To give you a little background, we are currently pregnant with our first baby and due at the end of February. We also decided to buy our first house, fixer upper style. This house comes equipped with squirrels in the crawl space with their winter supply of walnuts, 1960’s original mustard -yellow carpet, and black and white checkered vinyl flooring. We figured what better time to buy and move into a 3,600 square foot major fixer upper than two months away from our due date?!
This journey was a long one for us. Filled with many moments of questioning whether God wanted us to purchase this home. Last December, we heard about this house from our friends and future next door neighbors. They had gotten wind that the owner was possibly going to sell his home and asked us, “You aren’t looking to buy a house are you?” Not long after, I walked around the property and was able to creepily peek through the windows and I immediately fell in love.
May of 2018 rolled around and I convinced Grant to come see this amazing project that I knew he would NEVER go for. In that moment, I would have bet millions of dollars that Grant would strongly and politely decline but much to my surprise, that was not what happened. He apprehensively walked through the house, thought about it, and he loved the potential this home had. I had to ask myself if I was married to the same methodical, safe-playing husband. When I started to doubt if we should really pursue this, he remained grounded and he encouraged us to see that this would be a wonderful place to raise our children.
After a lot of decision making, we put an offer in on the house, which by the way, was still not on the market and we thought, this is it. We have ourselves a house ladies and gentlemen. Psych. The former owner, (whom by the way is the kindest soul on this earth), decided to list the house on the market. Long story short, one hundred showings (literally), and three offers later, he took it off the market. Again we told ourselves… THIS IS IT!!! WE HAVE OURSELVES A HOUSE! Wellllll, this time, the owner decided that he wanted to explore some options for keeping his childhood home. Did I panic? Sure did. I spent numerous days spouting off all of my worries to Grant and that was his cue to calm this proclaimed worry-wart down. We sat down together to pray and asked God to close any and all doors if this wasn’t meant to be. We prayed for God’s direction and hand to be in all of this.
Now, I know that a house does not mean everything. I have always been so passionate about the thought of purchasing a piece of history thats a bit rough around the edges, and turning it into a comfortable, cozy, and safe place. It’s not the house. It’s the feeling that we can mold a house with an unending to do list of projects, into a place that can become a sanctuary to gather, to raise our future babies in, and to hold years and years of memories. All of the feels.
So here we are. December 14, 2018. God aligned our doubts, and fears, and come tomorrow we get the keys to this old brick house fixer upper. I would love to share every single detail and type for the next three and a half hours, but I have decided to leave it right here, with an ever so thankful heart. This is where our homeownership journey begins.
Thanks for reading, buddies.
Jenna