Where did this journey to Framingham actually begin? A hike upstream towards the headwaters of our lives reminds us of the many cataracts and river forks through which God has already guided us. You should read: "How This Crazy Love Idea Began" and also "Vacation Turned Vision Trip" where Aurelia beautifully details some of the back story for this major life transition... and by "back story" I mean some of the ways that God just loves to show off!
Careful reflection of the past can provide indicators of God's continuing Providence, but sometimes He advertises His Providence as such that no rational being can deny His powerful and perfect presence in the daily minutiae of our lives! The week of March 18 - 23rd, 2018 was just such an astonishing demonstration of John Newton's prayer of surrender: "Lord, what you will, when you will, how you will!"
As some of you may know our family recently expanded to an even half-dozen (the kids have us outnumbered now!) by taking in Aurelia's niece and nephew (ages 6 & 4). As Kipling would say, THAT is another story... but the point here is that we needed a vehicle that could seat 6 (not just for Framingham but also for immediate use). Aurelia's mom, Julie Ketterman, approached us on Sunday the 18th with an incredibly generous monetary gift towards the purchase of a suitable family vehicle, but that we needed to act on it quickly (within the next week or so). This enormous blessing from God (via Julie's faithful generosity) would assist us in acquiring a vehicle when we were simultaneously preparing to soon purchase a home in Framingham! Aurelia & I were ecstatic and by that evening (Sunday) we had already settled on what make/model to purchase... we just needed to start shopping around for one that fit our budget.
The next day, Monday the 19th, Aurelia was in a car wreck while exiting Interstate 45. She was shaken up but uninjured, however the Camry (our family's primary vehicle which we intended to take to Boston) was towed to the shop for likely several weeks of repairs. Of course, we were very grateful that Aurelia was okay (as were the other 2 drivers involved), but then we realized we were now a 1-car family and it was an older-model car. The car-buying process went into hyper-drive as Tuesday the 20th was spent car shopping until we found a used Toyota Sienna with a price tag in our budget... we signed the paperwork that Tuesday (again, all glory to God and unending gratitude to Julie), but the dealership wanted to "tweak" a few things before we took possession... so we would wait to pickup the vehicle on Thursday the 22nd.
"Suppose you were in a smith's shop, and should see there several sorts of tools, some crooked, some bowed, others hooked, would you condemn all these things, because they do not look handsome? The smith makes use of them all for doing his work. Thus it is with the Providences of God; they seem to us to be very crooked and strange — yet they all carry on God's work." - Thomas Watson (1620-1686)
Wednesday the 21st we woke up grateful for the provision of a beautiful, spacious and reliable minivan soon-to-be in our possession. However, even great blessings don't crowd out all those nagging voices... all those fears still lurking in the corners of your mind! Now we are a 3-car family? One car we don't like but still need, one car we love but can't use, one car we bought but don't currently have? Are we now going to have to drive TWO cars across the country (Camry & Sienna)? Because that sounds like so much fun! Now also an unexpected expense for the deductible of the insurance claim? Arrghh... why has it been so difficult to set aside money for the anticipated down-payment on a TBD house in Framingham? <thoughts interrupted by PING of email alert> Oh look! Our realtor has found a 4 bdrm house in our price range with **GASP** 2 baths (3-4 bdrm houses have only 1 bath up there... its really weird)! The seller has an Open House scheduled on Sat the 24th... if we want a fighting chance in that competitive market we need to put in an offer beforehand. Sight-unseen?! Well maybe we can ask Bryan & Jodi Shippey to tour it with our realtor... oh look, the house is LITERALLY around the corner from where the Shippey's live! Yep, same neighborhood... just two streets away.
<slowly shakes head> This has to be a God-thing... this house seems perfect for us and for the kids to be within walking (or sledding) distance to our fellow transplanted Texans... can we really get our hopes up for this? But we still haven't found jobs up there... did I mention we've made almost no progress in setting aside for the down-payment?!
***ASIDE: Down-payment has been a sore subject for Aurelia & I at the monthly "household budget committee meeting". In Aug 2016, we participated in "Financial Peace University" (a curriculum by Dave Ramsey for debt-reduction and financial planning in a God-honoring manner) hosted by our church. A key concept to FPU is the supreme priority given to debt-reduction (almost to the exclusion of anything beyond basic living expenses). Utilizing these Biblical principles and with God's blessing we have paid off most of our combined debt (both cars are just a couple months from being free & clear). However, it is almost counter-intuitive to NOT sock a little (or a lot) away each month towards this massive expense (moving, house-hunting, buy a snow blower) growing ever larger on the horizon. Nonetheless, every time that we have financially stepped out in faith, God has worked it out Providentially... so we remained faithful to the debt-reduction plan at the expense of a savings plan. Shout out to Tyler Rohr, Jim Bankson & Anne Tillman for teaching, leading and encouraging us on the path to financial peace!***
So now look where we are... the seemingly perfect house is sitting there but is it out of our reach? We won't win a bidding war and even if the Seller takes our barely respectable offer (and is willing to wait 3-4 months to close), how for God's sake are we gonna come up with a down-payment in time?!?! Well THAT question holds the answer: "It is not for your sake that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my Holy name." (Ezekiel 36:22) We didn't know all the answers, but as a continuation of this journey of faithfulness on Wednesday the 21st we asked that our realtor and Jodi Shippey tour the home with the intention of submitting our offer immediately afterward. The walk-through would be on Friday morning the 23rd.
