This song seriously moves me,...always trust, no matter what you face. He will never leave you or forsake you.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
pics!! (see previous post for house update)
Details...the house has 4 BR plus an office room on the main floor (the 5th!) 2.5 bath, 2600+sq ft, ...here is the front + yard pics, notice the hot tub on the back bricked patio ;) anyone wanna come over and hang this summer in my hot pool? :) It's also wired for outdoor sound.
the basement isn't finished, which is fine because we can do what we want...
standing in the kitchen, you can see the HUGE family room (26x17!!)...
(oh and thats a real fireplace!! not gas)
more family room...
standing in FR looking into kitchen/eat in area... the back patio is out where you see the door wall on the far right...
standing in kitchen hall looking down mudroom hallway (to the right) and FR to the left...
half bath...
laundry... (the wall directly to the left is coming down so I can have 2 sets of W&D ;)
kitchen....thermador appliances, touch cooktop, downdraft fan, double oven, mega storage, built in trash can (seriously my fav thing LOL), corian counter tops...this is l<3ve!
dining room... (big enough for my table!! :) )
family room...
upstairs...bedrooms, bathrooms...hardwood floors, upgraded carpet, tile, you name it!!
I took way more than this, but this post is long enough...you want to see the rest you have to come for a visit ;)
the basement isn't finished, which is fine because we can do what we want...
standing in the kitchen, you can see the HUGE family room (26x17!!)...
(oh and thats a real fireplace!! not gas)
more family room...
standing in FR looking into kitchen/eat in area... the back patio is out where you see the door wall on the far right...
standing in kitchen hall looking down mudroom hallway (to the right) and FR to the left...
half bath...
laundry... (the wall directly to the left is coming down so I can have 2 sets of W&D ;)
kitchen....thermador appliances, touch cooktop, downdraft fan, double oven, mega storage, built in trash can (seriously my fav thing LOL), corian counter tops...this is l<3ve!
dining room... (big enough for my table!! :) )
family room...
upstairs...bedrooms, bathrooms...hardwood floors, upgraded carpet, tile, you name it!!
I took way more than this, but this post is long enough...you want to see the rest you have to come for a visit ;)
Inspection,...check. *house update*
So...the inspection went down yesterday without a hitch. Everything in the house checked out great, the inspector was incredibly picky and even had trouble finding a few tiny (read normal spring maintenance) issues that were there, otherwise it passed with flying colors.
We were there for the better part of 3 hours and by the time we left the current owner came back so we actually got a chance to meet him.
While we were there i got roughly 30+ pics, a few of which I will share here in a sec.
The biggest issue at this point is the appraisal. Housing values here in MI are not nearly what they used to be. Because of this homeowners have lost mega amounts of value, leaving them one of a few choices, none of which are in favor of the seller.
In the case of this house, our original offer was 5K under asking price, plus closing. They countered with $100. over asking, plus closing. We accepted quickly because at the time we felt this house was (and still is) a perfect fit for us in so many ways. What I had not thought about, and now wished I had was the prospect that the house might not appraise for what the offer was. When the seller countered, his realtor passed on the info that they knew this might be the case but they would cross that bridge when they came to it. We had honestly considered first off offering exactly what they countered SOOO....that was why we agreed so quickly, not really thinking what this could mean long term.
I say that, not to sound like we no longer want this house, we so want this house!! lol, I say that because this week I realized that there is only a slight chance that this house will still be ours at the end of the month. The reason for that is this...
one of four things *could* potentially happen here.
If the house does appraise for what we offered, fine, no problems. This option while easiest on all parties involved isn't very likely. We have pulled comparables in the area and there either are none, or ones much less in price than what we offered. because of that, if the appraiser is more conservative (which according to our realtor has been the norm more than not lately...) then the chance is very good that it will not appraise for the offer amount.
If it does not, then 1 of 3 things could happen...
1. he could offer the house to us at appraisal plus closing.
2. he could offer it at appraisal value and offer no closing.
3. he could offer it higher than appraisal, asking us to pay or split the difference and he would still pay closing.
sadly...options 2 or 3 will mean we have to walk. Not only walk, but walk away having lost over $700 on this whole ordeal, and still with no house.
This hit me this week and I got really pissed at myself. If you know me you know I don't typically make snap financial decisions. And while in retrospect this wasn't, looking at the situation from this point of view has left me feeling less than positive about the situation I guess you could say and feeling the *if only I had thought about that* feeling all week long. Nothing I hate more than wasting money. Anyway, at this point I figure if it does go according to option #1, I will feel it was meant to be.
I'd like to sit here and think sure...it could happen. But the logical side of me knows that while this guy seemed really nice, it doesn't mean he is willing to come down that much in price either and still pay closing . This house had only been on the market 2 weeks when we made our offer...not long considering today's booming market with 50 bazillion houses for sale. The next door neighbor even mentioned that they had a lot of traffic in that amount of time. So, he could technically hold out waiting for a top $ offer. This would then mean we are out that $. Losing the house...that would suck. But losing my $700 on top of it? That would seriously tick me off to put it mildly.
So, with all that said at this point we are in a waiting period. The appraisal will be ordered this week but it's VA so it may take them a good 2 weeks to come out (hopefully not too much longer). The good news is, we are still at the top of the list for the short sale house, IF this one does fall through we have another option waiting in the wings. (only $700 less off :/ )
I tell you what...whoever said this was a buyer's market right now, failed to mention the obstacles one must jump through right now in order to get one of those many houses out there. I'm so ready to have this over with...
We were there for the better part of 3 hours and by the time we left the current owner came back so we actually got a chance to meet him.
While we were there i got roughly 30+ pics, a few of which I will share here in a sec.
The biggest issue at this point is the appraisal. Housing values here in MI are not nearly what they used to be. Because of this homeowners have lost mega amounts of value, leaving them one of a few choices, none of which are in favor of the seller.
In the case of this house, our original offer was 5K under asking price, plus closing. They countered with $100. over asking, plus closing. We accepted quickly because at the time we felt this house was (and still is) a perfect fit for us in so many ways. What I had not thought about, and now wished I had was the prospect that the house might not appraise for what the offer was. When the seller countered, his realtor passed on the info that they knew this might be the case but they would cross that bridge when they came to it. We had honestly considered first off offering exactly what they countered SOOO....that was why we agreed so quickly, not really thinking what this could mean long term.
I say that, not to sound like we no longer want this house, we so want this house!! lol, I say that because this week I realized that there is only a slight chance that this house will still be ours at the end of the month. The reason for that is this...
one of four things *could* potentially happen here.
