ch-ch-ch-changes

It's been an interesting last few weeks. We've just bought a vacation place in Alabama. I said I'd never go to Alabama--but here we are, homeowners in a small town there. Fancy that! It's a lot to think about.

First, our good friends moved there last year. We love them and missed them a lot but not so much as to seriously consider buying property there.

Secondly, their new Alabama friends asked them if they might know someone who would want to buy their place. "Nope. I don't believe I do." That's what they said--until the guy said there's a hunting lease that butts up against their property. "Wait. Maybe I do know someone who may be interested."

Enter a phone call to my husband about said property. Photos are emailed to us. We like how it looks.

"Sure. We'll come look at it."

A quick trip to see it and a short bargaining conversation. They tell us a price. We make an offer. Said offer is accepted. Yay! We're gonna be new homeowners.

We go home to wait for closing date. In the interim we return to Alabama friends with motorcycle "pack" from our church. Excitement ensues. (read previous entry). We go home.

Another short (3 day) trip to Alabama. (In these two weeks I've been to Alabama more often than ever before in my WHOLE life.) We close on the house and return home to wait for our move in date. We're very excited--but I STILL do not know how we got to this point so quickly. It's amazing...but only because we're NOT people who move quickly on much of anything...especially large purchases. Still...

Truth is we didn't move as quickly as it might seem. We've been looking for a second place for a few years now. We even had our son in law checking out places on the internet for us. He's really good at that stuff. Anyway, everything simply clicked. I think it's often like this when it's right and this surely seems right. We've prayed long and hard for a place up the country where Byron can hunt and we can live at a slower pace...and that I would be happy with making the change. Well, miracle of miracles, I assure you that we are BOTH happy about it.

There are still some loose ends to tie up. Aren't there always loose ends? But, I'm sure in time we'll get all our ducks in a row and tie up those loose ends. How's that for a mixed metaphor? Do ducks have loose ends?

To this point everything has gone more smoothly that even I expected. This purchase means lots of changes for us. We want to vacation there and then sometime later become snow birds, spending chunks of time here and there. I'm not exactly sure how it will end up, but the Lord seems to be orchestrating this opera and I'm glad He is. It all feels too big for me to figure out.

So, here's to changes! Good changes! Good changes directed by Jesus' own hand.

Thank you Lord for your guidance. We appreciate your direction and your help in this big deal. This really is a big deal for us. We depend on you and love you so much.

Suz