Day 12 Houses

 Im a great believer in the fact that there is no such thing as a coincidence and that God uses the quirky and unusual things in our lives to get our attention.  So I find myself wondering what exactly it is He is trying to tell me at this point in my life when I find myself selling three houses all at the same time.

I havent sold a house in 25 years.  But at the moment Im selling Mum's house (sale due to complete at end of March), our own house (buyer waiting for us to finish major works but very keen to proceed), and now the rental house we have been living in for the past year is about to go on the market.  So this week Ive shown a couple of estate agents round a house we dont own and done all the patter about the rooms and the fittings and the benefits of living in this area.  Its all a bit bonkers to be honest.  And up until today I havent really thought past the practicalities and the hassle of it all.  But Ive learned over the past 40 years not to overlook the odd things that happen.  And selling 3 houses when you are not a property developer is definitely unusual.

So........ whats the lesson?   Ummmmmm........

Partly it is about timing and provision.  We tried to move house before Covid.  House was on the market for 18 months, had only one viewing and in the end we worked out that God just didnt want us to move.  This time we decided to do a complete rewire (huge and very messy job so we moved out to rent a house really near church)  When the work was done we put the house on the market, had several viewings in the first week and accepted an offer from the very first person who saw it!  It certainly felt that God was opening doors and this time we were headed in the right direction.  However, the survey showed that the roof needed to be re-slated.  We knew this but were hoping new buyers would opt for a discount and do the work themselves. Our buyers wanted us to do the work. Which was going to be costly.  But just as we were trying to work out how we would be able to afford it I got a part pay out from my Mums estate which was a thousand pounds over the cost of replacing the roof! Ha! Hallelujah.  

We wont be able to afford to buy what we want to buy for a while so we are going to move to Keiths family farm for a while to save up.  Its been rented out since Keiths Mum died a few years ago but the tenants conveniently moved out last week.  Just as we were wondering when and how to tell our landlords that we wanted to hand in our notice and move out of the rental, they phoned us to say they wanted to sell the house.  Seriously it could not all have dovetailed together more perfectly.  So thats a testimony of Gods grace.

But I think theres another layer going on and its about inheritance and stage of life and new seasons.  So many of my friends are looking after elderly parents, or are dealing with the aftermath of parents dying, sorting properties and belongings, dealing with wills and family disagreements over who gets what. And most are now at the point in life where there is a big, huge questioning about what to do now. Retirement is looming or already here. Church can be a bit.....well.....boring? Its not that we know it all, but let's face it we have heard most of it before. A thousand times 😀  There is a sense in me that there are maybe fifteen years of (hopefully) good health and active living ahead of me and if Im going to change the world Id better get on with it. 

So spiritually its time to move.  To uproot from where Ive been for the past 25 years (not move church but shift gear and develop a new mindset and seek new challenges) Lots of people have said to me they think I should train for ministry (Im currently in a Church of Ireland church so there would be a clear pathway to do that)  Others think I should train as a counsellor.  Ive always thought Id like to go to Africa to dig a well or build a school or something.  I could sit and ponder these things ad infinitum, or I could actually start packing. 

Maybe I'll finish the actual packing before I'll start the metaphorical packing.  Its all been a bit wearying and two full house moves in a year definitely deserves a decent foreign holiday.  But after that..... watch this space.

Mum's house

   Our house-new roof pending





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