If the house does appraise for what we offered, fine, no problems. This option while easiest on all parties involved isn't very likely. We have pulled comparables in the area and there either are none, or ones much less in price than what we offered. because of that, if the appraiser is more conservative (which according to our realtor has been the norm more than not lately...) then the chance is very good that it will not appraise for the offer amount.
If it does not, then 1 of 3 things could happen...
1. he could offer the house to us at appraisal plus closing.
2. he could offer it at appraisal value and offer no closing.
3. he could offer it higher than appraisal, asking us to pay or split the difference and he would still pay closing.
sadly...options 2 or 3 will mean we have to walk. Not only walk, but walk away having lost over $700 on this whole ordeal, and still with no house.
This hit me this week and I got really pissed at myself. If you know me you know I don't typically make snap financial decisions. And while in retrospect this wasn't, looking at the situation from this point of view has left me feeling less than positive about the situation I guess you could say and feeling the *if only I had thought about that* feeling all week long. Nothing I hate more than wasting money. Anyway, at this point I figure if it does go according to option #1, I will feel it was meant to be.
I'd like to sit here and think sure...it could happen. But the logical side of me knows that while this guy seemed really nice, it doesn't mean he is willing to come down that much in price either and still pay closing . This house had only been on the market 2 weeks when we made our offer...not long considering today's booming market with 50 bazillion houses for sale. The next door neighbor even mentioned that they had a lot of traffic in that amount of time. So, he could technically hold out waiting for a top $ offer. This would then mean we are out that $. Losing the house...that would suck. But losing my $700 on top of it? That would seriously tick me off to put it mildly.
So, with all that said at this point we are in a waiting period. The appraisal will be ordered this week but it's VA so it may take them a good 2 weeks to come out (hopefully not too much longer). The good news is, we are still at the top of the list for the short sale house, IF this one does fall through we have another option waiting in the wings. (only $700 less off :/ )
I tell you what...whoever said this was a buyer's market right now, failed to mention the obstacles one must jump through right now in order to get one of those many houses out there. I'm so ready to have this over with...
Sunday, April 11, 2010
House update later this evening...
I know I probably should have updated several days ago, however due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding the house and the current market here in MI, I've held back. There is still a chance that this house might not be ours at the end of this long drawn out game.
Today is the first of 2 hurdles...this one being the inspection, i'm assuming it will pass no problems what with it being completely remodeled not 8 yrs ago top to bottom, but you also never know. The second is the reason I've held back but I'll go into detail more later including hopefully some pics to share, camera battery is charged and ready ;)
Today is the first of 2 hurdles...this one being the inspection, i'm assuming it will pass no problems what with it being completely remodeled not 8 yrs ago top to bottom, but you also never know. The second is the reason I've held back but I'll go into detail more later including hopefully some pics to share, camera battery is charged and ready ;)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Simplicity and the child's wardrobe.
Simple. This is a word that has become a favorite of mine over the last several years of my life.
It started I believe as a child, I always admired the way some people seemed to manage to live on very little, do without certain things, etc. As an adult it became more important to me, especially after I started having kids due to my serious distaste for commercialism. Granted, I won't sit here and deny that at times I like to indulge myself, but that's more or less that over compelling mommy guilt for not giving into the latest, greatest, best and most mindset of *things* that a kid must or must not have in order to be raised.
For example...have you ever seen those "studies" where one concludes that it takes 1 point whatever million dollars to raise 1 child? It's studies like those that imho cause many young people and couples to either severely limit the amount of children they have, or not have any at all because of that incredibly large (and inaccurate) amount of money. While I am not a total expert on this (yet lol) I will tell you that that is not even close to the true amount that you CAN choose to raise a child on.
So, keeping that in mind, I have increasingly spent the years while having our kids trying to find ways to cut down on not only how much we spend, but our influx of *stuff* in this house. I'll admit, I still have a LONG way to go in this area myself. I am constantly reevaluating what we need or don't need. Sometimes I don't purge/save enough, and other times I'm a bit overzealous in terms of minimizing and I end up regretting it later.
One of my biggest struggles at the moment is the clothing situation. The truth is...I love clothes. When we were struggling financially years ago it wasn't such an issue because we had no money, so I had no $ to spend, period. Now however, I find myself drawn to anything even remotely cute on a hanger. Because of that I feel I really sabotaged myself this winter because my kids had way more clothing than they needed. Top this off with the clothing storage I'm still purging from years past (i've always been one to save and pass on to the next kid in order to save $, even Lettie has stuff from Susie, yeah 14 years...thats a bit much!),and you've got a crazy amount of clothing in this already cramped house.
A few years back a friend of mine who had 7 kids and I were having a conversation about the sheer amount of storage space needed to hold onto clothing for an extra large family. It was then that she shared with me that after #6 she made the decision to no longer hold onto stuff because it was simply too much. Too much space needed, and way too much time needed to go through it 2 times a year (that's a huge one, its not so much just the storage part, its finding time in the spring and fall to take inventory, then go supplement shopping for the rest). This conversation set me free. It was at that point (about 2 years ago) that I started really purging what I had, and stopped adding to it.
There are however a few things that do not fall into this category. Ex: winter coats, snow boots/pants, hats/gloves/scarves, pajama's and shoes (on a limited basis). Also if they have an outfit that is really spectacular and nice I might hold onto it if there is a kid that will wear it within a year or two under them (ex: Cessa has an expensive dress that Sadie will grow into next year). These things do go into large tubs and are stored. Let's face it...snow boots for 8 kids x $30 a pop each year could get incredibly pricey. Things like this are worth the little bit of space they consume. Pajama's might seem odd too, but in a large family they are kind of a rarity at times. When we were struggling financially there were many summers where my little ones wore over sized t-shirts on occasion. For a family that cannot afford much, this sort of thing can be a norm. So for us I do hold onto jammies if they are in good condition and again if another child coming up in the ranks will wear it within a reasonable amount of time.
With all that said, back to simplicity. As much as I have been purging the basement for 2 years, I pretty much messed myself up by over buying for my kids this past fall/winter. One of the problems is as of late we have not been given nearly as many hand me downs as in years past, especially for my younger kids. So I went out and started buying little bits here and there, only later to be given hand me downs, thus creating a larger than expected amount of clothing. I spent most of Jan/feb down sizing, but still felt it wasn't enough. It was then that I came up with an idea to help simplify this whole problem.
