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4 In Faith/ Family/ Finding our place/ House Hunting/ Minnesota/ My Journey

Miracles in Moving

Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism. If you’ve got all the answers, then don’t call what you do faith.” — Dr. Brené Brown

I’m so thankful that I have a God I can trust. I look back on my life and see His faithfulness over and over.

However, entering new territory, heading toward the unknown, is still hard. Every time.

Why? Why do I fear? Why don’t I rest in the fact that the same God who provided for me throughout my life, will continue to be by my side?

He is faithful, so why do I worry?

There’s a story in the Bible about the Israelites traveling to an unknown place. I can’t imagine being a mama back then – with no restaurants or grocery stores – no guarantee of food for my children. However, day after day, God miraculously provided food for them. Each morning, there was fresh “manna” on the ground. They ate all they wanted.

However, they weren’t sure the food would always be there. God provided yesterday, He provided today, but would He provide again tomorrow? And every.single.day. after that?

Would He always be this good?

Since they weren’t sure, they began to gather as much as they could and store it in their tent for the days to come. However, the food they stored would be rotten by morning. They’d go outside to discover that God had, once again, provided fresh “manna” for them to eat. They slowly learned to trust Him, one day at a time. You can read the story in Exodus 16.

This season has a made me realize – I’m just Iike those Israelites!

I can look back and see how God provided for me (over and over) but I STILL say: “God, will you do it again? Will you be as good tomorrow as you were today?” In my heart, I know He will. But the trusting day-by-day is so hard.

I reflected back on how God miraculously provided for us in Colorado, but wondered if He would do the same in Minnesota?!

For instance, we had to sell our house in Colorado before we could make an offer on a house in Minnesota.

The waiting, day after day.

Will we get an offer…WHEN will we get an offer…PLEASE someone…give us an offer!

The waiting, the trusting…was HARD.

We DID get an offer – A FULL PRICE OFFER!

However, the family who wanted our home, wanted it in less than 30 days.

We had not yet decided on a house OR a mortgage company.

Ted and I talked, prayed, and chose our home Minnesota home, while I interviewed mortgage companies to find the best rate.

Once those big items were decided, we had only 2 and a half weeks before we had to be out of our Colorado house. The mortgage company needed almost 30 days to close on our loan. We’d be in limbo for about 10 days.

Ten days where we’d be ‘homeless’ – 10 days between the time we needed to be out of our Colorado home and close on our Minnesota home.

We asked the Minnesota homeowner if we could get a ‘pre-occupancy’ agreement – letting us move in early. We’d essentially “rent” the home from him until we close. This would save us from having to stay in a hotel for those 10 days, and even more important, we wouldn’t have to move our things TWO TIMES (from our Colorado home to storage, then from storage to our Minnesota home). That would be a lot of extra effort and EXPENSE!

The homeowner said NO. He’d had a bad experience with this before and he would not let us in early, even though he was no longer in the house – the house was EMPTY!

We asked the family purchasing our Colorado home if we could stay for 10 extra days. They said, “no, we have everything on a specific timeline.”

This was so discouraging.

So I prayed. I asked a few others to pray. Ted talked to our realtor to see if he could get the Minnesota homeowner to change his mind.

We waited.

I tried not to get anxious as our moving day approached.

Well, moving day came. Our movers asked us where they’d be taking our stuff. I gave them our new Minnesota home address…in faith, praying we’d have favor and could move our stuff in.

As our movers were finishing and Friday was coming to a close…we heard back from the Minnesota homeowner.

He would let us into his home early!!!

The movers left our home Friday and we met them at our new home on Monday morning at 7:30 AM!

Our Miracle Home in Minnesota!

Thank you God for answered prayer.

Thank you to our realtor who negotiated on our behalf.

Thank you to those who encouraged and prayed for us!

I’m thankful that I follow a God who provides, day after day, year after year, generation after generation.

If you are going through a tough situation, and wondering if God is with you, read this verse:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NIV

PS – The homeowner really DID have a BAD experience and it’s a MIRACLE he let us in early! Someone had moved into this home a year earlier, requesting a “lease-to-own” deal. After moving in, he didn’t pay rent and did damage to the home and he couldn’t get the renter out. The floors had to be refinished, carpet replaced and walls painted. What a mess! Somehow, in spite of this, we were allowed in early! Amazing!

Feel free to leave a comment about how you’ve seen God provide for you!

August 15, 2018 By Kathryn

4 In Family/ Finding our place/ House Hunting/ Minnesota/ Moving/ Peek into our Week/ Raising boys

A Peek into our week – Saying Goodbye to Colorado, Hello to Minnesota

Enjoying our final Pikes Peak sunset from our home in Colorado

Last week we said goodbye to Colorado – to our friends, to our home, and to that beautiful chapter of our lives.

