Sunday Storytime: Real Estate

I love this term. Real estate. Not fake estate. Estate that is real. Love it.

I was thinking this week of the times when Bryan and I have seen God's Hand in our lives, working to bring us along to where He wants us to be. One story came to mind, and I suppose it's the kind of thing that another might experience and simply say, "How nice that things worked out." But that statement only makes sense if there is no God interested in us personally. If there is such a God, then things don't "just work out."

So here's a story of real estate that God worked out for us.

We had been married for just a year and were living in Jacksonville, Florida when we scheduled our house-hunting trip to Norfolk, Virginia. There was a lot going on: Many good-byes to say, a long road trip through the midwest to do before Bryan reported for duty, a house to pack out of and close on. We'd sold it very quickly, and went to Norfolk without any contingency hanging over our heads.

Maybe that's why we thought arriving on a Thursday afternoon and leaving on a Sunday morning would be enough time to find a place to live.

We weren't set on buying. If nothing had panned out, we would have been content to rent. But we'd been in touch with Jeannette, a realtor, and she'd set up some appointments for Friday. It was to our advantage that Bryan had been stationed there before, and he knew roughly what neighborhoods would be good both for an investment and for his commute.

Our drive started at the crack of dawn on Thursday. We arrived in time for me to go to an interview with the English Department at Old Dominion University on Thursday afternoon. I was applying to be an adjunct professor of English, and in that interview, the Department Head said to me, "A lot of these students are walking ignoramuses and we have to teach them to think. I mean, this is Jerry Falwell country!"

Ah, Academia. Always fighting the good fight against ignorant Christians.

I did say something. Along the lines of, "Yes, I'm all for helping my students become critical thinkers. And as I probably agree a lot more with Jerry Falwell than I do with, say, you, I also want to help equip students to argue against whatever bias confronts them."

She nearly choked. And I got the job because, as all English Departments are, she was desperate for adjunct professors. (And she was a really great boss, I liked working with her those 2 years.)

So, I left the office with a job and the campus was in a neighborhood called Larchmont, which was one Bryan had told the realtor we were interested in.

The next morning, we met with said realtor and looked at 6 different houses. I love looking at houses to buy! It's so much fun to imagine life in each one. This is the first time I'd gone house-hunting and it felt like a day of treats.

A fifth house was a so-so option.

And then there was house #6. Owned by Mrs. White for 40 years. She was moving to a retirement home and her kids had called Jeannette the day before our arrival to put it on the market. They wanted to spend about 4 grand re-doing the plaster and paint before showing it, but Jeannette told them about a "nice young couple" coming to town and arranged for a showing on Friday--Mrs. White didn't even have to leave the house.

Oh, that sweet little house! It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom post-war dollhouse with a huge backyard beautifully landscaped over the years by Mrs. White, an avid gardener and lover of flowering shrubs.

We offered their asking price minus the 4 grand that afternoon. They accepted that night. We had an inspector in that Saturday morning and then left town under contract.

Gosh, I loved that house. . . We did a little project on it--knocked out the wall between the kitchen and the small bedroom and then made double french doors onto the screened-in porch. When we left Norfolk, we thought it would be for just 1 year. But then 1 year of Army War College turned into a second. And that second year turned into a tour in Korea. And by the time we got overseas, it was clear we wouldn't head back to Norfolk.

We'd been renting this house, but while in Korea, it became clear that it was time to sell. Either that, or we'd have to hold that mortgage in addition to whatever we got in the Springs. It looked like the price would be good in Virginia, so we had it appraised. The guy's advice was to ask for what would have been 160% what we paid. That was good news.

Then we hooked up with a realtor who said, no, no, we should ask a lot more. And it sold within a week for 210% what we paid for it.

Ha! How about that!

Now, I don't think this happened because it's God's goal to make us rich. We don't want to be rich, and I'm certain God doesn't care whether we are. (And, of course, just by being Americans, we already are very wealthy.) We have been able to see some of the effects of that Norfolk house already--it has been used for good in a lot of lives, some while we were still there, some after we left, some through that sale.

But the bigger picture? Just how "God uses ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose"? That complete reveal remains to be seen. Just as every event--whether one we welcome like a great house story, or one we have to persevere through, like breast cancer--will be revealed.

What we know for certain is that things didn't just "work out" with the Norfolk house. Are things are not just "working out" with breast cancer. If God is real, then His hand really is really working.