For this season we are heading into, I created a list of specifically what each child needed in their wardrobe. I allowed for 10 days worth of clothing each, 3 pairs of jammies (4-5 for the 2 youngest as they tend to wet or dirty theirs more often), a few warm items (2 jeans, 2 hoodies or a jacket for cooler weather)..and 3 pairs of shoes each (dress, tennis shoes and beach shoes such as crocs or flip flops). I have the list in my purse and as I buy or am given an item it gets marked off and once I reach the limit, no more period. So far this has already cut down big time on what is in the dressers, closets & laundry.
Also, the bigger thing in my mind is the whole concept of living a more simple life. The kids still have what they need, and we are able to buy a few nicer things because we aren't spending as much. Also as far as the teenage years go, at least with my daughter who is 15, she has pretty much stopped growing so for her the expense is even less because I'm not having to replace as much since she is no longer growing. I'm able to buy her nicer things that will last since they won't need to be replaced nearly as quickly.
Overall this has come at a great time for us with the impending move. A lot of the houses we have looked at, because I refuse to buy a 3000+ sq ft house have been smaller on the storage side. At first I felt conflicted about this, until I realized that honestly it was right in line with what we as a family are trying to accomplish and teach. I want my children to grow up only using what they need in this life time...not only from a green perspective (carbon footprint, very important to me!) but also in terms of learning to be satisfied with having just enough. It's not that I want to deny my kids anything...on the contrary. I want my children to learn to be thankful for what they have, and focus more on things that matter (relationships, growing, learning, giving...etc.) versus stuff. I am always reminded of people in other parts of the world that live with much less than we American's have (or think we need) to live on. These people do not by any means live a substandard life, they live a richer life because stuff isn't there to crowd out the important things in life.
How many people have ever looked at a room that was full of *stuff* and felt overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning it. And on the flip side, have you ever dove into a room like that, only to come out on the other side feeling like a 100 lb weight had been lifted? There is a reason that simplicity is important, because things cannot buy us happiness and too much stuff isn't a good thing. Things crowd out what matters most in life. Things consume more of our money than is necessary. Things at times have importance, true. I don't know about you but i personally don't want to live in a LR without furniture to sit on lol....that's not what I'm saying, I'm simply saying (pun) that simplifying is freeing and its never to late to take on that perspective regardless of the past.
With that said, I have laundry to get too ;) the last of the fall/winter stuff that will be getting donated as soon as I get it done. Which reminds me,...one thing i do need more of is a second set of W&D, seriously....I know once I get that second set in the new house I'm going to wonder what i ever did without it lol. I'll be able to get the laundry done in half the time, and for a family this size and my schedule that is going to be a huge time saver.
It started I believe as a child, I always admired the way some people seemed to manage to live on very little, do without certain things, etc. As an adult it became more important to me, especially after I started having kids due to my serious distaste for commercialism. Granted, I won't sit here and deny that at times I like to indulge myself, but that's more or less that over compelling mommy guilt for not giving into the latest, greatest, best and most mindset of *things* that a kid must or must not have in order to be raised.
For example...have you ever seen those "studies" where one concludes that it takes 1 point whatever million dollars to raise 1 child? It's studies like those that imho cause many young people and couples to either severely limit the amount of children they have, or not have any at all because of that incredibly large (and inaccurate) amount of money. While I am not a total expert on this (yet lol) I will tell you that that is not even close to the true amount that you CAN choose to raise a child on.
So, keeping that in mind, I have increasingly spent the years while having our kids trying to find ways to cut down on not only how much we spend, but our influx of *stuff* in this house. I'll admit, I still have a LONG way to go in this area myself. I am constantly reevaluating what we need or don't need. Sometimes I don't purge/save enough, and other times I'm a bit overzealous in terms of minimizing and I end up regretting it later.
One of my biggest struggles at the moment is the clothing situation. The truth is...I love clothes. When we were struggling financially years ago it wasn't such an issue because we had no money, so I had no $ to spend, period. Now however, I find myself drawn to anything even remotely cute on a hanger. Because of that I feel I really sabotaged myself this winter because my kids had way more clothing than they needed. Top this off with the clothing storage I'm still purging from years past (i've always been one to save and pass on to the next kid in order to save $, even Lettie has stuff from Susie, yeah 14 years...thats a bit much!),and you've got a crazy amount of clothing in this already cramped house.
A few years back a friend of mine who had 7 kids and I were having a conversation about the sheer amount of storage space needed to hold onto clothing for an extra large family. It was then that she shared with me that after #6 she made the decision to no longer hold onto stuff because it was simply too much. Too much space needed, and way too much time needed to go through it 2 times a year (that's a huge one, its not so much just the storage part, its finding time in the spring and fall to take inventory, then go supplement shopping for the rest). This conversation set me free. It was at that point (about 2 years ago) that I started really purging what I had, and stopped adding to it.
There are however a few things that do not fall into this category. Ex: winter coats, snow boots/pants, hats/gloves/scarves, pajama's and shoes (on a limited basis). Also if they have an outfit that is really spectacular and nice I might hold onto it if there is a kid that will wear it within a year or two under them (ex: Cessa has an expensive dress that Sadie will grow into next year). These things do go into large tubs and are stored. Let's face it...snow boots for 8 kids x $30 a pop each year could get incredibly pricey. Things like this are worth the little bit of space they consume. Pajama's might seem odd too, but in a large family they are kind of a rarity at times. When we were struggling financially there were many summers where my little ones wore over sized t-shirts on occasion. For a family that cannot afford much, this sort of thing can be a norm. So for us I do hold onto jammies if they are in good condition and again if another child coming up in the ranks will wear it within a reasonable amount of time.
With all that said, back to simplicity. As much as I have been purging the basement for 2 years, I pretty much messed myself up by over buying for my kids this past fall/winter. One of the problems is as of late we have not been given nearly as many hand me downs as in years past, especially for my younger kids. So I went out and started buying little bits here and there, only later to be given hand me downs, thus creating a larger than expected amount of clothing. I spent most of Jan/feb down sizing, but still felt it wasn't enough. It was then that I came up with an idea to help simplify this whole problem.
For this season we are heading into, I created a list of specifically what each child needed in their wardrobe. I allowed for 10 days worth of clothing each, 3 pairs of jammies (4-5 for the 2 youngest as they tend to wet or dirty theirs more often), a few warm items (2 jeans, 2 hoodies or a jacket for cooler weather)..and 3 pairs of shoes each (dress, tennis shoes and beach shoes such as crocs or flip flops). I have the list in my purse and as I buy or am given an item it gets marked off and once I reach the limit, no more period. So far this has already cut down big time on what is in the dressers, closets & laundry.
