Not for the faint of heart

Housebuilding.  It's sounds exciting, it sounds fun....it sounds expensive.  And all of that is true (especially the last one) but what I didn't realize is how stressful it is from day one.  It's not the stress of matching the cabinets with the counter tops or deciding between stainless steel or brushed bronze hardware, it's things like 'will the excavation happen before it rains?', 'will our permits make the deadline?', 'will the port-a-potty be delivered on time?'  (Yes, the last one is a stress!!)

We are actually having a very fortunate experience so far.  So much of what takes so long for most people has easily fallen into place for us.  And with each baby step we take, I'm trying to remain thankful and very aware that it's not our work that is making this happen.  We sold our house quickly, we found an amazing rental with no long contract, we found amazing property and negotiated a great deal, we have wonderful future neighbors.  It's been such an affirmation for me that God has this in his control.  We haven't had to force things or try and make square pegs fit into round holes.  It's just happened, and with each step that takes place, I'm reminded of how awesome it feels to know that this plan that WE have wanted for so long - God is giving it to us.

This week was no different.  Without writing a novel, the bank decided to change some of the rules on funding the loan at the last possible minute.  It didn't pose a risk to us losing our financing at all, but it did threaten to cause a lengthy delay.  With the delay would have come the headache of re-signing, resubmitting, re-applying for a lot of things that were already done.  I quickly realized that I'm not a fan of anything that starts with a 're-'.  And as we spent the week trying to fit the pieces together to force something to work, God reminded me that he's got this,  this is not something I need to make happen.  Miraculously enough,  all the permits for building the house got approved in a mere 17 days.  This process normally takes 6 weeks, when things go smoothly.  And we've been coached to assume nothing will go smoothly with building a house.  And why do I think God did this?  Because we will close on the land and be one step closer to our dream home on our 14 year anniversary.  And I firmly believe that is no accident.

I know there is a long road before we are going to be inviting people over for dinners and play dates in the woods, but I keep getting reassurances that this project is all part of God's plan for our family, and I just need to try and sit back and enjoy the ride...as hard as it is for a control freak like me :)

Day One

The start of something big

So, third times a charm...right?  I have huge aspirations to blog weekly about our lives, and that exact thing is what gets in the way.  I suppose that it isn't necessarily a bad thing, you know, letting life get in the way of computers :)

I'm hoping that now that I have something to blog about (because life with four kids is super dull) that I might get around to posting without constantly feeling like I'm starting over again!  Our family is starting the long, stressful, fun, expensive, crazy, nerve-wracking process of building a house.  It's something that's been a dream for many years and it's so amazing to have it finally happen.  Although we are learning that the steps towards building are long, slow and backwards at times...we know that the end result is going to be great.  And it feels so good to know that soon we will be in our forever house.  The house where our girls will bring home first dates, where we will be able to host gatherings and bible studies, where eventually our grand-children will come and spend the night.

There are so many daydreams I could list that flood my mind, but for now, all we have is this.  But man, it's going to be so much more than just this soon enough!!!