Our Story

Well, part of our story at least. There are many, many happenings that led us to the beginning of THIS part of our story, but those will have to be for another time, another post. For now, I will start with “our story” since March 2011.

It was the beginning of March and we finally decided-- we were going to have to put our house on the market. This was not an easy decision in light of the real estate mess our country is in, but we knew that without stepping out in this kind of faith we were not going to be able to watch the Lord move. See, we had been hemming and hawing over this decision for almost a year when March 2011 finally rolled around. We decided the first week of April was the date and we called up our AMAZING real estate agent, we’ll call him Larry, and said we were ready.

Some of our friends thought we were crazy… and, really, we were a little crazy. It was a charming house that we had made a home. Our next-door neighbors were friends from college, Ben was 1-mile from work, the yard was big (even had space for a 10x20 garden plot!), not to mention, I was 7 months pregnant with our fourth child.  But when you know that you know, you just know and you do it.

It wasn’t going to bring in the big bucks that we hoped for when we bought it five years prior, it wasn’t going to help us pay off college loans or get us a down payment for our next house purchase, but it was going to be an act of simple faith. So we cleaned and we waited and people looked and we cleaned and cleaned some more and made beds and waited.

Then… we had a baby. June 2^nd, we had little Titus (well not that little, 9lbs 1oz didn’t feel little at all), and he was a blessing indeed – more on him another time. So, we got a little less sleep but we cleaned, waited, made beds and stayed up in the wee hours of the morning with our newborn.

Then… someone came to look at our house and I forgot to put the dog away and Larry, the realtor, called to ask if the dog was nice and could he put him away…And I forgot (remember I have a newborn) to check Alena’s room… when I returned the dog was put away and I checked upstairs to find Alena’s bed was “made” by 4-year old hands and her room was “cleaned” with 4-year old perspective. Sigh. And… of course, because this is how our powerful God works through our simple life…we got a call! Yup! We had a potential buyer. They were serious too, ready to wait it out with us…so we waited, and called banks, and filled out paperwork and waited. And did more paperwork and waited.

Then…Ben found a job posting. And it was in Spokane… And it was exactly what he had been doing in Tacoma the last 4 years. So, it seemed maybe something was starting to line up. He applied and they said they wouldn’t interview for about a month. So we waited and now we didn’t have to clean, but we did have to do more paperwork and we waited…and we got approved to sell by Bank #2!!! So we waited to hear from Bank #1.

And then it was summer and we had no clue what the fall would hold. So, I went to Spokane to visit my brother and I stayed for 2 weeks (he was visiting from Korea so it made sense to stay around for awhile). And I started to worry… It was the beginning of AUGUST- Where were we going to live in one short month? Where were the kids going to go to school in one short month? What are we doing? Where will Ben work on the first day of school? I kept hearing “Patience.” PATIENCE? Really??!! Patience? We have ONE short month to figure this out…. My simple mind couldn’t fathom His powerful plan.

So we came back to Tacoma and then the school called… “Can you interview on August 23?” We had just been IN Spokane for two weeks, why couldn’t he have interviewed then? But of course, “Yes.” So Ben drove BACK to Spokane to interview and they said he’d hear back on Friday.

We decided at that point that we might as well have a yard sale. Either way, with the perspective looking good on the sale of the house, we would need to move SOMEWHERE. So August 26-28 we sold as much of our stuff as possible and tried to keep our thoughts OFF of the ever looming “call” from Bank #1 and tried to push away the stress of a call from the school which now would not be calling until Monday (29^th).

We got really, really antsy. We had less stuff and the same questions threatened to push me over the edge… Where would the kids go to school? Where would we live? Should we look for an apartment? PLUS the thought that each time I saw a friend would be the last time, did push my emotions to the brink.

Monday came and went….slowly, but it went by and we didn’t hear from the school. Thankfully I had a former classmate that works at the HS Ben applied to and he HEARD through the grapevine that Ben was going to be offered the job. Now things started to ROLL….and fast. At this point is when I must say a huge SORRY to anyone who didn’t know what was going on in our lives. All my mind could focus on was minute by minute what needed to be done for the kids and us to transition, in one piece.

Tuesday I called my friend, let’s call her Holly, and started to utter the unfathomable, “Oh my goodness, this is going to happen, HOW are we going to say goodbye? And HOW will the kids do? And WHAT am I doing? And are we doing the right thing?” So we planned a good-bye party without even knowing if we had the job yet. And then on Wednesday I got in the car with my four children and I drove to Spokane…there were orientations for kids’ schools that I felt were necessary…and we still didn’t know if Ben got the job.  Then that night, we got the call. Ben was offered the job. We were moving to Spokane. 

Thursday Ben started teaching in Tacoma (he hadn’t officially quit his job, since we didn’t know if we got the Spokane one yet…we didn’t have THAT much faith :) ) and on Friday I drove back to Tacoma with Ben’s parents. We packed late into the night and all day on Saturday and on Sunday morning there was a U-Haul in front of my house. We packed our life into that big truck and Ben got in the drivers seat to chauffeur it all the way across the state, to Spokane, Washington. We unpacked the truck on Sunday night and thanked the Lord for Labor Day weekend. Ben and all three big kids started school on Tuesday!

So, we live here now and our life is settling in. There are many, many stories of confirmation along the way. One being that we did hear from Bank #1 eventually and the house sell went through at the end of September. I will share each story over time, but for now this blog entry is a novel. I will say in closing, thank you to all of the people who have supported us through this crazy time and glory to the One who has guided us and protected us and has a plan far better than our minds could have ever imagined.

Jeremiah 29:11 –

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.