Homeless

On April third a tornado ripped through Cammack Village and now we're homeless. No, it's not what you think, but it is a long story. After a long bought with numerous winter illnesses that have finally been traced (at least partially) to mildew problems, Erica and I decided to start looking for a larger and newer home. We were torn about the decision, because we love our neighborhood, but it seemed to be the best decision. We found a cute house in St. Charles and made a low ball offer that the sellers accepted.

About a week later we put our house up for sale. After only two days we got our first offer. It was for $7,900 less than our asking price, so we decided to counter-offer. We had 24 hours to respond, so I decided to fast and pray that evening. This is where it gets exciting.

Sometime around 9;30 that evening, shortly after putting Norah to bed, the tornado sirens went off. Erica scooped Norah out of her crib and we huddled in the hallway. The sirens continued off and on for about half an hour until the wind picked up violently and hail started to fall. Erica and I prayed for our family and our neighbors until the air went still. The power went out so I checked weather.com on my phone and learned that the tornado had just passed though Cammack Village. It was a scary experience, but we didn't realize how close it came to us until the next day. The house 7 lots down from us is condemned, as are many others, and Baker park is in bad shape.

Expecting to be without power for a few days, we drove to Heber Springs the next day. Biff and Lily were out of town, but Nancy made us feel right at home. We spend the morning praying about our house and put together our counter offer, which the buyer accepted. We close on May 15th.

Meanwhile, my heart was in turmoil regarding the house we purchased. I did not feel a great deal of peace about the decision, and extensive prayer did little to alleviate my fear. The inspection report revealed many problems including mildew under the house, as well as a roof, heater, AC unit, and water heater that would need to be replaced soon. This was reason enough for me to keep looking. I felt horrible about backing out of the contract, but I'm pretty sure that we would not have been able to agree with the seller on the repair list, and I hated dragging things out while waiting on estimates.

Erica was supportive of my decision, but she was also very disappointed. She really liked the house in St. Charles, and now we were going to be homeless in less than a month if something didn't turn up fast. The idea of house hunting again was just exhausting after the roller coaster of emotions we had just experienced. We did some apartment shopping, and were leaning towards a two bedroom at the enclave in NLR, but it didn't feel right to me. We thought about moving into my mom's condo, but the current tenant loves the place (he wanted a three year lease) and we didn't want to kick him out on his butt. I even considered changing my mind about the house in St. Charles. Since it was for sale by owner, I knew that we probably had the opportunity to change our mind as long as it wasn't listed with a realtor. I drove by every day and watched for a sign out front, but it still wasn't listed.

By now I was beginning to regret ever selling our house in the first place. I had been consumed by my fear and stress and was beginning to relate to James 1:6. I knew that worrying so much didn't serve any purpose, and I began to pray exclusively for peace. Suddenly I realized that God has used this experience to bring me closer to him. I had been praying and reading scripture every day for weeks, which is something I had been trying to master for years. A tremendous peace came over me as I remembered where my joy comes from and I laid my troubles before God. I left the chapel still without answers but also without fear and drove by the house in St. Charles one more time to find that it had been listed with a realtor. I was relieved. I then decided to call my mother's tenant and touch base with him. "I was going to call you this afternoon" he said "I've bought a house and will be moving out soon." In fact, he plans to be out on May 15th, the day we close on our house.

I have been singing God's praises ever since. He could not have come through for me in a more powerful way. Mom has graciously offered to let us live in her condo rent free until we find a house. I must admit that I'm not looking forward to moving twice, but I'm looking forward to finding our next home.