In my last blog, I shared our recent drama as we moved our family from Maryland to North Carolina. I made an attempt to draw you into my blog with the catchy title, Homeless with 5 Kids. So dramatic I know! The title may feel a little insensitive to those who have experienced the real pain of homelessness. Thankfully, our situation was not so bad that we were without a place to stay. Nonetheless, Friday morning I had a home and household goods on the way for delivery and by Friday afternoon I was canceling my delivery with no address. We weren’t in a box but it was pretty traumatic at the time.
The saga continued…
As always, through God’s amazing grace, it got better.
It was the day before our household goods were to arrive. I was excited to see the improvements done to the house since we signed the contract 3 months prior. The rental company had been communicating to me as if they fully intended to repair the structural and cosmetic damage… i’m not just talking power washing (which it needed). I’m talking years of paint chipping and wood rot. There was garbage piled under the back deck and gutters falling down. For the rent they were taking from us, it was appalling.
Two ladies from the rental company showed up a couple of hours later and walked through the house with me. Not gonna lie, I got emotional and angry. They weren’t going to fix it and I was stuck with a house I knew would continue to cause anxiety. Did I even mention the fleas? FLEAS! They had sprayed 3 times because the first 2 times didn’t solve the problem. Finally the agent said that she had talked to the owner and if I really was unhappy I could back out. DONE!
No Place to Put Our Things
I was terrified because I needed a house NOW and my truckload was coming in a matter of hours, but I knew this was God opening a door for me to run out. As I stood in the kitchen, packing up my few items that I had brought in, a flea hopped on my leg and lept off. Peace out house… I am so outta here! Talk about a clear sign from above!
Think quick Rebekah! What can you do to get a house before close of business today so that you can still get your household goods? Immediately I went live on FB. That’s probably not what you would have thought to do first, but I knew I could recruit friends right away who could help me do a search for a home and redirect our truck without having to put items in storage… that never ends well.
Immediately comments and messages flooded in. I had more options to consider for a house than I knew what to do with. I even went to look at a house within the hour. Alas, things didn’t workout and I had to call off our delivery. My husband and 3 older kids were showing up later that night and we had no clue where we were going to live.
We ended up finding an available rental on the Beach for 3 weeks. Now that’s what I call making lemonade out of lemons. I was able to talk to the owner and negotiate a rate. Being that it was the beginning of Summer, it was a miracle that we found a place with 3 consecutive weeks available. I had about 8 other people message me back that they didn’t have the opening for the full 3 weeks. This was literally the only one. It was perfect!
Move in Day Arrives
We found a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood that is a close commute to work and school. We knew that it would all work out even when we felt our most frustrated, we trusted. That wasn’t easy to do!
Then the movers arrived. For an entire day, our crew of 3 men unloaded and unpacked… by 5:00 PM my heart sank as I realized the last crate had been unpacked and it appeared that an entire truckload of items were missing from our delivery. We were missing parts to beds so that not a single bed could be assembled. We were missing entire bedroom sets and couches. It was a mess! This is PRECISELY why I was in tears the day I had to back out of our original lease. I knew that items going into storage was never good. I don’t understand the mysterious and massive mess they create at the warehouses, but change is desperately needed in these moving companies. They searched Friday Night. They searched Saturday. They searched Sunday and finally on Sunday afternoon they found our items… an entire 3 crates and an additional couch. Tuesday they delivered the rest of our goods.
Through this move I kept asking myself, “what is the lesson here?” What is God trying to teach us? Perhaps humility? Perhaps trust? Perhaps compassion for others who are facing similar situations or worse?
I realized our blessings in all of this. I know no one lost a life or had to sleep on the street. This was enough for me to really wish I never had to move again… that won’t be the case though… in just 2 short years we get to do it all over again. Until then, I’m just going to sit here and sip my lemonade and make the most of all that we have been given. What’s the fun of life anyway if everything just goes as planned and works perfectly… there’s really no room to test our real trust in God in that case is there?
Thanks again for reading. I appreciate you more than you know!
Rebekah
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