We met some neighbors...

So we had our walk-throughs today before our closings. (Not sure how much I've written on here, but we're buying the home that belongs to our buyers in order to free them up to buy our house.) While we are very thankful for many things about this move, there are a few things about this house we will miss as well. We have a 180 degree view that is absolutely beautiful, and the yard is a great yard for kids! These are the two big things that are such a part of our every day lives and we're sad to leave them! Actually, I didn't realize how much I had gotten used to having this view until I stand there without it.

We've been talking up the new house with Jacob especially as he's having a hard time being excited about it. He's not too keen on change to begin with, and he's losing a lot from his perspective... a great bike riding driveway, his sandbox, more than enough play space, and a safe quiet yard. I've been sad about these things too, but I'm excited that there are fewer bathrooms and less square feet to clean! Not to mention we're dropping percentage points and years off our mortgage and quite a bit in monthly expenses!

This whole transition has been a bit odd, though. Ordinarily when a family buys a new house, they choose their favorite among the options. In our situation, we're buying theirs just so they can buy ours. We prayed for a buyer for our home for such a long time, but we didn't expect the Lord to bring a buyer with a home we needed to buy. It's just not what we expected. But it is what it is, and we don't want to be un-thankful for what the Lord has brought us. We are excited to be selling! It's just so different than we expected, so it's taken some time to get used to. We also know the Lord knows what's best for us, and that He has something good in store for us!

Anyway, tonight we were doing our walk throughs back and forth and while we were there we discovered several fun things!
~There is a huge tree with a really high, even branch that will be perfect for two swings!
~There are two birds' nests! One has freshly hatched baby birds and the other has cardinal eggs still cookin'! (I have been thinking about where I should put my birdfeeders so we can draw birds right away. I didn't expect them to be there waiting for us!)
~There is a sweet, Christian couple that is just moving in across the street. They were outside tonight and we met them and talked for a bit. They are 60 or 65 I'd guess and seem really kind! (They are good friends with our realtor, so this is not all assumption.) The man loves to garden and work in his yard, and said he'd love to help us anytime we need to know about plants or trees. I told them we homeschool and that we love to do nature study and they were encouraging about that! When Mattie came over, the woman cupped her hands around Mattie's face and asked her what her name was. It was just so sweet! Our realtor said they love children and they'll enjoy watching them play while they're outside.

There are definitely other good things about this house, but these were three surprises I got tonight. Just little reminders that He provides the small things for us too, just because He loves us.

We close on Monday and move on the next Saturday!