goodbyes

We talked back in February about selling our house and knew the Lord was telling us it was time. At first we thought we'd sell it ourselves as prices had dropped and we wouldn't get much out of it after realtor fees and taxes. We set in to get the house in the best condition we could- which seemed to take forever. Finally, after a lot of work- somewhere around June, we decided to talk to some realtors feeling like we were so drained from all the work that we no longer had the energy to sell it ourselves. We were discouraged to hear from a couple of realtors that we would need to price it about 30k below what we had hoped. Around that time I came into contact with an old friend of mine and he came by with his son to visit one day while in town. I have known this friend since our high school years and he has been like a dear brother to me. He mentioned while here that his mom, who lost her husband to cancer last year, had been struggling with a slow economy and houses weren't selling for her. We knew right away that the Lord wanted us to call her and ask her to list our house. Having lost her husband, we had not been sure that we should impose on her prior to this reunion with my friend. We called her right away and were pleasantly surprised that she wanted to list our house higher than we had hoped. The rest is history as the Lord quickly provided a young Christian guy who loved our home and offered full price for it. He is military and a first time home buyer. Because of the little peak in the market due to the 8k government tax credit, or house appraised for the full asking price and we closed on Friday.
It's good to have God on your side. Only He can bless the way He did! We are so thankful that He spoke to us along the way, that He gave clarity to Joe in his decisions (though not always certainty-- it does take faith to step ahead!) and that He chose to graciously provide for all of our needs along the way.
I was sad to say goodbye to our old home. We bought it in 2003- our first home. We remodeled in 2006 and that just dragged on until we sold it (don't ask if we'll ever buy a fixer-upper again...). I had two babies in that home :(... literally, one in the bathroom and one in the new bedroom. We marked their growth on the door frame, we put a lot of sweat and dreams and plans into that home. We put our hands in the new cement. And now, we said goodbye.
And we are thankful! Hard to say goodbye, but then again, not so hard. It's just a house and we have learned great lessons through giving it up! Can't wait to see what God has for us next!