...happened on June 24th. It was a Monday afternoon, and I had been dealing with a little drama of my own that day. I was sitting at the computer in our sunroom around 12:30. Mark walks in the door, and gives me the strangest look. He says, "You're never gonna believe who I just got a phone call from." Not a good way to start a conversation. I reply, "You're never gonna believe who I just had to call!" That morning I had been on the phone with Tonica police because I noticed a strange black vehicle parked behind our house for going on 3 days. Our cracker jack task force was not returning my calls, and I was getting pretty stressed out about it. Needless to say, Mark explains that Delta College (the same Delta college who had strung us along for 9 mos, only to say, "thanks, but no thanks") called to inform him that they had just had an immediate vacancy on their English faculty for Fall 13, and was he still interested in being considered for the position? Of course he said, "uh, yeah!" Because of the drama that morning I was distracted to say the least. I also was trying to do lesson plans for my class that night at IVCC. I just couldn't even think about it at that point. Finally, after I finished teaching and was on my way home, the reality began to sink in.
Immediately the questions and possibilities started swirling around in our minds. What?!? Could this really be? Still a possibility? But we were settled with staying...we have made all these plans for living here another year...the girls were starting school, Parker starting preschool, we have all these new friends...finally! After all this time in this stinkin' place, we are finally feeling settled and "ok" with staying a little while longer. Are you kidding me?!? I almost wanted to know if they were just teasing us again...if there was any possibility of them rejecting us...again. Despite all of these concerns, Mark called them back..."throw my hat back in the ring" was the basic jist of his reply.
Several days went by with us stewing, not knowing what, if anything, would come of this latest turn of events. By the end of the week, they called back to say that they were having a difficult time reaching his references. This is where Mark probably sounded a little like a lunatic calling old professors and colleagues from almost a decade ago..."puh-lease, can you...um...pleeeease call this woman back...like now?!? kthanksbye." Poor guy. At least this time they didn't drag it out. By the following Monday, we had a phone call in the afternoon much the same as the week prior. This time, an official job offer was made. And this time, we were able to gladly say, "YES!"
Since then, our lives have been turned upside down. But at the end of the day, this is meant to be. We know it. All those thoughts and impressions I had had on New Years Day no longer needed to be swept under the rug. They had come to fruition. There were big changes in store for us. Great things were happening for our family!!
We contacted the realtor we bought our house from almost 5 years ago. She came the next day to take pics and get us listed. We decided there were several "projects" that needed attention before we could officially list the house, and be able to "show" to potential buyers. We were going out of town for the 4th of July, and we would start on them when we got back. Do you all remember what happened to us on the 4th of July this year? It went a little something like this: suck, sucky crap-fest from hell...lol!! Stuck in traffic for over an hour, Parker got car sick and puked, we pulled off to clean her up, and our car died in the middle of the worst traffice of all time...on the 4th of July!! We had to wait for a tow forever, had to get a hotel room and stay in Portage, IN (middle of nowheresville) overnight because we couldn't get a car rental (cuz everywhere was CLOSED!) AGH! It was bad, really bad. I began to wonder if it was a sign!! Or a real trial of our faith. How would we handle a little adversity in the midst of such an enormous blessing?!? Well...
We made it the rest of the way, and still ventured to Midland to check things out on Saturday. We were able to meet up with the Pennocks, who are such gracious hosts! As if this is any surprise, coming from the saintly likes of Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob, right?!? It's so nice to have family there to welcome us! Anyway, by the end of it all we were feeling like nothing could keep us down. Not even the worst 4th of July ever.
When we got back from one of the most expensive "trips" of all time, we set out to complete our projects. Longest week of our lives. We were drained afterwards. Sore from manual labor we haven't had the pleasure of doing in years, we persevered because we knew we had to. We had our first "showing" exactly 2 weeks after the job offer. It went great! The listing on the MLS went live on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday, we had 3 more showings scheduled. I went off to teach that night worried and anxious about how they would go. Mark took the girls to Ottawa for YW and Activity Days. When we all got back that evening, there were cars still in the driveway. Either this was good, or really bad. An hour later, we got a call from our realtor saying we had 2 offers, but that there were 2 more waiting in the wings. WHAT?!?
From Wednesday night until Thursday afternoon, we sat back and watched a bidding war take place for our house. Blessings surpassing our expectations! Thursday night, we took the girls over to our friends so we could meet with our realtor to sign some papers. When we got there, she gave us the final offer. After all the bidding was done. The final offer was over our asking price by $5 grand. Truly, our cup runneth over. Only 48 hours on the market! I am still in a state of shock. I feel really humbled and super grateful. We soooo needed this tender mercy. I know this is meant to be. God is providing the way. No doubt about it. But because it has been so "easy" thus far, of course I am shaking in my boots. I am so scared it is all going to just vanish or fall apart. Help me not to worry!! I can't seem to just believe and accept it.
We are still pressing forward. This weekend we are heading over to Midland to look for rentals. We are planning our move for August 15th. Mark starts on August 19th, and the girls will start school after Labor Day. The appraisal happened today. The inspection will happen next week. We are scheduled to close on August 31. We may have to come back to the area for it, but I think we are willing to sacrifice a little inconvenience considering everything else.
Can you freaking believe it?!? We are moving back to Michigan!! EEEEE!!!!!
