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9 In Colorado/ Colorado Springs/ Faith/ Family/ Finding our place/ Friendship/ Moving

Finding our new home and saying good-bye to our old home

“Always in the big woods when you leave familiar ground and step off alone into a new place there will be, along with the feelings of curiosity and excitement, a little nagging of dread.  It is the ancient fear of the unknown, and it is your first bond with the wilderness you are going to.” – Wendell Berry

Our moving date was one week away, and we had NO idea where we were going to live. (Click here to read about it!)

The ONE family we knew in town mentioned that their neighbor had just moved out. She called to see if the home was available for rent. Thankfully, miraculously, the person who had been renting that home had moved out two weeks early, providing an opening for us to move into the home in SIX days!

“Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building                                                                    your wings on the way down.” – Ray Bradbury

Ted had to fly back to Chicago, so our sweet friend offered to meet the agent at the potential rental home in Colorado Springs to give us an iChat walking tour. The house was PERFECT! It was a four bedroom house on a cul-de-sac, in a great neighborhood, with a gorgeous view of Pike’s Peak – and within our budget! We immediately signed a 12-month lease, waited for approval and FIVE days before we were scheduled to move, we had a home!!

Thank you Lord! I can breathe again!

Saying the actual “good-byes” to our Illinois friends, and my Indiana family, was harder than I expected it to be. These are the people who loved us, encouraged us, worked with us, supported us through the births of each of our four sons! They had watched our boys grow and had loved them so well. My Indiana family had only been 3 hours away for the last 13 years. I could pop over any weekend and for any event. Now everything was changing. Our DREAM was being realized, but we were leaving a part of ourselves behind. And that was hard. (Honestly, it’s still hard. There are so many good people that we miss in Illinois, and I still miss not being able to drive over to see my family in Indiana whenever I want.)

   (Saying good bye to family⇑ and friends ⇓)

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

In September 2015 –  we left Illinois, the place that we had called “home” for the last 13 years, to make a new start in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

When we arrived, something happened that shocked me. I’ll tell you about it my next post. (Subscribe→ so you won’t miss it)

0 In Colorado/ Colorado Springs/ Faith/ Finding our place/ House Hunting/ Moving/ Traveling

Taking a Leap of Faith

Come to the edge, He said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, He said.

They came. He pushed them,

And they flew…

GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE

We decided to put our house on the market, and it sold in three weeks (Click here to read about that).

NOW WHAT?

Well, the week we put our house on the market, a friend reached out to my husband to tell him that a company in Colorado Springs was hiring and that Ted would be a perfect fit. My husband immediately applied for this position.

We wanted to get to Colorado as soon as possible, but it would be several months before my husband knew if he got the job in Colorado Springs. How could we move there without any definite work or way to provide for our family. We discussed staying in Illinois and renting until we had things lined up perfectly.

Instead, we stepped out in faith. We believed that Colorado should be our new home and we were just going to take that LEAP. We would move forward and trust God to open the doors and go before us.

This “leap of faith” stuff is frightening. Imagine closing your eyes and jumping off into an abyss. How does that make you feel? That’s how I was feeling at that moment.

Where would we live?

How would we provide for our family?

How long until we found a job?

“I’ve spent my whole life trying to get less comfortable.  I don’t think God wants us to be comfortable.  I think God wants you and I to live right on the edge of YIKES.” – Bob Goff

Ted told his current employer about our decision to move. Instead of giving him the ‘two weeks notice,’ they let him keep his job!  They were able to work out an arrangement for him to work remote and travel back and forth from Colorado to Chicago on a monthly basis!

Then we had to decide where in Colorado we wanted to plant our roots.

Colorado Springs was the one spot that, even before ever visiting, seemed to be “calling my name. “ I thought that if Dr. Dobson, Focus on the Family and Compassion International could call this place home, then perhaps, so could we!  Plus, Colorado Springs is so beautiful with Pike’s Peak as its backdrop. It’s a city with so much to offer young families, plenty to do if you are seeking adventure, and a reasonable cost of living. After talking it through, that’s where we decided to go.

Once we had chosen our city, we had to find a place to live. Our closing date was soon approaching, and our moving company wanted to know where they were taking our stuff. I wanted to know where they’d be taking our stuff, too!

I had no idea how HARD it would be to find a home to rent in Colorado Springs. As soon as a good one would pop up online, I’d call, and then find out that it had already been rented! It was challenging, but I was at peace knowing that God was going before us. I knew there was a home for us in Colorado Springs.

With only one week before our closing date and move, Ted flew out to Colorado Springs for an in-person interview. He was also planning to nail down a place for us to live. I had been talking to a realtor, and she lined up three houses for him to tour. Unfortunately, he didn’t think any of them were right for us. When he called me that evening to tell me we still didn’t have a home, I took a deep breath and prayed: “God, I know you have a place for us. Please help us find it…soon. ”

Click here to find out how God answered our prayer! And please subscribe (in the column on the right) so you don’t have to miss an update.