HOUSE SOLD

I thought I'd be shouting and dancing with glee when our house finally sold. I'm not. We accepted a contract on Friday, but it was such a bad offer that after the tears and anger faded, I just felt empty. Losing most of our equity seems to have that effect on me. But after a full year on the market, we knew we had to take the offer to offload the house and be freed from the mortgage. And yes, knowing we only have to make one more payment is a wonderful feeling, but everything else about the sale makes me sad. So needless to say, I was an emotional wreck on Friday. My feelings tempered somewhat by Saturday, but then the world looked half-empty to me.

On Saturday afternoon, I snapped out of my funk. After abusing my lungs with dust clouds that erupted as I took down the curtains in the house we're moving to (I don't think they'd ever been cleaned), I sat outside to breathe some clean, relatively dust-free air and watched my children. The boys ran in the pasture, Lindsey climbed a tree, and Jared gleefully jumped in the mud puddle he'd discovered. Completely oblivious to my mood, they played and laughed and relished the simple joys of childhood. They reminded me that despite whatever financial setbacks we may be facing, life is good.

So today, I am grateful. Grateful for my family, for our health, and for the burden that is finally lifted. I'm grateful for the gospel and my faith that the Lord loves us and is mindful of our needs and even when things don't work out the way I want them to, they do work out. And hopefully, things will still work out so we can build a house for our family. We're not sure yet.

I've learned a lot through this whole experience, and if ever start talking about moving to another state, will someone please smack me really hard until I remember that I NEVER want to leave a home and friends I love to move across the country again? Thanks.