Sold!

I woke up this morning 1,000 pounds lighter. (Not literally. But that would be cool. Because the baby weight, it is bugging me.) No. I woke up without a burden this morning because

OUR EX-HOUSE HAS SOLD!

(Pardon the green. But Blogger doesn't have a font that accurately conveys my excitement.)

We closed the paperwork yesterday. Today is the first day in 3 years and 9 months that we haven't owned two homes. And since our ex-house was BY FAR the more expensive of the two residences, the sigh of relief is substantial.

We did end up losing money on the sale -- quite a bit, actually. But given the economy and the fact that we first put the house on market November 2006 (think back; what were you doing November 2006?), we are just happy to have it gone. We were losing more money each year paying the mortgage (and the taxes and the insurance and the property management fees and the lawn service and the snow service and you get the idea) than we ultimately did by selling it.

Corey and I are humbled and beyond grateful to be free. We are also exhausted, to be honest.

I fully, completely believe this is God's handiwork. We have alternately trusted and pleaded with Him to orchestrate the sale of the house in His timing and with His purposes. The fact that we are losing money on the house isn't pleasant, but it doesn't diminish God's control of this at all to me.

Still. It's been a long road.

I'll also admit there's a bittersweet side to this celebration. We loved our ex-home. If we could have moved it with us to the Twin Cities, we would have done it in a heartbeat. (I'm still waiting for a mad scientist to invent a shrinking ray, so we wouldn't have to move and look for a new home. Instead, we could just shrink our current home and all its belongings, buy a new plot of land somewhere and re-grow the house in a new setting.)

And part of me will always miss it.





















Sigh. I feel like I left a piece of my heart there. God did so much in that house. So many tears, so much joy. I saw miracles there. I saw glory.

But enough looking back. It's time to look forward and throw a party to celebrate what God has done. Please join me in a YAHOO! and YEA GOD! and SOMEDAY, I'LL HAVE A YARD AGAIN!

Thank you, sweet Jesus. Once again, I stand in awe at your goodness and grace.

If you'd like to reminisce with me, here are a few old posts about the ex-house.
- Something I won't miss: The Bugs
- How I became a gardener, thanks to our ex-house: The Ghosts of Gardens Past
- A bunch of posts about waiting for it to sell and trusting God in the wait: Peace in the Pause, The Long Slog, Ugh