Thursday morning the 22nd found me at the dealership waiting for them to bring the minivan around and hand me the keys. I got a call from State Farm regarding the wrecked Camry. I was shocked to learn they were calling it a total loss! Aurelia wasn't even bruised in the accident, but turns out the frame, struts, even steering column had been wrenched and torqued enough to consider the car totaled. My head was spinning... we LOVED that car, it's ALMOST paid-off, why couldn't the CRAPPY car get totaled?! God, why do these things keep happening to us?! <subconscious brain alert: that State Farm lady just said a REALLY big dollar amount> "I'm sorry what did you say? State Farm is cutting us a check for how much?!"
So there I am at a dealership to pickup a vehicle that seats our expanded family and which didn't negatively impact our overall budget. We won't need to be a 3-car family and will only need to drive one car to Massachusetts. What took my breath away: God had chosen to honor our faithfulness in sacrificial debt-reduction by returning to us the full equity of the Camry! We wouldn't have thought to sell it and had we tried we wouldn't have gotten the full value of the vehicle. Only by His omnipotent design could that car be damaged severely enough to be considered a total loss, but in such a way that no one was injured! I was further stunned to realize the timing of events: neither the body shop nor State Farm had contacted us since the accident (aka, there had been no indication this could possibly be a total loss). God ensured we had no knowledge of this payout until AFTER we had completed the car-buying process (else I might have been tempted to use it to purchase more car than we actually needed). He also ensured we were informed of the payout on the eve of deciding whether to make an offer on a house in Framingham... this insurance check would equate to 2/3 of the necessary down-payment!
Thus it was that on Friday the 23rd we asked our realtor for advice on how to make the most attractive offer on the house in Framingham (within our budget constraints). Completely unaware of the news of our financial windfall, our realtor suggested we state in the offer that after the option period we would place an additional deposit in escrow... the dollar amount she suggested was the same amount that State Farm was sending to us! We agreed immediately... when God is cooking up something good just stay out of the kitchen! To make this already long story short, the seller agreed to everything: he asked for a small bump in price (still within our budget), agreed to our delayed closing at the end of June, agreed to the repairs noted in the subsequent home inspection and cancelled the Open House originally scheduled for the following day! The seller then informed us that he was leaving the country and was willing to sell ALL the furniture (yes everything) in the home for just $2000! Yes please!
Much still lies ahead in the next 3 months as we prep for this move... next big hurdle: gainful employment for Tommy in the Boston area. However, as we continue to faithfully step out God continues to faithfully work it out for His glory! Aurelia and I can quite clearly see the varying "tool marks" of the different instruments [people and events] which He has used to work on us, in us and for us... He NEVER stops working! He is Faithfully working and we are Faithfully For Framingham.
So there I am at a dealership to pickup a vehicle that seats our expanded family and which didn't negatively impact our overall budget. We won't need to be a 3-car family and will only need to drive one car to Massachusetts. What took my breath away: God had chosen to honor our faithfulness in sacrificial debt-reduction by returning to us the full equity of the Camry! We wouldn't have thought to sell it and had we tried we wouldn't have gotten the full value of the vehicle. Only by His omnipotent design could that car be damaged severely enough to be considered a total loss, but in such a way that no one was injured! I was further stunned to realize the timing of events: neither the body shop nor State Farm had contacted us since the accident (aka, there had been no indication this could possibly be a total loss). God ensured we had no knowledge of this payout until AFTER we had completed the car-buying process (else I might have been tempted to use it to purchase more car than we actually needed). He also ensured we were informed of the payout on the eve of deciding whether to make an offer on a house in Framingham... this insurance check would equate to 2/3 of the necessary down-payment!
Thus it was that on Friday the 23rd we asked our realtor for advice on how to make the most attractive offer on the house in Framingham (within our budget constraints). Completely unaware of the news of our financial windfall, our realtor suggested we state in the offer that after the option period we would place an additional deposit in escrow... the dollar amount she suggested was the same amount that State Farm was sending to us! We agreed immediately... when God is cooking up something good just stay out of the kitchen! To make this already long story short, the seller agreed to everything: he asked for a small bump in price (still within our budget), agreed to our delayed closing at the end of June, agreed to the repairs noted in the subsequent home inspection and cancelled the Open House originally scheduled for the following day! The seller then informed us that he was leaving the country and was willing to sell ALL the furniture (yes everything) in the home for just $2000! Yes please!
"But Jesus said, 'My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working.'" - John 5:17
