Moving with Three Kids…Successfully, Part Four: Settling into Our New Home, a Giant Sigh of Relief and a Summary

This is part of the M2M Series, The Big Move from One House to Another with Three Kids…Successfully: A 4 Part Series. To read the other parts, please click here.

I feel like I’ve been living this selling/buying/moving chaos for so long, I had to chronicle it for the sake of others…whether it is for sheer comical entertainment or the remote possibility that there might be some nuggets of wisdom to glean from it. Doubtful, but I’ll leave that up to you.

For years we watched friends move with such an ease that could only have been described as providential. And for years we would get so close to being ready to sell, buy and move, but something always went wrong. The market tanked, water pipes would burst, the timing would be too short, etc. After so many years of trying and failing, I really started to wonder if it would ever happen. Perhaps God wanted us to stay there forever.

When our house had been on the market for four months with only one offer that fell through, I worried that our price was too high and we should lower it. But we didn’t.

When we couldn’t find any houses that were right I stressed over the difficult feat of both buying and selling on contingent. But still I trusted.

When we got a second offer on our home, I feared that we wouldn’t be able to find another house before they lost interest and backed out. But we did and they didn’t.

When the inspection, repair addendums and appraisal negotiations looked precarious with the home we were buying, I was scared we would lose that house. But we didn’t.

Even as the days, hours and minutes ticked by until we closed on both homes, I worried that it was all too good to be true and that the bottom would fall out somewhere. But it never did.

I knew that just like everyone else, when it was right it, doors would open. I clung to that, despite my fears, and chose to trust God’s plan. And the funny thing is it all really, actually happened. We signed the escrow papers, got our keys to the new place and moved out of the old place. The timing was so perfect in this process, and things turned out so beautifully, it really could only be described as providential.

Looking back, despite a couple bumps along the way, I never dreamed that it could have worked out so seamlessly, but I am ever so thankful! And it sort of restored my faith. God had a plan for us this whole time. It didn’t feel like it at the roughest points of this journey, but He knew this house was waiting for us, if we just trusted Him and waited on His timing.

Even though it felt like time stopped for six months during this process, and I slowly woke up out of a fog, life seemed more settled. With each day that passed, and every box I unpacked, I loved our new home and yard more and more. The to-do list may be never-ending and every time I finish a project, there are another ten waiting to take its place, but unlike the last few years, this home feels secure. I am ready to put down roots and stay awhile, without dreaming of something better. And that is a comforting, welcome change.

So in summary of this four-part series, and in order that it have some sort of educational blog value, I’ve consolidated how to move with kids successfully into a nice little, concise “top ten” post over at the Portland Mom’s Blog. Please click here to read my best tips and tricks for parents when selling and buying a house, during the packing phase and when moving day (or week) arrives. And thank you for following along this journey of ours!