Our house - taken last November.
It's been a few years since I went caroling. The last time was all thanks to real estate. Yeah, that sounds strange, but it's true. You see when we bought this house in 1998, we had to sell our our old house at 201 East Prairie.
We put it on the market in November of '97 and made an offer on our dream house (this one) with a clause in there about selling our house. It was a slow winter and no offers were forthcoming. Then, after the first of the year, someone else wanted to make an offer on this house so we had to piss or get off the pot, to put it bluntly. So we bought this house and owned two. Oh the stress - just ask Amy.
We moved into this house in May of 1998 and got a "bridge loan" on it. It sounds like such a happy term for something that caused so much stress. Interest was compounding daily on this place. Three months went by with no sale. We had to do an extension of our bridge loan - Paul and I snapped at each other and at one point, I slammed out of this new dream home tearing off in our family truckster (white Chrysler van) with the dog. Hyperventilating, I didn't know where to go, so I went to the old house. Cleaning for a bit as I calmed down. Amy (age 13) thought we were divorcing.
We were desperate to sell the place. We tried Paul's sister Carol's advice - burying St. Joseph upside down in the yard of the old place. Except we really put the statue in the compost pile instead of digging the yard. And, I started bargaining with God.
I know - it's true I spend much of my time doubting there is a big guy. Hell I don't know if there is a God, or heaven. Or if we're just toast after we die. Perhaps we are reincarnated - I've seen the soul of a person inside each of my dogs. Bad people deserve to come back as something totally dependent on the kindness of others.
But when times are rough, I admit it. I pull out the Jesus, Joseph and Mary card. I pray to God. This was a tough time. I didn't feel like I could just outright ask for God to sell our house, after all the wishy washy feelings and such. So I made a bargain. I told God that if our house sold, I would teach Religious Education the next year.
That was a pretty big deal, and I felt a good one for God. Wednesday nights for a year, Leslie Goldsmith (sometimes unbeliever) teaching children about Himself. Ironic, huh? So you guessed it, the house sold. Not overnight, no God wouldn't want it to look like it was easy.
But after one deal fell through, shortly thereafter a nice family who actually had $$ bought our house. I won't EVEN tell the raunchy story about lewd hot tub repair man jerking off downstairs while the new family moved in and before we had closed on the house, causing us to wonder if the nice family would back out of the deal. Oh yes, God does have a sense of humor! But they did buy it.
And I called Karen Walters to offer to teach 8 8th grade students from the public school each Wednesday. It was a lot of work. God drives a hard bargain. I had homework putting together lesson plans. We did activities - artsy stuff I'm not good at. We went Christmas caroling! Driving and walking to several areas in town to sing with 8th graders. (They aren't loud singers and were not enthusiastic). Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.
It didn't seem fun at the time, but looking back, both God and I came out ahead on that deal!
We put it on the market in November of '97 and made an offer on our dream house (this one) with a clause in there about selling our house. It was a slow winter and no offers were forthcoming. Then, after the first of the year, someone else wanted to make an offer on this house so we had to piss or get off the pot, to put it bluntly. So we bought this house and owned two. Oh the stress - just ask Amy.
We moved into this house in May of 1998 and got a "bridge loan" on it. It sounds like such a happy term for something that caused so much stress. Interest was compounding daily on this place. Three months went by with no sale. We had to do an extension of our bridge loan - Paul and I snapped at each other and at one point, I slammed out of this new dream home tearing off in our family truckster (white Chrysler van) with the dog. Hyperventilating, I didn't know where to go, so I went to the old house. Cleaning for a bit as I calmed down. Amy (age 13) thought we were divorcing.
We were desperate to sell the place. We tried Paul's sister Carol's advice - burying St. Joseph upside down in the yard of the old place. Except we really put the statue in the compost pile instead of digging the yard. And, I started bargaining with God.
I know - it's true I spend much of my time doubting there is a big guy. Hell I don't know if there is a God, or heaven. Or if we're just toast after we die. Perhaps we are reincarnated - I've seen the soul of a person inside each of my dogs. Bad people deserve to come back as something totally dependent on the kindness of others.
But when times are rough, I admit it. I pull out the Jesus, Joseph and Mary card. I pray to God. This was a tough time. I didn't feel like I could just outright ask for God to sell our house, after all the wishy washy feelings and such. So I made a bargain. I told God that if our house sold, I would teach Religious Education the next year.
That was a pretty big deal, and I felt a good one for God. Wednesday nights for a year, Leslie Goldsmith (sometimes unbeliever) teaching children about Himself. Ironic, huh? So you guessed it, the house sold. Not overnight, no God wouldn't want it to look like it was easy.
But after one deal fell through, shortly thereafter a nice family who actually had $$ bought our house. I won't EVEN tell the raunchy story about lewd hot tub repair man jerking off downstairs while the new family moved in and before we had closed on the house, causing us to wonder if the nice family would back out of the deal. Oh yes, God does have a sense of humor! But they did buy it.
And I called Karen Walters to offer to teach 8 8th grade students from the public school each Wednesday. It was a lot of work. God drives a hard bargain. I had homework putting together lesson plans. We did activities - artsy stuff I'm not good at. We went Christmas caroling! Driving and walking to several areas in town to sing with 8th graders. (They aren't loud singers and were not enthusiastic). Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.
It didn't seem fun at the time, but looking back, both God and I came out ahead on that deal!
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