About a year ago I started driving past this house on Lone Oak Dr. (in the neighborhood where I grew up and a neighborhood I hold very close to my heart). I began to notice the yard and the bushes we being neglected. And I slowly watched this house go downhill... as the shrubs grew out of control and covered the windows. It was sad... I couldn't help but feel very drawn to this house for some reason. I wondered what the story was behind it.
Last spring/summer I found out it was in foreclosure. The people who lived there before had overspent doing renovations and could not longer afford the mortgage. I felt even more drawn to the house. I drove passed it almost every day on my way to the pool feeling a great connection to it. I talked to Andy about this house a lot... but I never dreamed we'd be able to afford it.
In the Fall of 2010 we found out it was going to be sold on the court house steps at auction. I got excited and I couldn't help but feel like God was calling me to this house for some strange reason. But again... I kept thinking it would be too expensive. Then, the appraisal value on the house was released and it only appraised for 170,000... it was then I realized it was doable. After much contemplation, we decided we were going to the auction and we were going to try to get it. I felt very apprehensive about the whole situation. Were we ready for this? really? At this point we hadn't even been inside the place. We had no idea whether or not the place had been trashed when the previous owners left. After talking to the neighbors a bit we found out that the house was in wonderful shape. I still felt apprehensive like the time wasn't right or something, but I went to the auction. I went scared.
When we got there, we were late. It had started earlier than the time that was posted online and we couldn't get any information on whether or not the house had been sold or not. I couldn't help but feel a very mixed emotion in that moment. I was a bit relieved, because I wasn't sure we were ready to take on a bigger mortgage payment, but I was also sad that it was gone.
My mom was with us and she suggested we go talk to the Master Commissioner because there was a chance the bank had bought it back, which would mean we could still get it. My Aunt Brenda (our realtor) had been helping us A LOT with the info about how the auction would work and she had explained that if the bank bought it back we could probably get an even better deal. So we went to see the Master Commissioner. We found out there had been another bidder, an investor, who tried to get the house, but bank wouldn't let it go. They had bought it back for the full appraisal value. I felt hopeful again.
After many phone calls between my Aunt Brenda, the bank, my mom, and me, we discovered the house was going to be turned over to HUD, which meant we could probably get an even better deal, but we could be waiting a long time for it. I didn't care. I was willing to wait.
Fast forward six months.... and I've driven past that house more times than I can count. We've pulled in the driveway and peeked in the windows so many times. We've called it "our house."
Then the amazing "God things" started happening and I realized all the events of the past months had been God preparing us for this time.
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