Thursday, November 14, 2013

Switching Gears

I don't know about you, but there's a whole lotta gear-changing going on around here. I try not to run through the list of all of the changes we've been through in the past 3.5 years because I start to feel overwhelmed. From finding out I was pregnant (halfway through my pregnancy) and then having a child (and now parenting a 3 year old!), to Rob's two job position changes (which were ridiculously stressful!) to selling our house, moving into the Airstream and living in someone's driveway (thankfully we love the owners of said driveway), to dealing with loss and heartache multiple times, to being tossed around about building a house, buying a house, buying land and now, the farmhouse I told you all about last time is hanging in the balance.

We never expected the call from Heather, our loan officer, telling us we'd been denied financing. Everything up until then had been smooth sailing and we didn't anticipate any issues. "I've been fighting for you guys for two days now," Heather informed us, "and they (underwriting) just won't budge." You see, remember that job change I just mentioned a minute ago? The super-ridiculously stressful one? Well, I guess the underwriters didn't like that we couldn't provide 2 years worth of tax returns from his current job so, even though we qualified on paper, they wouldn't approve us. We were shocked. Heather encouraged us to call some local banks because they often can provide in-house loans on more flexible terms. We called and called and called. And e-mailed. And called some more. I had never been shut-down by so many people in such a short period of time. But, like the woman in the parable Jesus told, our knock-knock-knocking eventually paid-off. Rob is meeting with a mortgage company in the morning (Monday) who says they're willing to work with us and make an exception based on the fact that Rob's been with the same company for nearly 8 years and a few other things. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but, we're really thankful to have the chance to try again and maybe buy this house.

UPDATE: Rob's meeting went very well and we expect good news by tomorrow (Friday). They were able to look at the full span of his work with the company and see his stability in spite of the job change. Thanking God for that! I'm trying not to get my hopes totally up yet though because, until we officially hear back from underwriting at this new lender, we don't yet have a deal. However, we're not anticipating a let-down this time because they were aware of the situation before it was sent to underwriting. We are also praying that we will be able to transfer the appraisal that was already done to the new lender because otherwise that's another $400+ that we will have to fork over. We would REALLY love to not have to pay for it twice! 

At this point, we *might* be able to close on the house (assuming all goes well) by late December. Um, anyone know what happens in late December? Can we say "Christmas"? Sheesh. Needless to say, the holidays could get interesting. But, what the hey?! Why not, right? Let's just go all out on the craziness. After all, I am already living with a husband, a 3 year old and a puppy in a camper, right? Right. We got this.

UPDATE: Our closing date will not change and we may even be able to close sooner, if the sellers are willing! Woo-hoo!

I have to say that I'm so thankful for a steady and level-headed husband in all of this hoopla. He keeps me from losing it completely and joining the circus. Of course, the circus probably wouldn't take me so, it would be a short trip. Anyway, we're learning to be flexible and not too attached to our own plans, which I think is both valuable and harmful... in a way. Most people can see the value in learning those lessons but, I also have to watch myself for walking in apathy as a result. It's hard when your plans keep falling through and nothing ever seems to work out the way you hoped. It's hard to walk in the valley of the shadow of death and still hang on to those promised cool waters. It's hard to feel like you're never not transitioning. It's hard to be a mom. It's hard to know which way to go sometimes. It's hard, but not impossible. We are bruised but not broken, not defeated. Surrender is not an option. And for every hard thing, I raise you two good things. I'm blessed with a family who loves and accepts me and all of my shortcomings. A son who says I'm the "best", when I know I am not. I'm blessed with a warm place to live and all of my needs provided for. I'm blessed with a hardworking husband who never gives up on me. I have it all... even when, by American standards, I have very little.

I don't know what tomorrow holds and I really don't know what this coming year will hold but, I do know that I don't have to worry about it. I know I trust the Maker and He will lead us if we will follow. I know I'm not alone in these things, and neither are you. We all have hard things and we all have choices to make. Where will we put our faith? What will motivate us? Who will we trust? We should not compare our own hard things to someone else's hard things, either. There are plenty of you whose "hard thing" looks worse than mine and so I could tell myself to man-up and deal (or not deal) but, that's not helpful to anyone. It's also not helpful to see people with seemingly less-stress (and more beach trips ;-) ) and feel all jealous or "woe-is-me".  Instead, let's just try to walk the paths set before us and find the joys that sometimes hide in the strangest places. How 'bout it?


1 comment:

  1. Haha what a way to end the blog! ;) What ended up happening?? Did you ever get a dog? What did you name the Airstream? (I haven't read every post, so I might have missed some of this...)

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