So much has happened in a little over a week that it’s hard to keep everything straight! However, the biggest take-away has been that God is so faithful! Every since Roger’s boss passed away fifteen months ago, we’ve wondered what God had in mind for our family. Roger is a man of steadiness, faithfulness, and compassion so when he told me that he thought that God was going to be moving us away from Maine, I tried to prepare myself for that. (Which wasn’t/isn’t really possible, but God has been faithful through it all!)
On Monday, September 27th, I posted that we were getting ready to put our house on the market on Wednesday, September 29th. At the time of that posting, we did not have a place to live for the school year for the kids and I, but we were diligently praying. Shortly after that post was published, I got a text from one of my best friends, Allison, asking if we were interested in looking at an apartment her husband was going to rent. Yes! Roger was able to meet me at the apartment, and together we took a walk through it. It is not furnished (but that means we can get a smaller storage unit), but it is only a little over a mile from the school! It’s right in town, so it doesn’t have the yard, but the ocean is just about a block away! It’s going to be a great and awesome place for the kids and I through the school year, and Roger has seen the place we will be living. It really was an act of God that this apartment became available! And it’s amazing to see God work in and through His children to meet the needs of the body of Christ. I am praying specifically that God will greatly bless both Jason and Allison for their willingness to be a vessel used by God in our lives. So that was one huge blessing!
Secondly, the house went on the market on the morning of Wednesday, September 29th. By about 8:30am our realtor texted me to tell me that she had showings lined up on the house already and that she would be showing the house multiple times on Wednesday. It was a good day to have showings as we had soccer practice after school, so by the time she sent the text saying that we could go home, we were all done with practice. We got our first offer on Thursday morning, as well as more texts from our realtor saying that she would be showing the house again all day on Thursday! We continued to pray that God would give us multiple good offers, and that we could be under contract by the time Roger needed to leave for Michigan. Our house was not shown on Friday, as our realtor was taking a course, but it was shown again all day on Saturday. By the time Saturday evening rolled around, we were missing being at home! However, all offers had to be submitted by Sunday at noon, and by Sunday at noon we had eight offers on the house! We serve an amazing God!
On Sunday morning, our church gave Roger a “send-off” with fellowship, breakfast food, farewell cards, prayers and well-wishes. It was a flashback to our church in Wisconsin as well as the church we were a part of in Alaska and in Arizona! Roger will be missed by his church family and our teen group also. It was a kind and thoughtful gesture on behalf of our church family, and a memory that we will remember. Roger and Garett left before the church service was over as Roger had to be in Sanford, Maine to take his multi-engine test that afternoon. The weather wasn’t great, and I know that Roger was concerned about passing, but again God showed Himself strong and Roger passed! Thank you, Jesus!
That left our realtor, Jestine, and I to figure out what to do with the offers on our house on Sunday afternoon. Our realtor has been amazing, and we are very thankful for her help and experience! I had the privilege of teaching her son in Kindergarten last year, and it was nice to get to know Jestine better. We had several people write us letters about our house, and it made me wish that I could give our house to some of them! All of our offers were good, so it was a challenge to figure it all out. Jestine helped me understand some of the offers a bit better, and by five o’clock we submitted the paperwork to the offer we accepted. By six pm, Jestine messaged me that we were officially under contract! Hooray! God at work again! Our children were delighted to hear the good news, and house showings and children are not a good mix! Travis told me that he didn’t know where to put any of his stuff and that he couldn’t find anything with the house being so clean! Garett asked if we could stop putting stuff in the van now that the house was under contract - anything that I didn’t know what to do with, I’d tell the kids to just “put it in the van for now”. So, yes, we are all thankful, grateful and thrilled to be under contract. We have home inspections, radon tests, water tests, septic tests, etc. all to happen in the next few days, so we would appreciate your continued prayers. (As well as prayer for the appraisal that will be happening)
Monday was a CRAZY day for Roger and I as we dashed around all over creation trying to complete things that I was going to need Roger to help me complete! Travis had a cold so he ended up staying home on Monday. He was not sad to miss school and spend extra time with Dad! Roger and Travis tracked down a storage unit place, and God provided us with a storage unit that was willing to bring the “storage pod” to our house for fifty dollars. The kids and I can pack the storage unit, and then they’ll come and pick it up for us. This was a huge blessing for me! I was trying to figure out how on earth we were going to get all our stuff to storage, but now that the pod is in our driveway, it’s going to be much easier. We all stayed up late on Monday night as we took apart beds, loaded stuff into the pod that was already packed, and tried to get as much done as possible. Our closing date isn’t until mid-November, but I would love to have the kids and I packed up and moved to our apartment by the first week in November. It’s hard to be between two different places, packing, cleaning, organizing, decluttering, teaching school, managing children, making meals, driving, etc, so if we can eliminate some of those stresses, it will be better for all of us!
So in just a few days time -as in about a 72 hour window- God answered multiple prayer requests! He gave us offers on our house. He provided a place for us to stay for the school year. God allowed us to find a storage unit. God helped Roger pass his multi-engine test. God showed up in a big way, and I’m still in awe of it all!
I was telling Roger that I kept feeling like the story of Gideon in the Bible. God tells Gideon what He wants Gideon to do. Gideon basically keeps asking God “are you sure?” Gideon throws out a sheep fleece one night and says if it’s wet in the morning and the grass around it is dry, then I’ll know that God is in this. So God does exactly that! Then Gideon says “Well, if the fleece is dry and the ground is wet, then I’ll know God is in this”. So what does God do? Exactly that! That’s kinda what I’ve been feeling. “God if you want this to work, and if this is YOUR plan, you’re going to have to show Yourself strong and mighty”. God has consistently done that for us. He’s made every step thus far extremely clear, and I know that God will continue to do so.
It feels like Roger has been gone much longer than not quite a week, but we are just taking it one day at a time. Mid-quarter reports came out on Thursday, and I’m happy to report that our children are doing well. Travis does tend to get worked up about school, but at the end of the day, he’s a hard worker and he’s plodding along at exactly his speed. We are thankful for their teachers, both for their desire to educate our children but also their desire to point them to Jesus.
The boys attended a birthday party on Saturday except Garett as he was working. We couldn’t be at home as our home inspection was happening, but it all worked out. Our van has been in the shop for a few days so we were borrowing a friends vehicle. My friend, Bethany, helped me coordinate returning our friends vehicle, picking up our vehicle, and even coming over in the afternoon to help pack up some things. We are blessed to have people in our lives that are willing and able to help us out! I’m not always great about asking for help, (something I need to work on) but I’m thankful for each person that has offered or stepped in to either encourage myself or our children.
I have so much more I’d love to write about, but I’ll close with asking you to pray for us about an unspoken prayer request. It’s not a secret, and I’d be happy to share it with you via email or message. But I’m just not ready to share it here yet. It has to do with people and relationships and people doing the right thing. Please pray with us and for us! We so appreciate all the love and support that has been shown our family as we navigate these new waters. God is good!
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