Also, the bigger thing in my mind is the whole concept of living a more simple life. The kids still have what they need, and we are able to buy a few nicer things because we aren't spending as much. Also as far as the teenage years go, at least with my daughter who is 15, she has pretty much stopped growing so for her the expense is even less because I'm not having to replace as much since she is no longer growing. I'm able to buy her nicer things that will last since they won't need to be replaced nearly as quickly.
Overall this has come at a great time for us with the impending move. A lot of the houses we have looked at, because I refuse to buy a 3000+ sq ft house have been smaller on the storage side. At first I felt conflicted about this, until I realized that honestly it was right in line with what we as a family are trying to accomplish and teach. I want my children to grow up only using what they need in this life time...not only from a green perspective (carbon footprint, very important to me!) but also in terms of learning to be satisfied with having just enough. It's not that I want to deny my kids anything...on the contrary. I want my children to learn to be thankful for what they have, and focus more on things that matter (relationships, growing, learning, giving...etc.) versus stuff. I am always reminded of people in other parts of the world that live with much less than we American's have (or think we need) to live on. These people do not by any means live a substandard life, they live a richer life because stuff isn't there to crowd out the important things in life.
How many people have ever looked at a room that was full of *stuff* and felt overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning it. And on the flip side, have you ever dove into a room like that, only to come out on the other side feeling like a 100 lb weight had been lifted? There is a reason that simplicity is important, because things cannot buy us happiness and too much stuff isn't a good thing. Things crowd out what matters most in life. Things consume more of our money than is necessary. Things at times have importance, true. I don't know about you but i personally don't want to live in a LR without furniture to sit on lol....that's not what I'm saying, I'm simply saying (pun) that simplifying is freeing and its never to late to take on that perspective regardless of the past.
With that said, I have laundry to get too ;) the last of the fall/winter stuff that will be getting donated as soon as I get it done. Which reminds me,...one thing i do need more of is a second set of W&D, seriously....I know once I get that second set in the new house I'm going to wonder what i ever did without it lol. I'll be able to get the laundry done in half the time, and for a family this size and my schedule that is going to be a huge time saver.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
more house play by play... got the ball & headed for the inzone!
WE GOT A HOUSE!!!!
Excited....yes! Scared, omgosh horribly lol. I cold hardly sleep last night thanks to our offer being accepted and my hubby, but this post is not the time to go there rofl!
So the news is, yes they accepted our offer. Well, actually we put in the offer (5K less than asking price) and he countered at asking +closing costs, which we had planned to offer anyway from the get go so it was fine.
Now onto inspection, and then appraisal. This is where it could get sticky of course because there is a really good chance that it won't appraise for what we have offered, so if thats the case....not sure what will happen at this point. I know we can't come up with the difference, he'll have to drop the price otherwise we will have to walk :( THAT would seriously suck, esp after having paid for the inspection up front, but its a chance we are willing to take at this point.
This house is not the short sale house though, I do not miss that drama, geesh. This is a private seller.
I'll share more details about the house later :) I'm currently trying to list diapers for sale because cloth diapering has fallen to the way side right now and I have no idea when i will pick it back up, I literally have no time to give at this point so that had to go. All my pockets are being sold, but I'm keeping my fitteds and some of the wool to use maybe once we move and get settled in. I hope we are able to get this one and all goes well. And what would be extra nice is if we got it cheaper than what we offered...a cheap-girl can hope right? :)
Excited....yes! Scared, omgosh horribly lol. I cold hardly sleep last night thanks to our offer being accepted and my hubby, but this post is not the time to go there rofl!
So the news is, yes they accepted our offer. Well, actually we put in the offer (5K less than asking price) and he countered at asking +closing costs, which we had planned to offer anyway from the get go so it was fine.
Now onto inspection, and then appraisal. This is where it could get sticky of course because there is a really good chance that it won't appraise for what we have offered, so if thats the case....not sure what will happen at this point. I know we can't come up with the difference, he'll have to drop the price otherwise we will have to walk :( THAT would seriously suck, esp after having paid for the inspection up front, but its a chance we are willing to take at this point.
This house is not the short sale house though, I do not miss that drama, geesh. This is a private seller.
I'll share more details about the house later :) I'm currently trying to list diapers for sale because cloth diapering has fallen to the way side right now and I have no idea when i will pick it back up, I literally have no time to give at this point so that had to go. All my pockets are being sold, but I'm keeping my fitteds and some of the wool to use maybe once we move and get settled in. I hope we are able to get this one and all goes well. And what would be extra nice is if we got it cheaper than what we offered...a cheap-girl can hope right? :)
oooh looky! American Idol MOM contest, kinda cool...
http://www.electroluxappliances.com/momidol?utm_source=Glam_|__|_Glam_FamilyVerticalBlitz_160x600_|_160x600_mom_yrself.swf&utm_medium=display_Flash&utm_content=160x600_mom_yrself.swf&utm_campaign=camp_Q2%20Mom%20Idol%20Plan
Monday, April 5, 2010
Mama got fresh ink ;)
I fully admit I'm an addict lol. I love tatt's, done tastefully of course.
Here is my latest and greatest, it is official...St Joan of Arc is now a part of me. I will be adding to this over the new year as time permits. I would have had more done this last round but this was about all this sissy could take. Shoulder blades hurt to get a tatt done on. Eventually the vine will travel a little over my shoulder and slightly down my arm just a tad...I might also tie it into my lower back one (btw I had my lower back tatt way before the ever popular tramp stamp came on the scene so don't even go there :P ). Ink is <3.
The housing play by play...and here's the snap!
So last week...we found a house we liked. No wait....we found a house we fell in LOVE with. :)
We have spent the last 4 months looking at newer homes because we wanted a newer home for many reasons. Number one they tend to be a bit more spacious or open versus broken up (and technically we have that here kind of, the current house as an open feel to it because the doorways are so wide), and #2 they tend to be quite a bit less maintenance. Our criteria originally was we didn't want to entertain anything older than 20 yrs unless it was really kept up and redone. Because of that we have seen probably 30+ houses that had similar square footage (between 2000-3000) that all had different layouts, but only to a degree.
One thing I found out was, when looking for a 5BR home, if you go under 2500sq ft, you sacrifice one of the living areas on the main level. There was one house in particular that had this situation and while I loved this house, upon really thinking about it (and bringing my sil in it to ask her opinion) I realized that that was just too small. One of my bigger fears, is getting a house that is TOO big. I know that sounds ridiculous being that I am a mom of 8 kids, but if you know me you know that I tend to be a minimalist. What I don't want is a huge house that I have to clean and care for when we don't NEED that kind of space. A lot of the homes we have seen were not too big (I think any over 3K sq ft would have felt that way honestly), it became very clear awhile back that it had to be over that 2500K mark to work.
