Finding Contentment

I think we've found it

I am pleased to announce that we have finally found the home we are going to be purchasing.And the winner is..... the house we are currently living in!

We have been renting from the same older couple for nearly 13 years now. Mark and I were married in April of 1994, and we began renting from these folks in January of 1995. Our first six years or so were spent in a smaller two bedroom home, one of only many they own. They often buy rundown, older houses for a next to nothing and remodel them and rent them out. 

In 2000, the couple purchased  a duplex on a quiet street for about $36,000. The house hadn't been lived in for decades. Built in the 1930s, it needed a major overhaul some work. When we saw it, we fell in love with it, and by that time we had come to know the couple well. We asked if we could rent the house when it was finished, and so ended up going from a small 2 bedroom to a large 4 bedroom, 2 bath.

My husband helped with the remodeling and can tell you it was quite a job! From removing a chimney and fireplace to adding another bathroom and a laundry room, the list of major things to do was overwhelming. Remember, they had to turn a duplex into a single-family home.

My husband used the old brick from the chimney to lay a brick floor in the cellar, and I painted. We kept two things: an old cedar chest left forgotten in the home, and a chandelier that had been hanging in one of the living rooms. Because those two living rooms are now bedrooms (very large bedrooms!), we hung the chandelier over the kitchen table before we moved in.

It took months, but we were finally able to move in. When we moved in we had one child, my son (now 12 years old). Four and a half years ago we had another son, and six months after he was born we "adopted" a daughter (she was 11 at the time, now 15). Boy, were we glad we now lived in a 4 bedroom home! Every child gets their own bedroom!

Anyway, we really didn't want to leave this place. It really felt like home, and it's only blocks from our church. Over the years we have put up a chain link fence just outside the back door for the dogs, a chicken coop, a huge vegetable garden, flower gardens, and a split rail fence around the entire large back yard. We also planted two twigs trees that have now grown to tower over our heads.

But we really wanted to own our own house. We had been asking to buy the house we are living in but was told they really didn't want to sell it. The couple's income depends mostly on their rental homes. Today when I went to pay my rent, the couple said they had changed their minds. They are selling us the house we live in and have put so much sweat and tears into! And, they are selling it to us for well below the market value!

We have been looking to buy a house for nearly a year, and our loan was approved some time ago. Please pray with us that our loan is still good and that we will one day soon become the owners of the home we love!