meaning they'd have to be pulled and relaid as well. It could be $20k or it could be $50K plus. It was risky, but we still wanted the house. We weren't sure what to do. Our realtor friend suggested we let the seller know the results of the inspection and see if he would make some financial concession for the repair work.
Naturally, we qualified for the loan as we made enough money but more importantly had no debt and a house to sell that was fully paid for. To help us with it all, the interest rate had dropped, and we were able to take advantage of it.
Two nights later, we met with our friends at our realtor's request. It seemed he couldn't sleep the nights before as he was dogged by the thought that this was a disaster waiting to happen to us. The seller had offered $10K off the selling price. It sounded on the low side to us, especially after the realtor revealed he had done further investigation with the inspectors and construction crews. Seems repairs would probably go to the higher end of the estimates. He recommended we drop the offer due to the results of the inspection. Of course, my wife and I had discussed this being a possibility. Even before we drove for this meeting, as much as we wanted this home, we had concluded we would be humble and accept his professional recommendation. But oh, how it hurt to do so. To let go of the "perfect" house. But back on the market it went.
As timing would play out, I had to leave in one week for a 12 day business trip overseas. Even though we were originally scheduled to close on the house a month after I got home, now, we'd be starting all over when I returned. Ugh!
After the dinner with our realtor friends and letting the house go, I went to bed more than a bit sad. But we stopped and prayed. I said, "Lord Jesus, we trust you know best. So, if this wasn't the right house for us, we know you have one for us. Help us find it."
In the middle of the night, I had a dream. In my dream, I felt as if God said to me, "I've seen what you can do. Now, I'm going to show you what I can do." I did not tell my wife about the dream for two weeks. I kept it to myself, and I continued to wait to see how this would play out. Sometimes it can be what I eat for dinner or any other number of factors that can affect my sleep and my dreams. If this was God, He would have to prove himself.
A house with a similar floor plan popped up on the market. We had driven by it when we were looking, but we quickly dismissed it as it was $30K or so more than the top of what we could afford. In fact, this house was one street away from the one we placed a bid on. This day, however, the seller dropped the price $25K! We were intrigued. Could it be? Would this one work?
Naturally, we contacted our realtor for a showing. On the way over to the house, my wife said, "You know, I've been thinking. All I really want to do in the yard is plant a small bit of lavender and a group of yellow daisies." We had done that years ago, and those two plantings had brought her some joy in the summer with their color and/or scent.
Since we arrived about 5 minutes before our friends, we decided to walk up to the front of the house. The exterior paint job was almost the exact same shade of green we had picked out for our current house. The trim was perfect, the door painted with care as well. Fully grown trees in front, including a Japanese Maple- which I had loved since my visit to Japan decades prior. I was cautiously getting excited. There was more to come. Along the walkway, just behind the hedge lining, there were two small plantings: Yes, a bunch of lavender and a bunch of yellow daisies right next to each other. I pointed them out to my wife. It stopped us dead in our tracks. Now, I was getting really excited inside.
Our realtor and his wife pulled up to the house. He came up to greet us, and uncharacteristically said, "What a beautiful house! Much prettier and in better shape than the other one!" Using the door code on the lockbox, we walked inside. What did we find? We were shocked!
The brown, gold, and silver painted room and ceiling of the dining room were instead clean and bright white with a bead board ceiling treatment that was beautiful. The whole house, in fact, was white, having been freshly painted throughout. The living room had been given a board and batten treatment. This was a look my wife had always loved but our old house was laid out in a manner that made doing it impossible. Then, it hit me: as I had taken off my shoes, I realized the whole lower level was hard wood floors throughout. Not an ounce of tile aside from those found in the bathroom. The carpet in the main bedroom was brand new. It was in a style that we really liked but could never afford. Furthermore, the kitchen appliances were in excellent shape, looking brand new as were the cabinets. Every finish, every piece of hardware was just as we had picked out or better. Each part of this house was "our taste". Could it get any better?
Yes, it got better. Every single bedroom was freshly painted, carpeted, and excellently maintained. Bathrooms were immaculate. The best was arguably yet to come.
The backyard was a showstopper! Professionally landscaped with a great patio, a small amount of grass big enough for a picnic, large, mature, and healthy trees and shrubs. Perhaps best of all was a hillside waterfall and pond with a small bridge and outdoor fireplace. I could not believe what I was seeing! It was such a beautiful house inside and out.
We walked inside, and I turned to our realtor friend, "Can we even do this?" His response was uncertainty because it was higher than what he thought we'd qualify for. And the interest rate had just gone back up that day. Additionally, we discovered the house had solar panels, which meant we would have to qualify to pay off those as well in addition to the asking price. My heart sank a bit, but he encouraged us to wait for more information.
A couple of days later, we made an offer. And then I took off for my overseas business trip. Trust me, the waiting game is harder when you're not home and can do nothing to affect the outcome.
Just before I left, I told my wife about the dream I had. If it was truly God, I did not want to shortchange Him of the wonderful thing he had done. Honestly, I was afraid to attribute this to God in case it didn't work out. I am not one to be presumptuous about God or believe in the fully unbiblical "Prosperity Gospel" which turns the all powerful God into a cosmic genie in a bottle with endless wishes to grant. But I did think of the following verse- "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4).
Days later, God showed His Hand- and the miracles began.
While I was overseas, I received a message from my wife. Our offer was accepted. Due to the solar panel issue, things were still uncertain.
After some wise counsel and help from our loan officer (yet another friend), our realtor contacted the seller's agent. The seller agreed to pay off the solar panels. This took the pressure off quite a bit as now we only had to be approved for the agreed upon price. But we were still close to the top as to what we would be approved for.
A couple of days later, all the inspection documents from a previous tentative purchaser were approved by the lending company. The folks before us had were newlyweds and had gotten cold feet in making the purchase, deciding to buy at a much lower price point. But the inspections were still within a few month timeframe and therefore valid for our pending purchase.
The next day, the seller decided to give us a substantial discount due to a somewhat older furnace even though it was in excellent condition and would lats for many more years.
Then to top it all off, our lender discovered we were still within our rights to make use of the lower interest rate we had on offer for the previous house.
All things considered, these changes substantially lowered the amount we had to qualify for. We were approved for the loan. We closed and moved in one week after I returned home from overseas.
In the morning over coffee, we still look at each other in amazement for all God did on our behalf... with no painting or repairs necessary! God is good!