This of course put an even greater twist to this situation, because lets face it...even in this buyers market we currently live in, 5 BR homes are still hard to come by (especially ones on the newer side).
There was also the budget issue. Honestly we would be hard pressed to get a house of this proportion if the economy were not as such. While my hubby makes great money, I refuse, REFUSE to be house poor. I like having cash flow each month that does not include CC's (we have 1, it has a very low limit, we pay it off every month...thats it), so because of that we needed to have a strict budget or else figure something else out. So far we have been able to find quite a few candidates for our obsession (Dean's little key phrase to help relieve the guilt we feel for obsessing over houses day in and day out lol).
The first house we almost bit on didn't meet a lot of the criteria we now currently have. We were less than 8 hours away from submitting our offer on that house before we pulled it, and thank God we did! It was built in the late 70's and while it was huge (3000K sq ft plus a full finished basement the same size,...yeah HUGE)...it needed a ton of updating that I felt would literally break us over the next few years financially. I don't want to spend future windfalls/bonus checks to update a house, no thanks. I would much rather take vacations and pay for braces for 8 kids without making costly monthly payments....things like that.
The next almost house is the one we have been waiting on for the last 60+ days now. It is a short sale which basically means "be prepared to wait a really long time with no certainty that your getting it". It has been a VERY long 60 days. Honestly during the entire wait I have wondered if God didn't send us that one to put us off for that time to usher in THE house after the fact. The jury is still out on that one...as of right now we know the bank is working on it, and the seller is hoping we are interested, but we have kept looking jic something else comes available. As of right now we are no longer under contract in our offer though because they passed the 60 days deadline of the offer (they being the bank). The sitch is complicated...the house has 2 loans on it, both held by the same bank but the $ amount owed versus what we offered is very different. The house is only worth market wise right now about 2/3rds of the amount owe, to the tune of $100K less. This sadly is the situation wit many Michigan home values if not all right now. Our house is no different. We bought it at $130K and it is currently worth $66K, thanks to all the neighborhood foreclosures. Nice huh?
In the meantime, we have found 2 others that did not pan out. The first was a beautiful HUD home with 4BR's plus an office on the main floor for the 5th, but it had no A/C, appliances and no fence. Because its a HUD they require 2% closing automatically...so between those 4 things, there was no way financially we could swing it. We have lots of $ saved, but def not that much.
The second one was the more recent house where we put in an offer that was declined (in other words they scoffed at it). We didn't low ball or anything, we offered what our realtor suggested for comparable in the area, and while it wasn't our highest and best we wanted to see if they would negotiate and this was our starting point. After being dissed the first time LOL, we decided to come back 10K higher...well that offer they never even acknowledged! Even the realtor never answered it. I took that as my sign that it was not the one (even though it was a great house! :) ). Disappointing,...yes but while it stunk I really knew in my heart it was meant to be. (see previous post to evaluate my psyche lol).
Which brings us to the current day, Monday April 5th. As of this morning, i am appy to report that we have found a very unlikely beautiful home,...on a very unlikely huge lot in the city limits. The location is smack dab in the center of everything in the downriver area. The neighborhood is very nice, feels secluded even though it is literally minutes from grocery/target/movie theater etc.
When I first saw the ad, I was willing to consider it simply because it had a welcoming feel to the picture of the front of the house. The ad said it was built in 1981...which kind of concerned me, but it also said it had been remodeled 8 yrs ago and from the pics it looked somewhat updated (not really my taste but it wasn't 1980's either). Our realtor was kind of concerned because of the age, but we decided to go see it last week anyway while we were waiting on the short sale house.
And as this story goes...we have fallen in love with it!! Here are the details...it was redone 8 yrs ago, COMPLETELY redone apparently because we learned from their realtor while we were looking at the house that the house was struck by lightening 8 yrs ago and burned nearly to the ground so the ins. paid to completely rebuild it from the ground up. You can tell that's what has happened because no expense was spared! It has hardwood floors through most of the house, and the rooms that do have carpet are really nice upgraded (they may even be newer than 8 yr because they are immaculate). The kitchen is gourmet, the bathrooms have nice tile top to bottom. Now there are things about it that I'm not super crazy about, BUT...thats how it goes when looking for a house on a budget. Unless you have endless amounts of $ to spend on a house, your not going to get everything you want.
What we are looking at is nearly half an acre of land in the city. That alone is worth the price we are paying. The yard isn't fenced (one of the drawbacks) but because the house is in such awesome shape we won't need the extra $ to fix the other things we were going to have to is many of the other houses (such as all new carpeting, appliances, etc.). The house also comes with....are you ready for this???? A HOT TUB!! *squeeee*
I think the thing that sets this one apart from the others we have seen though is that when you walk in it feels like a home...not just a house. Almost all of the other houses we have looked at had these major cathedral ceilings in several areas of the house, which are nice don't get me wrong, but in order to paint those you either have to own scaffolding, or hire it done. Mrs. Cheap says she doesn't like the idea of having to hire ANYONE to do something like that in her house LOL. In this shortsale house thats exactly what would be going on because the entry is 2 story (and in desperate need of paint...its currently light blue which looked nice with the previous owners decor, but not mine lol).
It does have higher ceilings in the great room, but with a taller ladder they are accessible. The lot has lots of trees, landscaping, an outdoor sound system, brick paved patio (thats huge), a real fireplace, 2.5 baths, oh and a huge dining room that will easily fit my great big table for all 10 of us, YAY!! :) The house is darling, and very homey. It's so...us.
So with that said, as of this afternoon we are putting in an offer on it. We are so excited about this one...but differently so. I have a good feeling about it, and so does Dean. We are trying not to get our hopes up but its really hard because there is so much to love about this one it would definitely be the one that got away if we don't get it. We think the owner is fairly motivated as his kids are all grown and at college or older, and his wife passed away a few years ago so it is just him in the house, and the neighbor (yes already met one lol) said that he is hardly ever there anymore because he tends to be with his girlfriend...makes sense now as to why the house is spotless. :)
So I'll be back with an update hopefully in the next day or two at most.
