No packing for us!!!

Yesterday, I was talking with an appraiser who was scheduled to come at the end of March and appraise our house. I asked her to change our appointment to the middle of April to give more houses time to sell in our area, so we'd have more comparables-which would hopefully help the value of our house.

During our conversation, she asked what our 2013 tax assessment was. When I told her I hadn't gotten one yet, she told me to get it right away, that everyone had already gotten theirs, and I really should have it. So I decided to stop at the township office on my way home from work. Before I left, one of my co-workers stopped me in the hallway and prayed with me because I told her where I was going and that I was going to ask about what was going on with our property.

It was 8 weeks yesterday since they first told us they wanted to develop the land all around us, and we had been very patiently waiting for word from them as to what they were going to offer us. We were busy doing our homework and getting things set up because they were very certain that the plans they had were going to go through, with or without us.

What a difference a couple months can make! Yesterday, I was informed that the deal "fizzled out", and they no longer were interested in our property. It seems they were taking the word of a developer and a couple of "very highly respected" local business men to be true, but when it came time for the developer to present his plans and his backing...he had nothing to show.

The whole time the township guy was talking to me, I was trying to remain calm, and not get up in his face and ask why they pushed it so far with us if it wasn't a done deal...oh, and when were they going to tell us that it fizzled out? I was also trying really hard not to smile and look happy about the whole thing, but I could feel the tight bands that have been around my chest for the past 2 months slowly slipping away the more he talked!

They are still buying up the property around us, behind us and across the street from us, but they have had time to think about what the developer was proposing and have decided to go in a "different direction"-for right now. They feel that the "country club atmosphere" the developer was trying to create just wouldn't be a good fit in this spot. They still feel the need for that type of facility, just not on our road...a little further away near an existing golf course/country club type community.

Right now, the plans are to complete the purchase of the 90 acres around us, and put in a baseball field complex at the end of our road, with stadium lights for night time games. It will increase the traffic on our road and will probably force them to change the way our road flows out onto the main road. I don't mind the baseball fields because they are only used for a season, and not year round. Plus, they will be far enough away that even the lights shouldn't affect us.

So, we get to stay (for now), which makes us very relieved and very happy. There has been nothing said that this won't come up again. I fully expect it will at some point, and we will deal with it when it comes up again, hopefully it will be in 4-5 years (or more), when the boys have completed college and are out on their own, and our mortgage is paid off, and then we can move on our terms-meaning when, how, where, etc.

I couldn't have made it through the past couple of months without knowing that God was always going before us, and behind us. He sent just the right people at just the right time to tell us what we needed to hear. Those words came in the form of emails, blog comments, facebook comments, phone calls, texts, someone stopping me in a store or in the hallway at work or church...it was amazing to watch His hand in all of this. I kept a mini journal because I didn't want to forget His goodness to us when this was all said and done.

Throughout all of the anxiety, stress, and uncertainty, one thing remained-God will never leave us, or forsake us! That brought us so much peace! There was always this overwhelming sense of needing to be still, and trust God to direct our path and we had reached the point where we were ready and willing to go wherever He sent us...and He ended up keeping us right here!

Thank you all for sticking with me during this time! Thank you for your prayers, comments, concern, care and love! Each one has touched my heart in a big way and I am forever grateful!

Now we are feeling like we've been riding a roller coaster and we got to the top of the big hill, all ready to let loose and fly down the hill, and the ride got stopped at the top of the hill and we had to walk down! It's a funny feeling. It's almost like, "what do we do now?".

I'm ready to gut the bathrooms and get going on them! So maybe in the next little bit you'll see what we are up to! We've got some big over-grown bushes in the front that need to come out, but mostly, we are just going to take time to enjoy our home and our yard-for however long we have it!!