Desired Haven

Nobody is more shocked than I am. I bought an old Swiss chalet style house from 1929 called a sveitserhus. And I am going to sell my new house that I built just 7 years ago. Typing it out like that has only confirmed my suspicions that I might be a little (or a lot) bit insane.

To make a long story, well, probably longer, here's how we came to this drastic change. We love our house now but we have a very small lot. Very small. If we want a vegetable garden or a trampoline, it would have to go in the middle of our front lawn. We're also right in the middle of a section of houses without much privacy. We've been dreaming of a big farm house, with lots of land and a barn, privacy and the possibility of a quiet, country life.

We've looked at this house for years and have always thought it very pretty. But never put more thought into it than that. Then we heard that it was going to go up for sale. So we asked the owner if we could borrow the keys and have a look. We loved the property! The house is nestled into the foot of a small mountain and when you go around the back of the barn, you walk into your own personal haven! A huge black cherry tree, apple and pear trees, black and red current bushes, a large maple and lots of land, all with the mountain as it's back drop. Absolutely idyllic. We think the house is absolutely charming! But it needs sooo much work. We asked the owner what he'd be asking for it. And that made up our mind. Way out of our price range. So we put it behind us. After all, it was just a pipe dream.

It went on the market. And no one bought it. You have to understand, this house is in a row of houses that are all considered of "historical value" and seem to be quite sought after. The last house that was for sale there was bought up immediately. After a while, when it didn't sell, we called the real estate agent mostly out of curiosity. There had been very little interest and no bids. We suggested a price that we could consider and they said, out of the question. So we put it behind us again.

About a week later, the agent called us and said that if we put in a bid now that we might be able to get a good price. That got us thinking. We got our current house valued. Got a good figure so that was a go. Talked to the bank. That was also a go. Got a builder go look at the old house. Go there too. Wow.

Well, what were we supposed to do now?! We only had a few days to put a bid in. We agonized over making a decision. In the end, we thought that if we didn't try, we'd always wonder "what if". So we put a fleece before the Lord. We would make one bid and one bid only at a considerably lower sum than the asking price. If it was accepted, then it was meant to be. If not, then it wasn't meant to be. So we put our bid in and it was immediately rejected, with a counter offer of a slightly higher price. We had until 10 am the next morning to make up our minds.

We contemplated it but we knew we had to stick to our decision. We called the agent back the next morning at 9 am and said that we could not accept the counter offer but our original bid still stands til 10 am. He said we'd know within the hour. I was COMPLETELY expecting a call back immediately with a resound no. But 20 minutes passed. Then a half hour. Then 40 minutes. At 50 minutes, the phone rang. And Sindre said, "I got a call from the agent." And I'm starting to say, "Well, it just wasn't meant to be.", when he says, "We got the house."

.......SHOCKED!!!!! Stunned. Flabbergasted. I don't know what the right word is. Actually, to be honest, I think I did go into shock, cause I got very light headed and nearly didn't make it to the couch before passing out (that would be the Cormier gene). And I was extremely nauseous and shaky.

We've got an insane amount of work ahead of us. And I'm sure everyone thinks we're crazy. But we're sooo excited about our "Desired Haven".

And very sad about selling my current house. We've put our heart and souls into it and I just never thought I'd leave here. I'm glad I'll get to live in it for a little while longer while we do the work on the new house.I've had moments of absolute panic in the past few days. Have we done the right thing??? Did we make a big mistake??? How is this all going to turn out???? This is definitely going to be a trial of my faith. But we feel, well, we know, it's meant to be.

Psalm 107
"They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
²⁷ They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.
²⁸ Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
²⁹ He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
³⁰ Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven."