Last summer we decided to move from our 2 bedroom townhouse to (what I lovingly refer to as) our first "grown up" house. We had a baby who was on the move, no yard, a horrible parking situation and needed more space. Peter had been using the baby's room as his office and it just wasn't working.
We found an amazing rental house that we instantly fell in love with. The location was exactly what Peter needed for work, it had a basement with an office for him plus additional bedrooms/space, an amazing kitchen and 1/3 of an acre for a yard (with a fire pit, fruit trees, flowers, huge weeping willows, roses, and rhubarb to boot). We were over the moon. We moved in on Labor Day weekend 2013 and settled extremely quickly thanks to the help of our generous friends and because of having so much space! My parents came for a visit a couple weeks after the move and worked tirelessly to make our new place a "home". My Dad hung everything on the walls, re-finished our dining room table, got our book shelves up and helped set up our new breakfast nook. My Mom helped me with picking colors, decorations, spray painting mirrors and being my interior decorator. Within only a few weeks of moving in, we had officially claimed this place and made it ours. Without conscious thought, we both settled in for the long haul - thinking we could be happy here for years.
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| Moving In |
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| Mum-Mum and Simon |
At the end of January 2014 we got a phone call from our property management company. They informed us that the owner was moving back into the house and that we had to be out no later than March 22nd. As compensation they offered us March free and our security deposit back. We were stunned. When Peter told me, I didn't believe him. I was so shocked and in disbelief. We knew this couldn't be right because we had a year lease and they couldn't just break it like that so we planned on holding our ground. We looked at our lease and closely read the 25 page item looking for their supposed loophole. We found it. There, in section 8, 1.A, they had clearly defined that the owner could break our lease for reasons including moving back in. We were devastated. I began to actually wrap my head around the thought that we were in fact, moving again and being forced to leave our beautiful home that we loved. After the initial denial stage came anger. I was angry that this happened and that they could do this to us. I was frustrated with the thought of moving again and that I didn't want any other home but this one. It didn't seem right. It wasn't fair. As the reality of the situation sank in more, sadness came and I saw my house through new eyes - every little thing that I had loved but didn't think about until I knew it would be gone, I saw again. I cried as I noticed special things that we really hadn't even had a chance to enjoy yet: like my front porch swing that I couldn't wait to use this summer, or our wonderful backyard with those huge trees, the beautiful deck furniture that my parents purchased for us as a gift etc. I thought of all the work my parents did and how the house had all their little "touches" everywhere that I would miss dearly. For the next few days, our beautiful house brought tears as I mourned the loss of it.
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| House Warming Party |
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| Enjoying his new room |
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| Admiring the view |
"Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for The Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." Proverbs 3:25-26
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him." 1John 2:15
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5
"May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed." Psalm 20:4
"The earth is The Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Ps 24:1
"No one who's hope is in you will ever be put to shame....all the ways of The Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant." Ps. 25
"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of The Lord in the land of the living. Wait for The Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for The Lord." Ps. 27:13-14
All of these were such good reminders to me of where my treasure really is, that Jesus is over all of this and that He has good for my family. I know that Jesus is in control and that if He allowed this situation, then He knows best. I had to tell him, "Lord, I know that if you say this is best then it is and I trust you with that." I know that I can't measure His best by my standard of best but that someday, I will know. This past month has been such a time of daily going to The Lord, leaning on his promises and trying to follow Him in all of this. It has been good.
And so began our house hunt.
(To Be Continued)
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