Today I have video to upload of the kids Easter egg hunt yesterday. Daddy had to work so i cam'ed it all for him to see and it turned out good. This week is spring break week so i might actually have some time here or there to post pics of some things I've been wanting to share as well. For now I have a busy day ahead of me with a doc appt for 2 of the kids and tackling the last of the stuff to be put away up stairs, oh and a wall border upstairs to come down. I best get busy in case we get some good news this week :)
We have spent the last 4 months looking at newer homes because we wanted a newer home for many reasons. Number one they tend to be a bit more spacious or open versus broken up (and technically we have that here kind of, the current house as an open feel to it because the doorways are so wide), and #2 they tend to be quite a bit less maintenance. Our criteria originally was we didn't want to entertain anything older than 20 yrs unless it was really kept up and redone. Because of that we have seen probably 30+ houses that had similar square footage (between 2000-3000) that all had different layouts, but only to a degree.
One thing I found out was, when looking for a 5BR home, if you go under 2500sq ft, you sacrifice one of the living areas on the main level. There was one house in particular that had this situation and while I loved this house, upon really thinking about it (and bringing my sil in it to ask her opinion) I realized that that was just too small. One of my bigger fears, is getting a house that is TOO big. I know that sounds ridiculous being that I am a mom of 8 kids, but if you know me you know that I tend to be a minimalist. What I don't want is a huge house that I have to clean and care for when we don't NEED that kind of space. A lot of the homes we have seen were not too big (I think any over 3K sq ft would have felt that way honestly), it became very clear awhile back that it had to be over that 2500K mark to work.
This of course put an even greater twist to this situation, because lets face it...even in this buyers market we currently live in, 5 BR homes are still hard to come by (especially ones on the newer side).
There was also the budget issue. Honestly we would be hard pressed to get a house of this proportion if the economy were not as such. While my hubby makes great money, I refuse, REFUSE to be house poor. I like having cash flow each month that does not include CC's (we have 1, it has a very low limit, we pay it off every month...thats it), so because of that we needed to have a strict budget or else figure something else out. So far we have been able to find quite a few candidates for our obsession (Dean's little key phrase to help relieve the guilt we feel for obsessing over houses day in and day out lol).
The first house we almost bit on didn't meet a lot of the criteria we now currently have. We were less than 8 hours away from submitting our offer on that house before we pulled it, and thank God we did! It was built in the late 70's and while it was huge (3000K sq ft plus a full finished basement the same size,...yeah HUGE)...it needed a ton of updating that I felt would literally break us over the next few years financially. I don't want to spend future windfalls/bonus checks to update a house, no thanks. I would much rather take vacations and pay for braces for 8 kids without making costly monthly payments....things like that.
The next almost house is the one we have been waiting on for the last 60+ days now. It is a short sale which basically means "be prepared to wait a really long time with no certainty that your getting it". It has been a VERY long 60 days. Honestly during the entire wait I have wondered if God didn't send us that one to put us off for that time to usher in THE house after the fact. The jury is still out on that one...as of right now we know the bank is working on it, and the seller is hoping we are interested, but we have kept looking jic something else comes available. As of right now we are no longer under contract in our offer though because they passed the 60 days deadline of the offer (they being the bank). The sitch is complicated...the house has 2 loans on it, both held by the same bank but the $ amount owed versus what we offered is very different. The house is only worth market wise right now about 2/3rds of the amount owe, to the tune of $100K less. This sadly is the situation wit many Michigan home values if not all right now. Our house is no different. We bought it at $130K and it is currently worth $66K, thanks to all the neighborhood foreclosures. Nice huh?
In the meantime, we have found 2 others that did not pan out. The first was a beautiful HUD home with 4BR's plus an office on the main floor for the 5th, but it had no A/C, appliances and no fence. Because its a HUD they require 2% closing automatically...so between those 4 things, there was no way financially we could swing it. We have lots of $ saved, but def not that much.
The second one was the more recent house where we put in an offer that was declined (in other words they scoffed at it). We didn't low ball or anything, we offered what our realtor suggested for comparable in the area, and while it wasn't our highest and best we wanted to see if they would negotiate and this was our starting point. After being dissed the first time LOL, we decided to come back 10K higher...well that offer they never even acknowledged! Even the realtor never answered it. I took that as my sign that it was not the one (even though it was a great house! :) ). Disappointing,...yes but while it stunk I really knew in my heart it was meant to be. (see previous post to evaluate my psyche lol).
Which brings us to the current day, Monday April 5th. As of this morning, i am appy to report that we have found a very unlikely beautiful home,...on a very unlikely huge lot in the city limits. The location is smack dab in the center of everything in the downriver area. The neighborhood is very nice, feels secluded even though it is literally minutes from grocery/target/movie theater etc.
When I first saw the ad, I was willing to consider it simply because it had a welcoming feel to the picture of the front of the house. The ad said it was built in 1981...which kind of concerned me, but it also said it had been remodeled 8 yrs ago and from the pics it looked somewhat updated (not really my taste but it wasn't 1980's either). Our realtor was kind of concerned because of the age, but we decided to go see it last week anyway while we were waiting on the short sale house.
And as this story goes...we have fallen in love with it!! Here are the details...it was redone 8 yrs ago, COMPLETELY redone apparently because we learned from their realtor while we were looking at the house that the house was struck by lightening 8 yrs ago and burned nearly to the ground so the ins. paid to completely rebuild it from the ground up. You can tell that's what has happened because no expense was spared! It has hardwood floors through most of the house, and the rooms that do have carpet are really nice upgraded (they may even be newer than 8 yr because they are immaculate). The kitchen is gourmet, the bathrooms have nice tile top to bottom. Now there are things about it that I'm not super crazy about, BUT...thats how it goes when looking for a house on a budget. Unless you have endless amounts of $ to spend on a house, your not going to get everything you want.
What we are looking at is nearly half an acre of land in the city. That alone is worth the price we are paying. The yard isn't fenced (one of the drawbacks) but because the house is in such awesome shape we won't need the extra $ to fix the other things we were going to have to is many of the other houses (such as all new carpeting, appliances, etc.). The house also comes with....are you ready for this???? A HOT TUB!! *squeeee*
I think the thing that sets this one apart from the others we have seen though is that when you walk in it feels like a home...not just a house. Almost all of the other houses we have looked at had these major cathedral ceilings in several areas of the house, which are nice don't get me wrong, but in order to paint those you either have to own scaffolding, or hire it done. Mrs. Cheap says she doesn't like the idea of having to hire ANYONE to do something like that in her house LOL. In this shortsale house thats exactly what would be going on because the entry is 2 story (and in desperate need of paint...its currently light blue which looked nice with the previous owners decor, but not mine lol).
