Audio from PLIR Prayerful Living Internet Radio. https://prayerfulliving.com/healingmusic/inspiration-weekly.html.
Here is the bonus podcast, Stand Porter at the door of Thought.
I recently read a blog about “Small Steps,” and thought WOW that’s just what I did with my move. I took small steps. It wasn’t intentional it just happened. I had never sold or purchased real estate before, and this was a real challenge for me. Although my stepbrother is the trustee of the Trust that holds the Villa, so he had to do most of the paperwork, 😊 but I had to coordinate everything as he lived in another state. Everything was done by email, text, and zoom.
The day I made the decision to move I started taking some time every day to clean things out that I wouldn’t be taking, as I was downsizing. No hurry. One room, one drawer, one closet, one cabinet at a time. I had time so I took time and was never stressed out.
When I had most of it done, then the big step, I called the realtor. She was the friend of a friend of mine and worked for a well-known real estate agency. She told me I needed to move some of the furniture out as it made the living/dining area look too crowded. But that was fine, I couldn’t take it all anyway, as it wouldn’t fit in a smaller place.
I put the word out listing what I need to get rid of. In a few days it was gone, all except my treadmill which I moved into the garage. I really wanted to keep it but, downsizing meant there would be no room for that either.
Then came the first stumbling block. I discovered the way the trust was written up I couldn’t use the villa for a bridge loan. This presented a problem. I couldn’t make an offer on a new place until I closed on the villa. That meant I could end up with no place to live between the sale of the villa and the closing on a new place. I couldn’t start seriously looking for a new place until I had an offer on the villa.
The realtor said I should have a plan B in case there was a gap between the sale and the purchase which was a possibility. I would need to store my belongings and find an acceptable extended-stay motel that would take my cats. I looked around but finding one I would stay in wasn’t easy. The ones I liked were way out of my budget. I started to feel frustrated.
You can only imagine what was going on in my head. Things didn’t seem to be fitting together right and I was hit with four big D’s, discouragement, doubt, defeat and distress. Was I making the right choice? It’s now time to pray. The first thing I thought of was this quote from II Chronicles 20:17. “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”
Jahaziel said this to Jehoshaphat when he was getting ready to go into battle. Okay, isn’t that what I going to do, go into battle. I need to find a way to cross the red sea. Oh, wait he said the battle was not theirs, so that means it’s not mine. Then I remembered what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane right before the crucifixion. “…Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42). The battle is not mine. If I trust God, and I do, He will see to it I’m cared for. He will not take me halfway and drop me, He will take me all the way. Okay there it was, now I’m ready, but I need to be prepared because His will may not be in line with my will, am I ready to accept that. YES, I am!
If this move is not right, then I trust God will let me know, in a why, I will understand and accept. All the worry and frustration left. I was ready to move forward. If this is His will then all will come together harmoniously, if not then something better will come along.
The villa went on the market, and I had two offers that weekend. I needed to board the cats for the weekend as I couldn’t stay in the villa when prospective buyers were there. That was quite traumatic for Sugar. He wouldn’t eat, the vet had to hand feed him, poor baby. ☹ Spice, on the other hand, will eat anything anytime. LOL. I jokingly call her Little miss piggy sometimes. The move is going to be hard on them so it’s time to give them some extra love. Time to give me some extra love too.
I had a contract on the villa and had to seriously start looking for a Condominium. You won’t believe this, the next one I looked at was in the perfect location, and just what I was looking for. But I still had no funds and usually, they won’t consider an offer unless you can demonstrate your ability to pay. My realtor said let’s try to make an offer with a contingency clause about the closing on the villa. She said it’s rare they are accepted but let’s try. Well, God was on my side, and they accepted the offer. WOW, it was getting there but still a problem. We close on the villa on November 2nd, which means I need to be out on the first. I don’t close on the condo until November 4th, which means I am homeless for five days. Phooey! Well not ideal, but I can store my belongings and stay in a motel for five days. It will cost me a bit, but I can manage.
A week later, after the villa inspection, the buyer wanted me to do something that according to the contract, I was not responsible for, but I felt it was the right thing to do so agreed to do it. My quick-thinking realtor said, oh, since she will do this for you, how about you give her a week to move out after the closing. He said that would be fine and it was written into the contract. Like I said God doesn’t take you halfway and drop you, He takes you all the way. I was so excited.