Jared and Holly Newman – life long friends

Lots of friends came over to give us one last hug, we went to the Newman family’s house for one last dinner and I went to church one last time to see Kari Jobe and Louie Giglio! (It was so good!)

Early Wednesday morning two kind gentleman showed up at our house and started packing. Somehow, those two guys had my house completely packed and loaded on the moving truck in just 3 days!! (I think it took me 6 weeks to pack when we moved to Colorado)

Our family flew to Minneapolis on Saturday morning. Clark asked if we were in “first class” because the flight attendant offered him a snack and a drink. (He’s only flown one other time – and that was on another airline)

We stayed the weekend in a hotel.

Saturday – lots of swimming!

Sunday – Mall of America!

Before we moved, I told the boys that when we arrived in Minnesota, I’d let them spend $20 each at the Mall. It gave them one more reason to get excited about the move.

Our first stop – the Lego Store!

George was THRILLED to explore this place and had a hard time just picking out ONE thing. $20 doesn’t go very far there, but he found a set that he was excited to build.

Clark chose to buy a remote control car.

Paul wanted new running shoes. (I gave him a little extra since he chose RUNNING SHOES!)

Luke picked a Lightning McQueen toy.

I picked where we ate – Wahlburgers. (It was great!)

They wanted to ride ALL the rides – but we picked one – The Ferris Wheel! It’s kind of crazy riding a Ferris Wheel inside a MALL!

Monday morning, we met the movers at our house.

There were a few things about this house that made me fall in love with it:

I could tell it was a neighborhood with LOTS of kids – nearly every house has a play set, a trampoline, a soccer net or a basketball hoop.
It has a nice backyard…big enough for FOUR boys to run some of their energy out with a game of tag or soccer.
It has LOTS of trees! Since I’d no longer be able to see Pikes Peak, I wanted something pretty to look at and I do! I love all the trees and water in Minnesota.

Within an hour of pulling up to our home, the boys had already met the neighbor kids on both sides. They played all day. Clark called it the “best day ever” and said he’d be sad if I picked ANY other house in Minnesota.

George agreed and said this is his favorite house we’ve ever lived in.

All the boys have been sleeping SOO good in this house. I haven’t been wakened at all by any child! It may have something to do with the fact that they RUN, JUMP, PLAY, and SWIM all day! (Maybe that’s the title of my new book?!!)

We are grateful for a smooth transition and looking forward to making many happy memories here.

Thanks for your prayers, comments, texts and encouragement through this process!

July 18, 2018 By Kathryn

7 In Colorado/ Colorado Springs/ Finding our place/ House Hunting/ Moving

Becoming Colorado home owners!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melody Beattie

In 2015, Ted received a job offer for a position at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). This was a company he had followed for over a decade, reading and using the material they produce on leadership. What an honor to now get to be a part of their team!

We decided to first “rent” a home until we knew which part of town we wanted to live in. After living in Colorado Springs for about 6 months, we were getting familiar with this great city, and knew which area of town where we wanted to buy a home. After looking at several houses, we found the one that we knew was our ‘home.’ From the first time we walked inside, we could feel the love and comfort in this home, and could imagine ourselves living there. We would soon find out that the family selling the home had moved here from Naperville, Illinois (not far from where we previously lived) and attended the same church as us!

We put an offer on the house and included a letter about our family – why we wanted their home and what we loved about it. The house had only been on the market 6 days and we knew others were interested, but thankfully, we got the house! They let us know that the letter was what made them want to sell their home to us.

We set a closing date for the end of April, but the lease for our rental home was through September. I called the Rental Agency about breaking our lease. They quoted all the fees involved for doing that, and my heart sank for a minute. Then I remembered a conversation I had with someone who knew the owners of this rental home. I remembered her telling me that the owners were planning to moving back soon after living overseas for five years. I wondered (to myself) where the owners would live since our family was renting their house.

I asked our rental agency if they would contact the owners of our rental home to see if they might want their house back.

Amazingly, the owners said, “YES!”

We did not have to break the lease or pay any fees for moving out early!!!!

Wow!

We are now Colorado homeowners and absolutely love it! We are grateful to get to live in such an amazing place. I share more specifically about what we love to do here in this post.

I hope you’ve enjoyed following us in this journey as much as I’ve enjoyed telling you! It’s been fun to look back and see how God has gone before us, opening doors at every step. We took a leap of faith and flew. I hope it’s inspired you!

CLICK HERE to read 10 things I didn’t know about Colorado until I lived here!

Click here to read a post I wrote about 10 things you MUST do in Colorado Springs!

September 10, 2017 By Kathryn

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.

September 4, 2017 By Kathryn