Good evening, friends! It has been a minute since I've written! So in the last two-ish years, we sold our house in west Dayton (in October 2022), moved in with friends, and prayed to find a house by spring. Spring came and went, and we still didn't have a house. Most of our stuff stayed in two U-Haul storage garages, a friend's barn, and another friend's attic (also with us in the friend's house we were staying at), for about 11 months! But finally in October 2023, God answered our prayers, after being turned down for 4 different houses, and we are settled into a place that is ours, our forever home, our "we worked our whole lives to be here" house.
I can't even tell you the amount of peace we have had since moving here. First of all, when people say location location location in a house listing, they aren't kidding! This house is in the perfect spot for us. Just on the edge of Riverside in Montgomery County, and very close to Beavercreek and the Air Force Base and all of the amenities a person could need. The bike path connects out of the neighborhood, which is something we have always wanted, and there is a private pool club as well, which we joined on a trial membership, and the kids ride their bikes there and have been swimming almost every day since it opened for the summer. The house itself is a little smaller than we envisioned at first, but as God brought together the details, we realized that we have everything we need and then some. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1700 square feet, and all on one level (with a basement). We are faced with the reality that nobody gets younger, and having everything on one level will actually be a benefit to us in the long run. Also our oldest son is going to be a sophomore in the fall, which means that the days and years until he graduates will fly by like lightning. And once that starts happening, the rest of the children will follow just as fast. It's crazy to think that we will be empty nesters in only 10 years. And that sounds like a long time, but trust me, it's not. And I'm already envisioning how the functions of this house will change as those years approach (Turn a bedroom into a guest room? Have an office? A music room?).
We also made the very difficult decision to switch schools in the fall. The nearest Catholic school to our house is just about a mile, and primarily because of location, we decided to switch. The kids are meeting a number of their future classmates at the pool this summer, and a lot of them live in the neighborhood as well. The kids also joined the track team last spring and the team has kids from several schools, so again, more friends were made. I fully believe that God places the people in our lives that we are meant to be with. And the ones that we will miss the most, we take comfort in knowing that we aren't leaving completely. We're still in the same town. We can bike to a lot of their houses now more easily than before, or we've run into them at the pool.
In a lot of ways, I feel like a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders. Things were probably rougher than I realized, because when you are in the midst of a situation, it is difficult to see it with clarity. Those who know us closely know the nitty gritty details about what finally made us take a leap of faith to move out of the neighborhood. We are forever grateful to our friends who offered to house us for an unknown amount of time, and so so very grateful to the previous owners of our current house, for taking a chance on a young family and saying "yes" to our offer.
I can say without a doubt that I feel a certain joy that I haven't felt in a long time. And because of that, I feel at peace. Life is good. And we are so very blessed. <3
