This is an excerpt from a talk I gave in my church October 2005, four months after moving into my house.
From June 2004 to June 2005 we lived in Spokane Washington for Jason’s first year of residency. In November Jason and I came to Salt Lake to spend Thanksgiving with family. We knew we were going to move to Salt Lake in June and even though we had seven months left in Spokane I felt we were suppose to look for housing so we would know where we were going to live. The day after we arrived in Salt Lake I drove around looking at potential apartments to live in. After two days of apartment shopping nothing felt right, so I began looking to rent townhouses. Again after two days nothing felt right. Jason then began looking in the paper and on the internet for houses. (I hadn't considered buying a house because I assumed we couldn't afford one.) The next day, which was now the 6th day of my search, we walked into a house on Oakledge Rd. The moment I walked into the house I pictured my family there. I loved it and it felt right. To be responsible we went out the next day and saw five more houses. At the end of the day I told Jason that I wanted to go back to the house on Oakledge. As we walked in the door for the second time a strong feeling came over me again and I knew we were supposed to buy the house.
Why were we looking for houses seven months early? How was it possible that we could afford rent in Spokane and a mortgage? Why did I feel so directed from Heavenly Father?
I strongly believe that it was revelation and inspiration. He brought us here to this house and this ward for a reason, and I am so grateful to Him.
My feelings have never changed; I’ve only become more and more aware of why we are where we are.
WHY I LOVE MY HOUSE…
· My boys share a room, my girls share a room, and Jason and I share a room.
· Our rooms are all on the same floor.
· It’s “small” enough that you know where everyone is.
· It’s easy to spend time together because everyone is usually nearby.
· My parents and siblings put so much time working on the interior and exterior of the house to get it ready for us to move in. It is very common for me to look at the ceilings, painted walls, new doors, and all the hours that went into it. I still get choked up remembering how much service was given to me.
· I love my neighbors and friends that live nearby.
· My ward is FULL of amazing people whom I sincerely like to be around.
· I have the remarkable blessing of having a brother, three sisters in law, and two brothers in law in clear view from my driveway.
· It is close to the freeway…but not too close.
· It is close to the gym.
· It just feels right.
· Not to mention the beautiful mountains, wonderful schools, and a grocery store that I am sure to see several neighbors at each time I go.
A few weeks ago while in California we visited my uncle at his beautiful home. The back yard had an extraordinary swimming pool, trampoline, fire pit, BBQ pad, and a playground. The inside had a movie theater and a large playroom with foosball and a pool table. My kids had a blast.
On our way there we played “would you rather?” As we drove away I had a “would you rather” question for my kids. “Would you rather live in that house or our house?” Without hesitation my 6, 8, and 10-year-old all said “Our house!” I’m not surprised… It’s Our House.
Through out the past four years we have tried to give our house some tender loving care. That has been extremely hard because I was not blessed with ANY form of talent that has to do with interior design, decorating, color coordinating, shopping, or anything associated with creativity or vision. (Have you noticed my wardrobe???... it consists of a pair of jeans and a solid color t-shirt/ long sleeve t-shirt (depending on the season) from DownEast? There is a reason.
Since buying the house each room has been given a little love. Here are some example of our "tender loving care".
The LIVING ROOM before we bought the house
We had some work to do.
BASEMENT
BEDROOM
Looking at the house with the realtor
8 comments:
My life is blessed because you and your family are in it! Thank you for being inspired to live here! Love you!
I REMEMBER that talk!! I am SO glad you and your family moved into that house. You have been one of the greatest blessings to ever move into this ward. How sad if you had not listened to inspiration! We love you all!
Im glad you made the choice of living here. It has been a blessing for the whole family!
If you are stuck with something
the Holy Ghost will always give you the right answer. It's just if you listen. I love you and Im so glad to be your son. It is a real blessingf!
The house rock and you rock! If it weren't for you listen to the feelings (ya know) then we would not be in our house so I thank you.
That's an awesome story and I didn't realize you guys made so many improvements on your house. It looks great! We had a similar experience moving here also three years ago. We were stuck renting Christian's brother's condo while he was trying to sell it as they moved into a house. 3.5 years later we knew we needed to move and finally had the courage to tell him we were moving the end of July whether he sold it or not. Immediately a buyer came shortening our deadline two weeks and I had four days to pack up with a 3 month baby and 2 year old and find a place to live! Christian set his price of how much we wanted to pay which would make it hard to find something nice in that range and we listed out what we were looking for (3 bedroom house, 2 bath, split entry with 2 living rooms for his piano, spacious kitchen, fenced yard, walk-in closet, garage, on a circle, etc.) and then had faith we'd find something nice in that price. The odds were against us at that price but I knew there had to be at least one out there of someone who charged less. It was the third house (the other two were scary) we saw that day from the newspaper and put down a deposit immediately to keep it and moved in that weekend. We just knew we were supposed to live here and it had EVERYTHING we said we had wanted for the exact low price we wanted. Amazing. The Bishop told us that he had been praying for new people to move into the ward and we were an answer to that prayer along with other families who came at that same time. I just love when things like that happen and I agree that we also love the ward and our house so much. Almost too much as I want to stay as long as physically possible as I love the people and area so much I'd rather keep renting here than buy a house anywhere else!
The only picture you missed was a picture of Dad on the ladder scraping the popcorn ceilings (face & hair white from the goup).
It was quite a transformation. You did a great job
I'm just glad you weren't needed in another state. I love having the whole family close.
it's time for a new blog update my dear...
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