August
"By August everything will be different."
That's what I kept telling myself. Maybe that thought just came from me because I was hoping for something different. I mean school started in August, so yeah that would be a little different, but I guess I was hoping for something to change. Our life had changed a lot over the past year, we literally lived off the goodness of God providing. This is a little ironic because I have always stayed away from jobs where you have to raise your own support and we had been relying on support for the the past 8 months!
At the end of July, we surprised everyone, including ourselves by putting our house on the market.
People would ask, "so where are you moving?"
Our response: "We aren't sure." We REALLY had no idea.
We kept saying things like "Brent's parents have a camper we could use, my aunt has a house she rents out..."
.... it makes people feel better if they think you have a plan! ;)
But there were no concrete plans, there weren't any imaginary plans, we really we didn't know where we were going to do if our house sold. I guess we just assumed something would come up.
Well, it did. Something came up. Don't you love the suspense??!!
I'll answer that question for you. No, none of you do. Some of you Sneaky Pete's who have our phone number texted us, demanding to know what was going on! Haha! Ok. So, "demanding" may be a little strong - no worries - it was funny and fun.
Our house showed 5 days after we put it on the market! They even made an offer. Then they slept on it and decided it was too far to drive to work. So Brent and I cooled our jets and settled back into our routine and school. I finally just thought, well "everything will be different, must have meant school and the house being for sale."
Surprisingly, our house had a second viewing a few weeks later.
The next day, on August 25, we signed a contract in the parking lot at church.
BAM!! WHAT? (thanks Liv and Maddie - ha!)
Now we were really wondering where we were going to live! And as things go, the week before a local church had messaged Brent about doing the youth ministry with them and we found out that it came with a house too! Brent had a solo interview. It went well. Then we got a call back and I went with him for the second interview. It was the Thursday after we signed the contract. The inspector even came that same day. This interview was more casual and just conversation with the pastor and the committee. It was such a great conversation. They have great, strong leadership at this church.
Two days later, on August 31, we decided to move.
There was not a big lightning bolt, there wasn't a physical Voice from Heaven booming in our living room, but there was a huge weight lifted off of Brent's shoulders, he told me as we were nearing the end of the conversation.
That's what I kept telling myself. Maybe that thought just came from me because I was hoping for something different. I mean school started in August, so yeah that would be a little different, but I guess I was hoping for something to change. Our life had changed a lot over the past year, we literally lived off the goodness of God providing. This is a little ironic because I have always stayed away from jobs where you have to raise your own support and we had been relying on support for the the past 8 months!
At the end of July, we surprised everyone, including ourselves by putting our house on the market.
People would ask, "so where are you moving?"
Our response: "We aren't sure." We REALLY had no idea.
We kept saying things like "Brent's parents have a camper we could use, my aunt has a house she rents out..."
.... it makes people feel better if they think you have a plan! ;)
But there were no concrete plans, there weren't any imaginary plans, we really we didn't know where we were going to do if our house sold. I guess we just assumed something would come up.
Well, it did. Something came up. Don't you love the suspense??!!
I'll answer that question for you. No, none of you do. Some of you Sneaky Pete's who have our phone number texted us, demanding to know what was going on! Haha! Ok. So, "demanding" may be a little strong - no worries - it was funny and fun.
I will go ahead and let you know that the church in Hawaii did not work out. We did not get any random phone calls. They hired a guy from the East Coast. I checked the website. Sorry, no Hawaii vacations for you to come visit us!
Surprisingly, our house had a second viewing a few weeks later.
The next day, on August 25, we signed a contract in the parking lot at church.
BAM!! WHAT? (thanks Liv and Maddie - ha!)
Now we were really wondering where we were going to live! And as things go, the week before a local church had messaged Brent about doing the youth ministry with them and we found out that it came with a house too! Brent had a solo interview. It went well. Then we got a call back and I went with him for the second interview. It was the Thursday after we signed the contract. The inspector even came that same day. This interview was more casual and just conversation with the pastor and the committee. It was such a great conversation. They have great, strong leadership at this church.
Two days later, on August 31, we decided to move.
To Uganda. Africa.
WAIT?? WHAT?!?!?!?
SURPRISE!!!
Don't feel too shocked, this decision was also a surprise to us!
Talk about everything being different! Sometimes Life just wait until the very last moments!
We are. So. Stoked.
We are planning to move this fall for six months.
We get to help with the House of Hope,
which is a new school with plans to be an orphanage.
The House of Hope began about two years ago. Brent has been twice and has loved every moment. He was also asked to be on the Board about a year ago. It is a place where he found passion and vision. It also was a place we never expected to go.
Bre and EK are going with us.
They are so excited about getting to meet the kids and help in any way.
We will be switching them to homeschool for a bit.
Since Ben is a senior this year, we gave him the option to stay or come with us.
Nothing is set in stone. It's a big decision for the three of us to make and a lot to work out
if he decides to stay here to graduate.
There was not a big lightning bolt, there wasn't a physical Voice from Heaven booming in our living room, but there was a huge weight lifted off of Brent's shoulders, he told me as we were nearing the end of the conversation.
Once we agreed, we couldn't imagine not going.
In some ways, it feels like we have been getting ready for this forever.
And in some ways, it feels like a new dream we didn't even know we had.
Even when I was 14, I remember thinking that God had asked me to be a missionary. I really didn't know what to do about it. None of the other girls were saying anything and plus all the missionaries I read about and knew of died of some horrible, drawn-out disease. That's really not appealing to anybody, let alone a 14-year-old who just wants to survive the 8th grade! So I never said or did anything about it. Plus, I wasn't really sure if I was hearing/thinking right nor not. Maybe I was weird.
I was super nervous all day yesterday about telling everyone.
Really, we are so excited to have you apart of this new path!
I hope you are excited too! I plan to keep blogging and posting photos here, so you can keep up with the House of Hope and it would be super awesome if you came for a visit!
As far as what we need to do to get ready? Well there are all kinds of things.
But first things first, right?
We took the girls to mail off paperwork to get their American passports yesterday!
They were really excited, but it was also early for Saturday morning! Haha!
More to come soon!
It's been fun sharing in all the suspense with you!
Thanks for reading!
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