Sunday, January 16, 2011

Open Doors

Those of you who have walked this journey with us know that we have a short list of items that we asked God to handle for us to confirm that this was where He was leading us.  The last open door we have been waiting for is our house to sell or rent.  After trying to sell it since July with little success we decided to pursue the rental option.  This would require a refinance to get our costs in line with what we could rent the house for.  We started the process in early November and waited, and waited, and waited.  The mortgage company was so backed up with requests that the appraisal wasn't completed until December 23rd.  In the meantime the foreclosures were piling up around us.  Just before we left in December the house next door to the right sold for 65k less than our mortgage balance.  On the other side of us two of the next four houses are in forclosure and for sale.  We needed an appraisal that showed a 90% LTV ratio for the refinance to be approved. All in all it wasn't looking so hot for the Steeds - unless God had a plan.  This past Monday night around 8:30pm we finally got the call, approved! Tuesday we listed the house for rent and in the past 5 days we have shown the house 7 times and we now have a renter pending an application approval.  What a difference a week can make! Thank you Father for your faithfulness, open doors and your perfect timing.  Now to begin walking through these open doors...

Saturday, January 8, 2011

On a Farewell Tour



We left the day after Christmas to travel north to visit some old friends, meet some new friends, and spend a few days with family.  At the end of each visit we've had to say goodbye.  And the next couple of weeks will be full of goodbyes.  It's just plain sad. There are so many people in our life that we see on a regular basis and it's hard now knowing when we will see them again.  It's hard to let go of them (you).

One of the reasons for our trip (to travel by car 15+ hours away from home with 3 'spirited' boys) was to visit a church in New Jersey. I will be honest and say I was not all that excited about the drive (going so far and being stuck in such a small space with the above boys).  I love to share what God is doing in our lives but preferably closer to home where we can get a babysitter.  The pastor and his wife are friends from way back that we had lost touch with and now God has crossed our paths again.  I really did not have any expectations of our visit other than to share our hearts and  be worn out keeping our boys in line.  What we got was overwhelming love and encouragement from our friends and a church of people we have never met.  It was overwhelming to say the least. It was an amazing 4 days and at the end we didn't want to leave. I love that God knows what we need and He meets them in ways we never expect.

Now we are in a full run to get alot done in the next 3 weeks.  We have to get rid of our furniture, find homes for 4 cats, get the paperwork all set to bring our dog (Pete) with us, say goodbye, pack our belongings, sell our van, rent our house, get shots, say more goodbyes, buy plane tickets, get our life's paperwork in order, travel to South Florida to ship our belongings and visit with friends and family for more goodbyes.  We need prayer for all of these things to happen and for the time to be peaceful.