Blessings...

I was listening to Elder Bednar's talk from conference this morning and decided I needed to document how Christ's enabling power has strengthened me in the past few weeks. Such a powerful, wonderful talk!

It was the middle of February when I started researching the possibility of moving. It was the Monday after a new stake was created that includes our ward and several others in the area. The boundaries of several wards were also changed. (Not sure if this will be important in the future or not.) I decide to look up homes for sale in a certain area of Keller that is close to Parker's part-time private school and Bob's work. I found several houses that I was interested in but only two were still available when I contacted a real estate agent. I went to see those two houses with Parker on Wednesday while the girls were in preschool. I didn't think either of these houses would be "the one" but I wanted to see if I could see our family living in something a little smaller with 2 stories.

I really liked the first house. Parker liked it too. It had been on the market for several months and was empty. I started to envision how it would fit us. I took the little girls and Caden back the following day. They all loved it too. I began to finalize in my mind where everything would fit and what each room would be used for. At home I was doing Google Map searches to see estimated time to church, school, work, etc. I began to fall in the love with the location and layout of the house. I thought we could rent our current house for a year in case it ended up not working out. At that point I couldn't imagine having the energy to get our house ready to sell so renting seemed like a good option. I also wasn't convinced that we wouldn't miss our current area and want to come back.

Bob was finally able to see the house with me on Friday. He had been working a lot that week and hadn't had a chance to really think about moving until that day. The seller had started to move some of her things back in that Friday and our agent told us she was moving back in unless she got a good offer on the house that weekend. The house is 20 years old and could use some updates. Bob and I couldn't agree on a price or even whether or not to make an offer that day. He could only see the age of the house and how it isn't as nice and new as where we live now. He started to come around over the weekend but we were not able to make a deal to get the house. (We still can't stop thinking about how perfect that house is for us and are doing all we can to convince the owner to sell this summer even though she wants to stay another year. Everyday Bob becomes more accepting of the imperfections he saw that first day as well.)

All that week and for the next 3 weeks I spent a lot of time going through our things and purging. If we are going to downsize our home, I also felt we should downsize our stuff move or not. I was inspired by these posts by one of my favorite bloggers. Every day I would wake up thinking about my next organizing/de-junking project. I went through almost every cabinet, drawer, room and closet in this house only keeping the things we use and love. I felt the strengthening power of God throughout that time giving me focus and direction that I did not have on my own. Bob and I both commented on how much lighter the house felt after getting rid of unneeded stuff.

Throughout this time, we continued to look online at houses for sale. We also decided that we should sell this house if we were going to buy again. We were able to let go of our emotional attachment to this home we built enough to decide to sell it. God gave us strength again for the next couple of weeks to do all that we did to get the house ready to sell. Trimming bushes, re-caulking, touching up baseboard and wall paint, and fixing up all the little "broken" things we have been living with for years.

Heavenly Father and Jesus still haven't left us alone. They have given me the strength to show this house 10 times in the past 2 weeks even on days when I felt I couldn't do it (and while Bob has been working a lot). Have They also orchestrated the days off in between showings that have allowed me to recharge and actually fold some of our laundry?

I know God is behind this change for us. I know He is working to help us carry a lighter load and have more energy and time to focus on what matters most. It is hard right now and I don't know yet how it will all work out. I am trusting that He can see the end from the beginning and knows the house that will fit us and the timing of the changes. I know that He is with us and is sharing the yoke so that our burdens are light. 

If you read this, feel free to pray that we will find a house that fits the vision we have for a simpler existence and more time together outside of a car.