Here in the Allison house, we are in crazy purge mode. Perhaps this explains a little:
WHAT. In the weeks leading up to our house going on the market, I tried really, really hard to mentally prepare for the possibility that we could be in it for the long haul. However, God could tell right off the bat that surprise! I just couldn’t handle the long haul! So, PRAISE YE THE LORD, our house is under contract.
Do we have a place to live once we evacuate our current abode? Nope. Are there even any prospects? Nope. Does this worry me at all? Uh, not as much as it probably should. I just know that if he could sell our house THAT quickly, he’ll surely hook us up with the perfect place to live. Eventually. Or maybe he won’t, and we’ll have to crash on our friends’ couches for months on end, and I’ll finally have that sister wife I’ve always needed. Either way, Jehovah-jireh, y’all.
So, the purging. Deep in the recesses of our garage, I came across a stack of posters from Elizabeth’s airport arrival. I could never part with them because, hello, those are some legit memories right there. But tis time.
Elsa (she changed her name this week. just FYI.) was so gracious to pause her twirling for a second so I could forever remember that day she and I rolled up in the RDU airport reeking of Kinshasa-funk and parasite-poop (hers, not mine) and into the arms of so, so many who had prayed her home.
I’ve already shed tears thinking of leaving this house. The house to which we brought Elizabeth home. Where I rocked my babies. The house that holds six and a half years of memories. Honestly, there are still many days I just don’t want to move. And as potential buyers streamed into our house over the weekend, I had a pit in my stomach thinking of someone else living here. Someone else who might not fill it with the life and love it has known for so long.
At the end of the weekend, we actually received several offers. The one we accepted was from an ecstatic first time grandmother who, after weeks of looking, just knew this was the house for her. She’ll be moving here from another state to be near her first grandbaby. A baby who will surely be rocked to sleep in our upstairs bedrooms. Who will take first teetering steps in our living room. Who will climb our trees and explore our creek and who will fill it with life.
And who will hopefully scream and cry and ninja fight (and cry again) plenty because, LORD KNOWS, this house has known a lot of that too.
And all of our neighbors said “AMEN!”