He Has Risen (A few days ago!), But the Moving Forward is NOT Done!

Well, LoF is officially over at Mercy. It ended well. It kinda went in like a lion and out like a lamb for us. I mean, day 2 of LoF we had put an offer on a house. By day 5 it was accepted and by day 6 the inspection was complete!
Since then we have been waiting. We (read: Cristin) were worried about some issues coming up with the FHA home inspection/appraisal. Turns out, the only issue was that they appraised the house with the wrong purchase price in mind. That was fixed and as of yesterday we are in the go for closing on May 16th!
I am still overwhelmed and overjoyed by what God is doing for Glynn and I. LoF was a great way to start this process. We went in with excitement and energy. Everything went so fast we felt like we didn't know how to handle ourselves. Then towards the end, we realized that buying a house is like planning a wedding. You are so excited right after enagement that you choose venues, find a dress, ask the people to be in the wedding party, etc. And then you wait. About 2 months before the wedding you deal with invitations, guest lists, details, details and more details. The last several weeks it gets busier and busier. But, in the end, it is a wonderful thing!
So, we are currently getting some paperwork in order, saving a lot of money and finding homeowners insurance. We are also keeping our eyes out on the doggies who are at shelters waiting for a "fur-ever family!"
I also realized that this blog did not contain a whole lot of blogging during LoF, but that doesn't mean I am done blogging. Maybe this will change to a home adventure blog. Or maybe it won't, but I thoroughly enjoy writing about what God is doing and how he has good things for us in life.
Well, I am off to pack! Keep returning to see what we are up to!
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Just Waiting...

It has been awhile hasn't it? Well, mainly because there has not been much to report on the house. The FHA appraisal/inspection has been ordered but is not complete so we have nothing to report there. The government didn't shut down for long so we can still get our mortgage. 

Oh, today we decided to look at a few stores we had never been to before. Family Dollar and Deal-s-Mart. Both have really cheap name brand things. We ended up getting two $6 lamps for our house and figured out where we can get some really cheap rugs and curtains when we finally get to buy some for the house! 

Otherwise, we are continuing to pray that the house works out and that we close on May 16th. 

As for LoF as a whole, God has been good. He has been doing amazing things in our lives, in the lives of our friends and at church. I feel that I have experienced God's love and grace a lot in the past few weeks and that has been encouraging. 

I think that's it for now. Hopefully there will be more to report in the coming weeks. Only 2 more weeks until Easter. Crazy!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!! (Pending inspection of course!!!!)

After 2 days of offer, counter offer, counter offer, and counter offer, we finally reached an agreement! The sellers have agreed to pay 4% in closing costs, give us all the current furniture in the house, provide a 1 year home warranty, and pay our first months mortgage (long story)! We agreed to a May 16th closing date. Not ideal for us, but we took yet another LoF and decided that we can trust God to take care of us and help us get good things!
Now we have lots to do of course. The inspection, locking our interest rate, saving money, going on vacation on Saturday! So busy!
But in all actuality, I feel blessed beyond belief! Last year during LoF we prayed really hard for a baby and the possibility of buying a house. We got neither. Going into this year, we were both hesitant to continue to pray for these things. We have been praying for these things for 3+ years and have felt again and again that we were walking into a wall. However, as our LoF daily bible guide has reminded us, God loves us and wants good things for us. This is evidence of that.
Of course this all pending inspection, but we can have faith that it will go alright! If you are the praying kind, feel free to pray with us. If you are not, we will let you know how it all turns out!
Until Friday (when we complete the inspection),
WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!

Let the Leaping Begin!

Well, it is here! Ash Wednesday was just under a week ago. Yesterday was our first Leap of Faith (here on out it will be referred to as LoF) Sunday if you will. User manuals, daily bible guides, LoF prayer team. I felt energized, hopeful and even faithfilled when I walked out of there. It might have been something to do with the fact that G and I were heading to an open house for a home that is on the TOP of our favorites list!

We decided that this year for LoF we were going to pray for a few things. In no particular order, we decided on a house, kid(s) and good jobs. Some of these things we have been praying for for a looooong time. Others have become a recent interest and we are looking forward to what answers/blessings/things will come of our time praying for them. Not to mention, we both have several people we are praying for and we are praying for our church as well.

Well, I never thought the steps, or leaps of faith were going to start so soon. Tonight, G and I put an offer in on a house!!! The evening had many ups and downs. We went into our meeting with our mortgage guy thinking we were easily qualifying for down payment assistance. Turns out I get paid one too many times each year! Just $100 less a month and we would have qualified. Well, in reality, this is a better problem to have. For a moment we (read: me) thought that our chances of buying a house were now gone. However, with lots of math and running numbers we realized that we are going to be just fine still. The money would have been nice (I mean, who doesn't like free money???) but I am pretty glad that I make $100/mo more than the average Minnesotan!

SIDE NOTE: I had a moment today when I realized that if we buy this beautiful home in a suburb of the Twin Cities, my children's lives are going to be dramatically different than mine. There will be no low-income housing, no food shelves, no schools that are falling apart both internally or externally, no monthly welfare checks. No. God has blessed me beyond belief and has brought me to where I am today. I would not trade my experience for the world, but I can not believe what I will be able to offer my children! END SIDE NOTE!

Anyways, once we saw that it was still possible we went to house that we looked at yesterday. We loved it just the same. I totally felt like I was at home already! It is soooo cute and perfect for us. So, we went back to the our Realtors office and submitted a purchase agreement!!!!

We know that there are sooooo many things that have to work out in order for us to get this house. We went for it because we know we have a God who loves us, cares about us and wants us to have good things in our lives. Does that mean that this will be our house for sure? NO. Does it mean that we can foolishly make stupid decisions and expect God to work it out for good? Probably not. But it does mean that we can trust in him, take a leap forward and be ready for the exciting ride that is ahead.

We will hopefully hear back on the offer tomorrow. I will keep you updated!!!