I Sometimes Forget I Have a House in Washington

It's true.  I don't always think about the reality that we still have a house in Monroe.

Also known as the "yellow house"

Since we have been in Maui for a year now, our lives are pretty focused on what we are doing here.  Mandy sends our renters a monthly "rent due" reminder, but other than that ... out of sight, out of mind.

It is strange to think about that.  When we found our "yellow house", it really was a huge blessing.  My wife (who has her own blog) and I had been living in our "blue house" on Maple St. for awhile (we moved there July 2000, right before Caleb was born).  It was a 2 bedroom house and by the time Micah was born it was awfully crowded (I am the father of four).

The kiddos in front of the "blue house" 2005

We had been been complaining to one another how the house was just too small for our family.  At one point, we had had a chimney fire that put all the kiddos into our room.  But God kept reminding us to be content with what we had.  To be a good steward of what we had.  We finally began to understand what that meant.  We reevaluated our thinking.  We were fortunate to even have a house and even got to the point where we figured we good live another 4 or 5 years there and make it work.

After a few months of our new attitude about our living conditions, my wife's sister sent a link to a house she found online.  The real estate agent (Kevin Hunt) went to our church, so we thought it would be a good excuse to get to know him for when we eventually would look for a house.

It turned out he also owned the house.  He and his son had bought the house as a foreclosure and fixed it up to resell.  He was willing to sell us the house at a very reasonable price and help us sell our house.  Mandy and I prayed about it and looked at the house and prayed while we were there and felt a release to buy it.  I believe that because of our attitude change about our housing condition, God honored our needs.

Within a short time, we moved into our new house (January 2006).  It was everything we "needed" and many "bonus" things we wouldn't have thought of.  Off the top of my head:

• It had 4 bedrooms (2 downstairs and 2 upstairs)
• It was on a Cul-de-sac
• It had a driveway! (curb parking only on Maple St.)
• It had a room we could use for an office
• It had a bonus room for Mandy to use (Homeschooling and Crafts)
• It had a downstairs play area
• It had an upstairs "reading" room
• It had a big kitchen
• It had a large eating area
• It had a garage (for storage)
• It had a yard (in the back)
• etc, etc, etc

It met our every need and then some.  God is awesome.  The house even had a couple of different options we could have done to make more bedrooms for the kids if we wanted them to each have their own room when they got older.  In fact, Mandy and I were certain this was the house we would live in until the kids graduated.  Now we live in Maui.

(As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:9)

Our Maui House