News!

Okay. The big news is toward the bottom, but first there are a few delightful items to share!

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First off--a remarkable update on our friend John Fawcett's health. After a liturgically correct brush with death on Good Friday, he has pulled out an amazing recovery and was actually seen in church yesterday, walking down the aisle to receive communion, thinner than ever but on his own steam!

His wife Margie had been told to bring him home to die, in a hospital bed with hospice care--but he was doing so well at release from the hospital that he doesn't qualify for hospice, and he refused the hospital bed. ("Have you seen my bed?...Well, my bed is very nice.") The man she thought would never be lucid again is cracking jokes about what to do if he's not home when the home health care nurse arrives! Go read Margie's blog for the details. And join me in praising our God for the life He continues to grant to John!

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Yesterday, we were thrilled to have visitors at Light of Christ--the pastor/priest of Church of the Resurrection (our "mother church"), Father Stewart, and his family! Fr. Stewart read the Gospel and performed the Eucharistic liturgy.

Fr. Rooster tried to get him to preach--but Fr. Stewart was enjoying a week off and refused.

"I'll clean toilets, sing the offertory, anything but preach..." he emailed. (Father Stewart has many incredible gifts; however, singing isn't one of them!)
"Okay, FINE, Jan will forward you the accompaniment so you can practice," Fr. Rooster sent as reply.

We had a wonderful time together over lunch, sharing what God is doing in both congregations represented. Stewart and his wife just loved what they experienced with us at Light of Christ and were so encouraging to us--in some prophetic ways as well. It was really a blessed time.

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After their family left, we went out to look at a few more houses. As I shared before, the leadership team at our new little church has encouraged us not to wait until our house here in IL sells, but to pick out a house in WI, so we have specific dollar amounts to talk about, and then approach them for help with making it work out financially. I can't tell you what a blessing that suggestion was!

So yesterday, WE PICKED OUT A HOUSE!!!

It's not in the neighborhood we had originally hoped to be in, which is near the lake and the Kemper Center, where the church meets. We looked at a dozen houses in that neighborhood--and many more on paper. Only one of them was large enough for a family our size, and it was way out of our price range. Others we could have made work with an expensive addition, or if we added bedrooms in the attic and basement. Most of them had very small yards, and small closets, and only one full bath. They were 75-100 years old, with charm and location, but it just felt like we'd need a shoe horn to squeeze our family into them! None of them were going to be much bigger than what we have now, and they all were going to cost much more than what we'll get for this house.

So we began to wonder: For that money, what else can we get in a different neighborhood?

And that is how we came to be looking at a McMansion in a brand-new subdivision--and fell in love with a house that has all the types of spaces that we need! We loved it the first time we saw it last August--and yesterday, it once again appeared to be our hands-down best option. Other than being further from our friends than we want to be--we all think it's perfect.

Here were our minimum requirements:

--five bedrooms or areas where we can add a bedroom (the master, plus one for Bantam17, one for Blondechick15, one for Bantams 12 & 9 and one for Chicklet 5 and Bantam3)
--a room that Father Rooster can use as an office, preferably not in the basement
--a large living room for hosting groups (we ruled out lots of houses on paper, because they didn't meet this requirement)
--enough room for our extra-large dining room table
--an area for homeschooling
--something larger than a postage stamp for a yard

This house has:

--four bedrooms--the master plus 3 more bedrooms, all upstairs, and a full, unfinished basement where we'll add a bedroom for Blondechick15 (she's the one who wants to be down there) plus a GUEST ROOM and rec area. On the second floor it also has a huge walk-in closet opening into the hallway that is big enough for a bed, and Bantam12 insists that he wants it for his bedroom. (Which will make 7 bedrooms total!)
--a large, light bonus room off the master bedroom that will make a beautiful office for Father Rooster
--the living room in this house is 425 square feet! (The next biggest room we saw anywhere else was 380 sq ft.; we have 280 sq ft. in our current house's largest room.) It has beautiful hardwood floors, lots of windows and a fireplace too!
--our dining room table will fit beautifully in either the formal dining room or in the dinette area on the open side of the kitchen (we'll probably use the dining room)
--for homeschooling, there is a small, open room on the main level (with a big window) where I can have my "office," keep the homeschool supplies and put a small writing desk so a child could work there rather than at the dining room table. (I could separate kids, in other words!) There's the whole dining room, of course, and a small formal living room connected to it that will work well as a library/seating area for individuals to sit and read. The large, second-floor, windowed loft could be a reading area as well, perhaps with a futon so it could double as another guest bedroom.
--the yard is generously sized and open. And there is a perfect little sledding hill in one of the side yards!

I'll save more details for another post--but we'll get the ball rolling today, getting pre-approved and all, then make an offer later this week. This house is new construction that's been sitting for well over a year, so we're hoping for a good price and of course, the builder will be thrilled if we can do a quick close with no contingencies. Which we should be able to do, thanks to the church! So if all works out well...

We could be moving in a month or so!!!!

(Yes, that may be right in the middle of Oliver! It's unlikely that we'll have sold our current house by then, though, so we can move out in stages.)

It seems clear to us that this home is the option God has led us to, but please pray for the confirmation of all the pieces falling into place now with the offer and the loan and the financial advice the church will be seeking. Thank you!!!