"Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone." -Jim Fiebig

The morning one is waiting to hear big news is not a good morning to have a work crew cut a cable and render the city devoid of communication.  Not that cell phone, landline, or internet service would have changed the outcome.  Another bid was accepted on the house we fell in love with.  We don't know the details.  Maybe we came in too low, maybe we waited too long, maybe the buyer was known by the seller (a rumor we have heard), but none of that matters now.  It's not our house, or yard, or garage.  It will be someone else's and we will (for now) stay where we are.  We will most certainly simplify right here.  We will make choices to spend our time wisely and put our family first.  We have learned a lot about letting God have control - probably even more today than we knew yesterday.  But we are disappointed.

Waiting and wondering and trusting.

We made an offer on the house this evening.  Being the thorough, meticulous - yes, anal - first-borns that we are, we came to our second look at the house equipped with a detailed list and a tape measure.  We determined that our family of five could certainly live comfortably in a house that is half the size of our current home.  It would mean getting rid of a lot of clutter that we rarely use and certainly don't need.  We would part with a few items that we love and would like to keep but just won't fit - specifically our antique piano and our treadmill.  A piano and a treadmill are a small price to pay for a simplified life.

While we measured and mulled, the kids occupied themselves by running in the backyard.  By the end of the hour, three kids were as ready and excited as we were to make an offer on the house.

Now we wait.  We have learned that we have competition on the purchase of the house.  Another offer is expected to come in the morning.  We all were feeling so much tension at supper that we barely ate.  We talked about how much we want this house - even our sweet little hold out.  We also reminded each other that God is in control of this situation.  He knows our family and what we need.  We feel confident that we need to simplify, and we feel this house is part of that answer.  It might not be.  If it is not, we will be sad.  Will have all pictured ourselves living there.  Even if this doesn't happen, this weekend has reaffirmed that our family and our faith in God are what really matter to us.  We are moving away from the things that take time away from those priorities, not a physical move but a move in our thinking.

A friend put it very simply in a text this evening, "Praise God that he is in control."  I'm excited to see where he is taking us!

Downsizing?

Today I told a friend, "Right now we all feel like the space & stuff are controlling our lives. The idea of living simpler and better is very appealing."

Both Scott & I have felt that way for some time now. Occasionally we've talked about moving to a different house, but the kids, knowing no other home in their lives, have been adamantly opposed.

Last evening, after telling a friend how we would love to have them over to our (non-existent) backyard so the kids could all play while we talked the night away, I decided to look at realtor.com. I felt guilty for indulging in my discontentment. I love my home, but it's so big we can't keep up with it and it is lacking a yard, garage, and working fireplace. We have plans in place to fix what is lacking, but it will take time & effort & money. The kids are rapidly growing up & we want to spend our time enjoying our family instead of pouring it into our home - either for improvements or upkeep.

Even so, I was still feeling guilty for looking at other houses. Until I found one that seemed (still seems) too good to be true. It's half the size of ours, has a lovely backyard (with a fabulous climbing tree), two car garage, newly updated interior (with a kitchen that looks so much like the one we just remodeled), gas fireplace, etc. And the price is right.

Even better, the kids are excited for the most part. We have one partial hold out (not the one you'd expect), but she does love the idea of the climbing tree and camping in the back yard. We saw the house this morning and hope to make an offer tomorrow. We've spent much time praying and thinking and discussing.

Looking back at my last post (on my other blog), I get a little sad. I love our home & the memories it contains, but if a move will help us continue to make more & better memories, I'm ready.

Time for change

It's been months since I've blogged and that is going change.  In fact a lot of things in my life are going to change.  I'm nearing the end over 6 years as a leader in my local MOPS group.  The experience has been one that has stretched and grown and bettered me.  It's also taken up a large portion of my time.  I'm excited to have that time back.  Another big upcoming change is that my youngest will be attending school five days a week this fall.  Still half days (for which I am very grateful), but that means even more hours each week to do what I want and need to do.  Other obligations are coming to an end as well and I now find myself in the position to decide how to structure my time instead of having obligations that must fit in to my schedule.  Not that I'll be sitting around twiddling my thumbs wondering what to do, no, I am sure I will be as busy as ever.  But I now get to decide what I want to fit into my days and when.  I feel as if I have purchased a brand new notebook with so much potential  - I can write whatever I want.  At the same time, I don't want to waste the pages.  I want to make every line count.  Stay tuned for some ideas of what I might pencil into the notebook.