The House

About mid-January we started working with the mortgage company to figure out the process of building a house. Our thoughts were to purchase the land, pay it off, and then start building. On January 20, 2015, I received an email that changed our lives forever. Pam emailed me saying the house in the perfect locations was going to listed with a real estate agent. I was in complete shock because to us this house was gone forever. 

As I looked back, I could see how God guided us to this point. There were several other factors that were playing out, especially for the owner, and we all needed time to move to this point. The excitement I had about the house in Chalk Bluff, that was God’s way of having us set up and ready to make a move on this house. My own words came back to me as well, I said if God wants us to have a house it will come back to us. The perfect location house came back to us. We knew we would have to move fast on the house. Since the explosion, there is a shortage of housing in our town and we know several families are still looking for homes. Pam was able to set up a view on January 26, 2015 when the house was officially listed. 

Earlier that day I was able to find the house on the internet and see the inside for the first time. I was so excited, but I was trying to down play it because the last time excitement happened it did not go well. My first thought was the house needs updating; however, the size of the house is perfect. I could work with this house, and it could be a home for us. I was even happier to find out who built the house, he is a well-known builder in our town. His homes are known for their quality. It was so funny because earlier that week mom was asking who built the house and I said I did not know. She was hoping it was this home builder, and I said probably not. She said it would be so good if it was built by him because you know you will be getting a structurally sound house. This house is also south west of the plant, so we knew if it had any damages it would be from the ground shifting and not the waves from the explosion. Overall we felt good about the structure of this home. 

The day of the viewing, as we walked around the house, we realized it would need a lot more updating than we originally thought. Also, the layout was very closed and I was wanting a more open layout. As we walked around, I was saying I want to do this and this and this…. Our real estate agent asked if we should be looking in a higher price range so we could get more of what we want. I told her I do not think we could find a house to my liking within our price range and we would probably need to remodel any house we buy. Mark and I asked her thoughts on if we should make an offer or not. Pam thought it would be hard for us to find another house within our price range and location of this house. We told her to make an offer of the house. We started down the house buying path, which was really scary, but it felt good having Pam and John by our side through this process.