It does have higher ceilings in the great room, but with a taller ladder they are accessible. The lot has lots of trees, landscaping, an outdoor sound system, brick paved patio (thats huge), a real fireplace, 2.5 baths, oh and a huge dining room that will easily fit my great big table for all 10 of us, YAY!! :) The house is darling, and very homey. It's so...us.
So with that said, as of this afternoon we are putting in an offer on it. We are so excited about this one...but differently so. I have a good feeling about it, and so does Dean. We are trying not to get our hopes up but its really hard because there is so much to love about this one it would definitely be the one that got away if we don't get it. We think the owner is fairly motivated as his kids are all grown and at college or older, and his wife passed away a few years ago so it is just him in the house, and the neighbor (yes already met one lol) said that he is hardly ever there anymore because he tends to be with his girlfriend...makes sense now as to why the house is spotless. :)
So I'll be back with an update hopefully in the next day or two at most.
Today I have video to upload of the kids Easter egg hunt yesterday. Daddy had to work so i cam'ed it all for him to see and it turned out good. This week is spring break week so i might actually have some time here or there to post pics of some things I've been wanting to share as well. For now I have a busy day ahead of me with a doc appt for 2 of the kids and tackling the last of the stuff to be put away up stairs, oh and a wall border upstairs to come down. I best get busy in case we get some good news this week :)
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter , what a beautiful day!
It is seriously beautiful outside today and has been for the last 2 weeks.
Today is Easter Sunday 2010, and I'm feeling the need to reflect on some of the wonderful things God has reminded me of in life today..
I've spent a lot of time over the last few months fighting the urge to complain, matter of fact that was my *give up* for lent this year,...complaining. I felt convicted for one that despite the difficulties in my life (which at times can be many) really pale in comparison to many others in this world.
I know that I am blessed. Is my life perfect? Absolutely not, but perfection isn't what life is about. Everyone has issues. Everyone has problems, even the richest person, the prettiest girl, the most successful business woman, or the seemingly perfect mother who looks as though she "has it all together". I think the key to success in this life is knowing that and living knowing that each day there WILL be struggles. Bad things happen to all people, no matter how nice, or good you are.
I learned long ago that suffering brings about things in us that we might never otherwise have been able to accomplish in this lifetime had we not undergone that certain tough situation. I'm not saying suffering is good, or easy...just necessary in this life because of the fallen nature in which we live. Suffering is the catalyst to greater things both in us and through us. Remember Scarlett O'hara who stood on the hill after feeling hunger pangs and declared she would never go hungry again? That scene alone (in one of my fav movies) moved me because of the truth it speaks to human nature and how we are wired to overcome where there are serious odds, persecution and pain.
Not long ago , I spent a lot of time wallowing in pity over many of the past events of my life that led me down a certain path. Most of those things were done when I was a child/teen...which meant they were not paths I choose as a capable adult. Never the less, other events in this world sent my life down those paths which were less than good in so many ways. I spent years of my life wondering why. Why would people allow such things to happen? Why would God allow me to suffer such a fate, when I felt that my inner self really only wanted to know and love the God of my creation. It was in those questions, that God answered me. God does what he does for a purpose, His purpose to be exact. And he also does what he does for our own benefit, whether we see that or not. It's hard to view any situation as such, especially when the suffering involves something personal and deep or hurtful...I know this, I am not a fool to human emotion, as something that is beneficial.
I for one, have been through some rough times in my life. Maybe worse than others, maybe not. We all have had struggles which have made us who we are. Ah...who we are! That's what I am getting at. The things that we have been through mold us and make us who we are in this life. Everyone has different struggles, and a different story, thus everyone responds differently to times of difficulty or pain.
What matters is not the struggle, or even how we handle it while we go through it, what matters most is what we learn from it and how we take that knowledge and bless others with it.
One of my favorite things in life is old people. I say that endearingly because I really truly do love them. The ting i love most is their link to the past, the memories they have that I can learn from them, the lessons they have seen while living here on this earth, and how each person who has lived long is like a spring just waiting to be tapped. One of my favorite old people in this world passed away almost 8 years ago...my great grandmother. She was incredibly sweet, yet feisty lol, and we would spend hours talking about her old cooking recipes (from scratch of course). She would often send me on my way with a few spices from her cooking cabinet, genuine tangible bits of the care she would take for her family through food. It was in those moments that I realized all of this...that the older generations have serious worth (more than most of us give them credit for). In a world that is quickly losing its morality one day at a time, the older generations have something to give that is priceless, and soul worthy. Wisdom of lessons learned, and the heritage of them to be passed down from generation to generation never to be forgotten.
This way of living is as old as time, we need only look to history books, including one of the oldest (the bible) too see similar examples.
I know that our older generations suffered more at times than we ever will. I know my great gran lived life before there were dishwashers! That sounds like major hardship to me (HA!! jk! :) ). At times I have to wonder if that isn't what our generation and the ones under us IS lacking. Do we have it too easy? At times I think that we do...or maybe we have in the past. I know with the recent economy downfall, there are more and more people learning to live life simply, and take less for granted. I feel like more people are looking for ways to bring meaning back to their lives, versus spending it focusing on bigger and better. I think it is times like these, where we realize that life is precious and to short that we are able to take the focus off "things" and put them where they belong...on our families, our children, and on God.
I know at times I struggle greatly with this myself. Its no secret my husband does very well for himself and us with the job he has, but depending on how well you know me, you might not know that there was a time not too long ago when this simply was not the case. Dean and I spent nearly 9 years of our lives in near poverty. it was the toughest time of our life. It was difficult to keep trusting and believing that God had a bigger plan than we could see. It was hard to keep trusting after several well paying jobs came and subsequently left, only to not be had by our family. After years of struggle, it was hard not to lose hope. Through it all, not only did we pray for God to bring us a good job for Dean, but we also felt called during that time to leave our fertility up to God. It was in this trusting that we learned to fully trust...not just say we did. Now...I definitely have not arrived when it comes to trusting God LOL. I still have times of doubt when things get difficult. Lately with the housing situation, there have been times where I literally wanted to give up and accept that it was never going to happen...especially when i am faced with another day in this tiny house with all my kids. But one thing I know is that God never forsakes us, and he definitely never leaves us. He wants whats best for us (Jeremiah 29:11), even though we cannot see the reason behind the pain we are going through.
