This is Part 6, the final segment in a series telling about how we came to the point in our lives where we were willing to sell half of our belongings, give up our lifestyle, and move away from family and friends, including our 3 teenage daughters, and move to the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia so my husband, Chad, could go to seminary. For earlier posts see:
Part 1 How we reconciled our marriage.
Part 2 How we found Dave Ramsey.
Part 3 How we got out of debt.
Part 4 How we desired to live a more simple life.
Part 1 How we reconciled our marriage.
Part 2 How we found Dave Ramsey.
Part 3 How we got out of debt.
Part 4 How we desired to live a more simple life.
Part 5 How we made the decision to sell our house and move to Virginia.
Chad and I sat in the Realtor’s office on June 8th, 2013, just 22 hours after listing our home. In front
of us sat the purchase agreement with an offer for our listing price. This was the price we needed in order to make
moving away to seminary feasible. The
only stipulation in the contract was that we needed to close in just 6 short weeks.
6 weeks! We didn't even know where to
begin. In a matter of a day everything
had turned upside down. Chad had been fortunate working for a wonderful company for 11 years. Over the years they had promoted him so he
oversaw 12 different banks and had over 70 employees. He was very, very good at his job. We had a lovely home in a beautiful
neighborhood and no financial worries since getting out of debt in 2011. But by
signing the purchase agreement to sell our home we were basically giving it all
up. It would put in motion the plans to
give up our lifestyle, his well-paying, stable job, moving across the country,
away from our families, and enrolling in seminary. Oh, and in the midst of all that, getting our
17 year old twin daughters settled in Tennessee, where one would be in college
full time, while the other worked full time for a year while she decided what she
wanted to do for a career. Talk about a
lot on our plate!!
I will take a little step aside now and tell you how I hate
stress. Hate it! I do everything in my life to avoid it. I like knowing what is happening day to day
and do not like the unknown. I love my
quiet, stress free life that I typically have.
But on the other hand I work extremely well under stress. So well in
fact that in a matter of weeks not only was I able to travel to Virginia and obtain a for our family, but also an apartment in Tennessee for our 17 year old daughter. I also rented the U-Haul, sold half of our
belongings, and packed up the rest of our house. Chad was still working during
that time 60-70 hours a week, so basically the move was up to me. It is still somewhat of a blur in my mind
looking back.
When looking for a place for us to live in Virginia I had
one stipulation if I moved: I wanted to
live in the country. I grew up in the country and had longed to move back for
years. Not only that, I still had a
desire to have a garden, raise chickens, and hang our wash on the clothesline; something that isn't too feasible in town. Also, with a 12 year old boy
who loves anything and everything to do with outdoors and our yellow lab, Koda,
a country house seemed ideal for our family.
Because of Koda and our limited budget, house after house
fell through. Most rentals do not take
large dogs, something I could understand, but they didn't know MY dog.
He is well behaved and a part of our family. I call him my 5 th child. (Yes, I’m one of “those kind” of dog
owners.) Finally, I found a country
house in our price range, but of course it said “no pets”. I decided to email the people anyway, telling
them our story, hoping the idea of an older seminary student and his family would
help our case. After visiting with the
lady on the phone, and driving 1,200 miles out to meet her in person, I was
able to obtain the quaint little country house on lease. And when I say quaint, I mean basically
original to 1910 when it was built, with the narrow doorways, low ceilings, and
chipping paint. But it suited our
needs. It was in a beautiful, safe
location just a short drive from Chad’s school.
It was surrounded by fields with mountains in the distance, giving me
the peace and quiet I desired. And it
had a big yard for our son as well as ponds and hunting grounds for him to
explore. The house, while simple and
shabby, had plenty of room. The kitchen
was big enough for me to do the cooking I loved and it had a yard the landlords
said I could till up for a garden and raise chickens.
Chad had given his notice when we listed our house, but his
last day was not until August 2nd.
With our closing being in 6 weeks, that meant we needed to be out of our
house by July 15, leaving us a good three weeks in limbo. On closing day we pulled out of our
cul-de-sac and lovely neighborhood saying goodbye to our life we had lived for
the past 11 years. I cried a bit, but
was excited for the future. After 2 days
on the road we arrived in Tennessee where we unloaded and kissed goodbye our 17
year old little girls, and traveled on to Virginia. We spent a few days there unpacking our
belongings before heading back to Nebraska for 2 weeks for Chad to finish up
work. We were able to stay with a friend
and had a few weeks to spend time with our friends and family, especially our
oldest daughter, Oksana, who was 19. On August 5th Chad, Rem, and I
pulled out of Nebraska and headed off for Virginia and our new adventure.
We have now lived here a little over 6 months and it feels
like home. Chad greatly enjoys his
classes and we love the beautiful area we are in and the people we are meeting. We do miss our family and friends though,
especially our girls. But we know that
this is where we need to be at this point in our lives. We get asked a lot if Chad plans to be a
pastor. After much discussion on the
matter we both have agreed that is not the career path he will be taking with
his degree. He certainly wants to work
in some kind of Christian field, perhaps in a college environment, either teaching or
working with outreach ministries within the school. He currently works part-time for the college
he attends now; placing undergrad student with local churches, and loves his
job. His job is flexible enough so he can balance school, work, and family
time, for which we are thankful.
So that is our story….It is amazing how we were brought from
one place to another.