How our home got sold

As soon as we decided to move to Baltimore, we started prepping our home to sell. Though we aren't moving until January, the timing was best to do the renos in August and we wanted to get it on the market before the dead period in the winter.

Our dads both came for a few days to put in laminate floors, moldings, paint, update the fireplace, and give Peanut-lover some basic education in electricity (heh heh). Me and the kids took off for a few days to visit my brother and his family and came back to a nearly finished home.

I expected to be excited when I walked in.

Instead I found myself in tears. For some reason, the grieving process of this move sneaks up on me and gets me when I least expect it.

We spent a few more weekends packing anything that could be deemed extra and putting it in storage, as well as updating the paint throughout. We were fortunate to have family to help us get stuff done and to watch the kids. Finally we were ready to stage.

And then it rained sideways.

And we came home to a leak in our ceiling.

Not cool.

So, the caretaker had someone make the repairs to the chimney and we hired a painter for the ceiling. And then we were ready to stage.

Now, if you don't have a realtor extraordinaire who is also your sis-in-law and can paint like nobody's business, then you really should get one. And if you're in the Fraser Valley, and seriously looking for a realtor (who incidentally could still wind up your sis-in-law if you married one of the younger siblings, and for that, you'd be really lucky because then she probably would help you paint), let me know and I'll shoot out her info to ya.

Well, our expert realtor is also gifted in home staging (so much so that I may just fly her out to decorate my home in Baltimore, because Lord knows, now that I have seen the light, I can't go back to living with my pitiful decorating skills - can I get an Amen?) She went around the family and collected stuff from everyone's homes, brought it all out and made our home look fabulous!

And then, we put that baby on the market.

We did a few showings and an open house. Lots of interest. No offers. But that was only the first week. Then we heard we were doing a showing on the following Tuesday.

Peanut-lover told me that he was pretty sure the people coming on Tuesday were the ones. I said, "Me too!"

Tuesdays are not really my favourite day. Peanut-lover works an hour's drive away, so we have to take the bus to get KK to her singing class and then to school and back. It's a long day to begin with. This particular Tuesday, I forgot my cell phone. Awesome.

Our showing was set for 5 pm, so I planned out our day to be home for 4 pm to get the place just right. Then we missed our bus. Then the next bus was delayed. Then I got home to a message that the people were going to be arriving at 4:30 instead. It was 4:13. I started crying. (Yes, tears are the answer to anything for me. But, they don't get my house clean. Can someone work on that for me?)

On the verge of panic, I kept hearing in my heart that it would be ok. That this showing wasn't in my hands. That I didn't have to make this perfect. I went back and forth between knowing that it would all be ok and freaking out at the kids for getting in my way while I whirlwind-cleaned. Oh, did I mention that JJ had accidentally drawn all over the table with permanent marker? The thing is, I was being really convicted about my need to have everything perfect, so I did my best to resist the temptation and focus on what really mattered.

I got the place to tidy, though not "wow!" and left it up to God. He's so much better at this stuff than I am anyways. I let the people in and headed down the hall. I heard their, "wow" when they opened the door. I saw their faces when they came out.

Five minutes after they departed, we got the call - they were writing up an offer.

Peanut-lover had a number in his head and we held tight to that number. After some back and forth, they came all the way up from an initial low-ball offer AND gave us the late closing-dates we wanted.

Our home is sold. There's no going back now!

What the heck happened in Baltimore?

You might remember, about a year ago, I mentioned we were thinking about moving to Baltimore. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not that important. Go read about it here ;)

Over the past year, we went back and forth about the whole idea, finally settling on being 95% sure we were definitely NOT going to Baltimore. But everyone that we look to for wisdom said we should just go for the interview, just to get rid of that last 5% of doubt and that we'd know for sure either way once we went there. We were more than ready to close off that last 5% and settle into a comfortable life.

Approaching the trip, I was mostly excited. We were definitely NOT moving there (95% sure) and we were getting a whole 4 days without the weenuts! Peanut-lover was stressed - he had a lot to do on the trip. But I was ready for fun.

Then we got there.

We had decided to go on the trip with open hearts, willing to really assess whether Baltimore could be our home. Though pretty certain we were NOT going there, we wanted to be sure we had explored the option as completely as possible.

So when we landed and drove through the city in the middle of the night, it all really hit me. I looked around at all the buildings and recognized NOTHING. Not a bank name, grocery store, gas station... nothing was the same.

The first few days there, I was shocked to face so much emotion. I spent hours in my bible, seeking solace and wisdom... finding solace and wisdom. Over and over I found verses that related to what I was going through. I wish I had been journaling at the time because I can't remember all the details now.

One thing I do remember was reading in Leviticus about how the Tabernacle was to be built. It struck me that the building, maintaining and transporting of the Tabernacle was a ton of work. When Peanut-lover came in, I went to remark to him about this and it hit me that God's work is a lot of work. And that yes, Balimore would be a lot of work, but that didn't mean it was something to avoid.

For the first two days there, we explored the city and checked out neighborhoods. The food was delicious, the homes were so interesting, the university was awe-inspiring, the weather was hot and humid. I cried a lot.

On the third day there, Peanut-lover had his interview and spent the day with the lab at Johns Hopkins. Afterwards, he picked me up and took me to join the lab for dinner. Between the time we left the hotel and arrived at the restaurant, something in me had changed. I remember waiting for everyone else to arrive and saying to Peanut-lover, "Let's just do it. Let's just jump in with both feet." That night was our last night in the city and we stayed up so late looking at Baltimore with new eyes, like it might be our new home.



We prayerfully considered it over the next week or so. On the night we finalized our decision, the two of us went out to our favourite beach to talk, read our bible and pray. It felt like God was speaking to us over and over through what we were reading in the bible. All kinds of stuff about how we need to use the gifts that we have. So we decided to go.

One last issue remained and that was my mom's health. I couldn't imagine leaving her when she was unwell. At that time, she had made a remarkable recovery from the set-backs in the Spring and early Summer. I felt like it was a step of faith in terms of me trusting God with her life, for me to follow His leading to Baltimore.

But in the fall, things changed. My mom is quite ill right now, struggling through intense chemo and approaching a bone-marrow transplant which will be a very difficult time for her.

I can't understand why God would ask me to leave during her hardest days.

I just can't. It doesn't make any sense.

But my God is so faithful. He meets me right where I am. I read in Joshua, just a few days ago, about how the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River to get into Canaan (the Promised Land). God didn't have them cross when it was easy, He had them cross in Spring, when the river was overflowing its banks. It was then that they needed a miracle and He gave them a miracle. He made the river stop so that they could cross on dry land. He had them cross when it was hardest so that he could demonstrate his power.

I feel that he is asking me to cross when it is hardest, and I trust that I will see him demonstrate his power.

And so... we are packing up the nutty household and moving to Baltimore... and clinging to God every step of the way.