As we were eating dinner last night, Matt saw two deer in the rocks behind the house. As we watched the deer, I was reminded of how much I love our home and the land that it was built on. Then I began to remember how we came to live here, and it reminded me that God always has a plan.
When Matt and I were first married, we had little money, but so much love. I was still in college and he was fresh out, so we lived in an apartment in Athens to be between UNA (my college) and Huntsville (where he worked). We lived there for over a year, and after I graduated, we wanted to move closer to our families. We were expecting Kennedy at that time. We found a little house in New Hope, where we didn't even live long enough to finish unpacking. Matt's uncle had a house in Huntsville to come open, so we moved into it when I was almost eight months pregnant. We really liked it there (except for the HUGE roaches that tormented us no matter how often we had the house sprayed). Matt and I both began our careers and loved our baby girl. We bought a car and a few other things.
Then, when Kennedy was almost three, we decided that we needed our own home. We began looking and looking and looking. We even almost signed papers on a lot that would not have made us happy in the long run. Matt had a feeling to walk away from that deal, and even though it upset me at the time, I agreed with him that we should not settle. So, we continued to look and look and look...
A friend of Matt's kept telling him that we needed to look at lots off of Taylor Road, but at that time we couldn't find Taylor Road (which is such a big joke now because everyone in our town knows where Taylor Road is). Finally, one day we were driving, and I convinced Matt to take a different road, and guess what? Yes, it turned out to be Taylor Road. We turned down the side road his friend had told us about, and there it was, our dream lot. It was a beautiful treed acre lot with a little rocky mountain as its backdrop. It was love at first sight, even though it had not been mowed in a while. As soon as we got home, Matt called the owners of the lot. I could tell it was bad news. Another couple had already put down money on the lot. When he hung up, I asked him to please call the man back and tell him that if the other couple backed out, we wanted the lot. Matt told me that no one would back out on that lot, but he called the man anyways. For some reason I had a feeling that we would be hearing from the owner. And, a week later, we did. The other couple had decided against the lot. Matt went that night and met the owner with a down payment on the lot. We were beyond excited, until I found out that my teaching unit had been cut. Disaster!
I had already taught for three years, but my school was losing a teacher unit, and I was the last hired, so the first to be dismissed. At that time I taught at the only elementary school that did not have a retiring teacher that year, so there was no unit for me to fall into. A very nice, helpful lady at Human Resources (there are a few of them) e-mailed me and really wanted to get me placed in a new position before the school year ended (that was around the beginning of March). She told me to take my resume around to the other elementary schools in the district. My sweet principal made many calls on my behalf. But, everywhere I went principals didn't want to talk to another teacher looking for a job. There were so many of us, afterall. Then one day, on a teacher friend's suggestion, I went out of my way to Hampton Cove Elementary. I had been there once for an in-service, but I knew very little about the school. I remember it was a Wednesday afternoon because the secretary told me that the principal had just finished a long faculty meeting, and she was too tired to talk to visitors. I left my resume and walked out the door, broken. I remember walking to my car, thinking, "If she would just come out and call my name and give me a chance, I know she would like me." Then the unthinkable happened: she came out and called my name! She could have just called me the next day, but instead she chased me down! It turns out that she was good friends with my current principal, so she had already heard all about me. Mrs. Kirch interviewed me for all of ten minutes before offering me any one of her three openings. I quickly jumped at first grade because I actually had a little experience with that grade. It was a miracle! Matt and I were happy again!
If you don't know, Hampton Cove Elementary is about four minutes from the lot of land that we had just bought! Now everything was coming together, but there was more.
Our lot had so many trees on it, and they weren't very beautiful, so we needed them removed. We were really worried about this extra cost, but our builder convinced his excavator to cut down and remove 36 full grown trees for $1500. Matt met the excavator and paid him for the service, and Matt remembered thinking how nice that man seemed.
We moved into our wonderful new home in September 2006, and though there are plenty of things we wish we had done differently, we never plan to move. We know this home was meant to be ours.
Before and after moving in, Matt and I had been 'church shopping.' We both knew that we needed to go to church, but we just couldn't agree on a church, so we decided to agree to disagree and to each go our own route in this matter. It's an even longer story, but within six months of moving into our house, God stepped in yet again, and brought us to a wonderful church that is only five minutes from our home. It is the church that we know we were called to be a part of, and us going to church together is the greatest miracle of this story. And, the excavator, who removed 36 trees for $1500, well, he goes to church with us too! God has a way that is so simple, yet so complex. He can do big miracles, just like He can do small miracles. I am proud to say that I am one of His miracles!
