It is hard for me to believe that it is already the middle of September. It seems it was just yesterday the beginning of January, just starting into the new year. So many things have happened since then. Honestly, a lot has happened since the beginning of August. It feels like a life time ago. For all my family and close friends out there wondering what is coming next for Thomas and I here is just a short blurb of the last month and a half of our life......
In July Thomas went underway with the ship for about a month. Longest month of my life. It just really hit both of us just how tired we are of military life and being always a part from one another. I was just tired of it all. And after this last week I am so over anything military. Thomas and I are so thankful for the Navy and all that God provided through the Navy, but we both just had that feeling of, it is time to move on.
Yes, Thomas could easily go into the Coast Guard. In reality nothing would really change for me or fro Thomas if we went that route. It would like be deciding to put on another coat after you got tired of always wearing the same one. While it was a comforting transition it was very defeating all at the same time. So we decided to really trust God and REALLY be open minded to where God wanted us to go.
In August we went and visited Thomas' family and friends in California. Up to this point I had pretty much closed the door to ever even thinking about the idea of living in California. Trust me, there were many other places in the world I would rather have looked into living. But I decided to stop being stubborn and spend lots of time in prayer and being open to new ideas. Thomas and I were just seeing if there was any way possible we could live outside of military world. We asked God to show us and make it obvious. I prayed so hard that doors would be slammed in our face if we were to really go into the Coast Guard.
Well God slammed doors and he opened a big one...........
We looked into a "little" city north of Fresno called Oakdale. While there were opportunities there wasn't enough to make it into something. By just looking it opened our eyes to the idea of owning a home and being together all the time. Through different conversations with friends and family we started looking into living in Fresno. Honestly we were just passively looking. Curiosity got the best of us and we wanted to see if we could really afford to live there. The next set of events all happened within three days....
Thomas looked into started back into school and using the G.I. benefits and what all would come of that, I sent e-mails to several relaters about houses and applied to American Ambulance in Fresno. I ended up hearing from one relater about a house so the next day we went and met with him at the house. The house was a failure, let's just say we found our self on a bad side of town. But we did end up meeting an awesome relater that would help us out with the remainder of our house searching process. He is a great-grandpa and has been in the real estate business since 1970. He spent 20 years in the service and helped us figure out all this house buying stuff. I was just so very thankful to meet him. He got us pre-approved, so we new how much in the end we could afford. And Thomas and I were both surprised that there was actually a possibility that we could buy a house. :-)
The next day we met with the same relater to look at two houses we picked out the day before to look at. Thomas and I had very specific parameters on what we wanted to buy. Honestly I thought there was no way. Again we just went fro curiosity sake. Just so we would know for when Thomas got out. We had a very specific price range, 3 bedroom/2 bathroom request, and had to be move in ready. The first two houses we looked at did not meet that. So we were kind of ready to just be done. Then our relater showed us one house that had just come on the market that morning, and asked if we would be interested in seeing it. From the description on paper it looked promising, but we had already looked at three houses at that point that had looked promising on paper. Needless to say when we stepped into the house I just knew this was it. From the kitchen, to the beautiful thick carpet and the layout of the house, I was sold. (For those of you who have heard my carpet rant know just how exciting nice thick carpet is ) We told our relater we wanted to put in an offer fro the house.......and 24 hours later......it was ours! Yep, we were now starting the process of buying a house of our very own. Total shock.
The remainder of our time we spent doing our research about jobs and what all the benefits would include for Thomas going back to school. I almost had an interview with American Ambulance while I was there. I ended up just missing one piece of paperwork and they wouldn't give me an interview without it. I was bummed but hopeful that once we got down there I would have a very good chance of getting hired by them. Thomas' school benefits included money for housing which we found out would cover the mortgage, plus give us money for bills. He also would have a job right away as well.
Again, mind...blown.
Thomas and I sat down and talked about it all. We realized that without working very hard at all on our part, God had laid out everything before us. It is true that God hears and he answers prayers. This is not the most comfortable option. It scars me to death sometimes when I think about it. Starting over is never easy but we don't have to start over on our own. It ends up opening up so many more possibilities than we ever thought. When we finally took God for who he was, he showed us that he has bigger and much better things planned for us than we had planned for ourselves.
So all of this means......
On October 31st we will be driving a big U-haul truck and our car out of Washington state to Fresno, California. So very thankful for the friends coming on this road trip with us to help us out.
We are still in the paperwork process of our house but we having a closing date on it for October 15th and our loan is approved and locked into place. I have begun the task of sorting, organizing, throwing away and packing up the house. Right now at this moment it seems like I am standing at the bottom of a huge mountain and have to figure out how to climb it. Right now God is pushing me to trust him with finances. A very growing experience. He is pushing me to trust him with the future. And for once in my life all I can think about is just the next step in front of me. It is a very humbling and growing place to be in. Buying a house long distance is a challenge. ;-) I am excited and thankful though for the new opportunities and blessing that lie ahead.
Just so very excited and thankful that we will finally have a place to call home......;-)