Another wonderful thing happened. This move was putting a strain on my budget, but my daughter comes to me and said she knew she should help me with this move, but she doesn’t like packing and doing that kind of thing, but she generously offered to pay for the packing and the move. I am so grateful I have such a thoughtful daughter. That was like the frosting on the cake.
The new place had all new carpeting and I love it. It had been freshly painted in a neutral color that I like. The only downside was it had old kitchen appliances. Well, with the profit between the sale of the villa and the purchase of the condo I had enough money to buy new, which I just did. They will be delivered four days after I move in. I’m also having the TV mounted on the wall with a mount that will turn so I can adjust it to see from the kitchen and dining area, or the living room. 😊 Oh, and I sold my treadmill.
Cable, internet, and utilities have all been contacted. You will never believe what happen, the day I called on the utilities I went to the kitchen and turned on the water and there was none. I called and someone had goofed, but they had it back on in about fifteen minutes. No problem.
That evening I got my cup of green tea and sat down in front of the TV and had no TV. ☹ I called Spectrum and what a mix-up. They ended up having to cancel my cable at both the old and new address and set me up as a new customer at my present address, BUT they couldn’t restart it with my old equipment, and they couldn’t get the new equipment to me until Monday. That left me without TV for three evenings. I only watch in the evenings, never turn my TV on during the day. 😊 At first, I was disappointed, but then it hit me, it was a good thing. I had received my manuscript back from the editor but with all that was going on I had put off going over it. Now I had three quiet evenings to do that. I got it done and sent it back to her. 😊 I chuckled to myself because I was thinking, that was God’s way of providing me with the time to do what I needed to do. 😊 God is good.
As you can see God was with me through this whole process, making sure that even when mistakes happen, they were taken care of without causing any hardship. I love God. As my life goes on, I find more and more that if I see life from God’s point of view, and know that as Jesus said, “not my will but thine be done” my life is more harmonious.
I have almost two weeks before the move to settle down and relax. 😊 So, I’m working on my blogs and podcasts, so I don’t get behind. 😊
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Ok, let’s jump ahead a week, and the move is getting close now. Just before the closing, I had a final walk-through in the condo. While I was doing that the buyer of the villa was having his final walk-through, so I needed to take the cats with me. I was going to leave them in the car, but it was cold that day so took them inside with me. I decided to let them out of their carriers and see what they would do. They both examined every inch of the condo and when done surprised me, they got back into their carriers all on their own, I guess they wanted to go home. 😊 Usually, I need to chase them down and get them in. Five more days and we’ll be sleeping there.
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Well, time passed, and moving day has come and gone. I’m so glad it’s over. Only one thing got broke, and it didn’t even bother me. I thought, oh well, one more thing came and went. 😊
Packing and moving days were quite traumatic for Sugar and Spice, I shut them in an empty room in the lower level of the villa with everything they’d need, but of course, they were not happy. At the condo, I shut them in their bathroom, again they were not happy. Gee, I can’t imagine why. After the movers finished, they settled in fine and are happy all the same furniture they love is still with them. OH, and they like their private bathroom. 😊 It’s better than the laundry room at the villa where at times they got interrupted.
That first night all three of us slept in my bed. Usually, one or the other will sleep with me but rarely both. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
I am all unpacked and my new black stainless appliances are here, and my TV is on the wall, but not everything is where it belongs, but it is starting to look like home, although a tad messy. I tend to be a bit of a neat nick. Everything has a place and everything in its place. After 49 moves I have become a master mover. Although, I’m going to treat myself this time and get a handyman to hang things on the walls. I used to do those things myself. 😊
I’m sure glad this is my last move. I don’t want to go through this again. Even with God’s help, it’s not easy. As most of you know, a lot of footsteps need to be taken. My calendar was all marked up, I had lists everywhere, and post-its stuck every place.
So, if anyone out there is thinking of moving, remember, the battle is not yours but Gods, and He is with you every step of the way.
I’ll be organizing for weeks. 😊 I’m sure most of you can relate to that. My cats and I are very happy with our new place. We are at home with God.
Out of Darkness, Into the Light 