Not very often does a home renovation illicit feelings of redemption and deep spiritual thoughts about how God takes our stories/lives and gives us purpose and meaning.
We bought this house 3 years ago October. If you were to come over and take a tour today you would see very little evidence of abandoned house we found in a neighborhood we didn't realize even existed.
This house was cursed, plagued with rumor and speculation. We were in a desperate place needing housing since our house had sold and the home we intended to move into fell through. 4 days...we had 4 days to evacuate the house we poured our heart and souls into and move into...storage units...Mom and Dad's? We didn't know what we were going to do, but God did.
I found this house on a new listing of homes available in our area and it had all kinds of problems including claims of foundation trouble and crazy cracks in the sheet rock to back it up, and serious pet damage. Had we not been in such dire straights we never would have even looked.
After much prayer, wisdom from our Elders, and multiple foundation experts, we decided to go ahead and the seller allowed immediately occupancy. Due to the possible foundation issues and a seller that was on the verge of foreclosure, we were able to purchase the house for 1/2 of it's value. The house checked out, the rumors and speculation were wrong, the pet damage was repairable and we have been so incredibly blessed and thankful every day we've been fortunate enough to live here.
This house has it quirks like most. We had a set of sliding glass doors downstairs that separated the living room from a space that was tiled and sheet rocked. It was obvious the addition was added after the house was built in 2006, but not much after. The siding and windows all matched the rest of the house. This room became a storage space of sorts. We called it the office but never really used it as such.
With homeschooling and Jared's ministry and my baking business, we decided to move Anneliese's bedroom down to this unused space and create a family office on the main floor (next to the front door) figuring it would get far more use. I have always struggled with unused space. If God has granted it, we should use it. So we took this bizarre addition and created a little girls dream space, and created a beautiful office space for the family that has been in constant use since we completed it.
Like most large families, we live on every penny we make. So doing this switch was going to be a delicate dance. Jared and I use the term "budget neutral." Basically, we need to be able to sell things currently occupying the space in order to purchase things needed for the new space. In the next two blogs you will see the office and Anneliese's room, the total cost of BOTH rooms was $67 due to frugal second hand shopping and selling things that were no longer needed.
In the end, we took a house that no one wanted and have created a beautiful home that we feel so privileged to own. We have taken odd/awkward spaces in the house and created usable space that has increased the value.
It is just a house, I haven't lost sight of that. I would put it on the market tomorrow if God called us away, but while we are here, I will do my best to be a good steward of the blessings He grants.
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