And ultimately while suffering happens and stinks (seriously!)...in my mind is is the culmination of what Jesus did for us. Does that mean we have to suffer to become like him? Well, yes and no. We do not need suffering to save us, Christ already did that, that's done. But it does give us an idea of what Christ willingly went through for us, even though he could have prevented it from happening to him. I don't know about anyone else, but if I could stop myself from being hurt or messed with in a situation, I'd have a hard time NOT doing exactly that LOL! But today I am thankful that I do not hold that power. I have renewed love today for God, not in his abiality to make me suffer, but in the saving grace that Jesus brought to me 2000+ years ago on that cross. My whole life and everything in it is because of that one single moment in time and I am today eternally grateful beyond measure. I would not have my best friend...My God, my Lord my savior if not for the ministry, life and wretched death Jesus took upon himself that fateful day.
Happy Easter friends! May the love that God has bestowed upon us all fill each of our hearts today and remind us to trust God in all things great and small.
Today is Easter Sunday 2010, and I'm feeling the need to reflect on some of the wonderful things God has reminded me of in life today..
I've spent a lot of time over the last few months fighting the urge to complain, matter of fact that was my *give up* for lent this year,...complaining. I felt convicted for one that despite the difficulties in my life (which at times can be many) really pale in comparison to many others in this world.
I know that I am blessed. Is my life perfect? Absolutely not, but perfection isn't what life is about. Everyone has issues. Everyone has problems, even the richest person, the prettiest girl, the most successful business woman, or the seemingly perfect mother who looks as though she "has it all together". I think the key to success in this life is knowing that and living knowing that each day there WILL be struggles. Bad things happen to all people, no matter how nice, or good you are.
I learned long ago that suffering brings about things in us that we might never otherwise have been able to accomplish in this lifetime had we not undergone that certain tough situation. I'm not saying suffering is good, or easy...just necessary in this life because of the fallen nature in which we live. Suffering is the catalyst to greater things both in us and through us. Remember Scarlett O'hara who stood on the hill after feeling hunger pangs and declared she would never go hungry again? That scene alone (in one of my fav movies) moved me because of the truth it speaks to human nature and how we are wired to overcome where there are serious odds, persecution and pain.
Not long ago , I spent a lot of time wallowing in pity over many of the past events of my life that led me down a certain path. Most of those things were done when I was a child/teen...which meant they were not paths I choose as a capable adult. Never the less, other events in this world sent my life down those paths which were less than good in so many ways. I spent years of my life wondering why. Why would people allow such things to happen? Why would God allow me to suffer such a fate, when I felt that my inner self really only wanted to know and love the God of my creation. It was in those questions, that God answered me. God does what he does for a purpose, His purpose to be exact. And he also does what he does for our own benefit, whether we see that or not. It's hard to view any situation as such, especially when the suffering involves something personal and deep or hurtful...I know this, I am not a fool to human emotion, as something that is beneficial.
I for one, have been through some rough times in my life. Maybe worse than others, maybe not. We all have had struggles which have made us who we are. Ah...who we are! That's what I am getting at. The things that we have been through mold us and make us who we are in this life. Everyone has different struggles, and a different story, thus everyone responds differently to times of difficulty or pain.
What matters is not the struggle, or even how we handle it while we go through it, what matters most is what we learn from it and how we take that knowledge and bless others with it.
One of my favorite things in life is old people. I say that endearingly because I really truly do love them. The ting i love most is their link to the past, the memories they have that I can learn from them, the lessons they have seen while living here on this earth, and how each person who has lived long is like a spring just waiting to be tapped. One of my favorite old people in this world passed away almost 8 years ago...my great grandmother. She was incredibly sweet, yet feisty lol, and we would spend hours talking about her old cooking recipes (from scratch of course). She would often send me on my way with a few spices from her cooking cabinet, genuine tangible bits of the care she would take for her family through food. It was in those moments that I realized all of this...that the older generations have serious worth (more than most of us give them credit for). In a world that is quickly losing its morality one day at a time, the older generations have something to give that is priceless, and soul worthy. Wisdom of lessons learned, and the heritage of them to be passed down from generation to generation never to be forgotten.
This way of living is as old as time, we need only look to history books, including one of the oldest (the bible) too see similar examples.
I know that our older generations suffered more at times than we ever will. I know my great gran lived life before there were dishwashers! That sounds like major hardship to me (HA!! jk! :) ). At times I have to wonder if that isn't what our generation and the ones under us IS lacking. Do we have it too easy? At times I think that we do...or maybe we have in the past. I know with the recent economy downfall, there are more and more people learning to live life simply, and take less for granted. I feel like more people are looking for ways to bring meaning back to their lives, versus spending it focusing on bigger and better. I think it is times like these, where we realize that life is precious and to short that we are able to take the focus off "things" and put them where they belong...on our families, our children, and on God.
I know at times I struggle greatly with this myself. Its no secret my husband does very well for himself and us with the job he has, but depending on how well you know me, you might not know that there was a time not too long ago when this simply was not the case. Dean and I spent nearly 9 years of our lives in near poverty. it was the toughest time of our life. It was difficult to keep trusting and believing that God had a bigger plan than we could see. It was hard to keep trusting after several well paying jobs came and subsequently left, only to not be had by our family. After years of struggle, it was hard not to lose hope. Through it all, not only did we pray for God to bring us a good job for Dean, but we also felt called during that time to leave our fertility up to God. It was in this trusting that we learned to fully trust...not just say we did. Now...I definitely have not arrived when it comes to trusting God LOL. I still have times of doubt when things get difficult. Lately with the housing situation, there have been times where I literally wanted to give up and accept that it was never going to happen...especially when i am faced with another day in this tiny house with all my kids. But one thing I know is that God never forsakes us, and he definitely never leaves us. He wants whats best for us (Jeremiah 29:11), even though we cannot see the reason behind the pain we are going through.
And ultimately while suffering happens and stinks (seriously!)...in my mind is is the culmination of what Jesus did for us. Does that mean we have to suffer to become like him? Well, yes and no. We do not need suffering to save us, Christ already did that, that's done. But it does give us an idea of what Christ willingly went through for us, even though he could have prevented it from happening to him. I don't know about anyone else, but if I could stop myself from being hurt or messed with in a situation, I'd have a hard time NOT doing exactly that LOL! But today I am thankful that I do not hold that power. I have renewed love today for God, not in his abiality to make me suffer, but in the saving grace that Jesus brought to me 2000+ years ago on that cross. My whole life and everything in it is because of that one single moment in time and I am today eternally grateful beyond measure. I would not have my best friend...My God, my Lord my savior if not for the ministry, life and wretched death Jesus took upon himself that fateful day.
Happy Easter friends! May the love that God has bestowed upon us all fill each of our hearts today and remind us to trust God in all things great and small.
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