One Week Time Span – New Job, New House, and New School
In May, my husband, Brent, and I sat down at our dining room table with a yellow legal pad and wrote down all the steps it would take to move to Nashville. At that time we had no place to live, no job, and no school in mind for Grant. It was overwhelming, to say the least. We started researching more thoroughly and found the house prices to be 2 or 3 times more what we paid in Oklahoma. The promise for a good elementary school in a neighborhood we could afford seemed hopeless.
We took this leap of faith because we have always wanted to live near Brent’s family. We loved the years we spent in Oklahoma and when we got married we said it would be nice if we could spend some time living near my family and time living near Brent’s family.
Even though we felt at peace about the move there were many obstacles ahead of us. Brent would have to quit his job, we would live off of savings for a few months or until he found a job, we had to sell our Oklahoma house and all the details in Tennessee would have to be worked out. The funny thing is that this was not our first time to move to a new city without jobs. We did it when we moved to Los Angeles and when we moved to Oklahoma. Somehow since the Lord had provided for us in years past it was easier to trust that he would do it again. Although, I did have moments when fear and uncertainty got the best of me.
Selling Our House
So we took the leap trusting everything to God. Brent quit his job in June. We planned to put our house on the market in early July. Our estimated day of departure from OKC with the moving truck was July 21st. Meanwhile, Brent was job hunting and interviewing. We were also scouring the real estate sites to find the right house in the right location at the right price.
We loved our OKC house (a.k.a. #1933house). When we bought it there was wallpaper in every room except the kitchen. We did most of the remodeling ourselves and it was a labor of love that took about 3 years. At first, it was hard to let it go but I found peace in knowing it could live on and bless another family. And that is just what happened. My mom had been looking for an investment property and asked how we would feel if she bought our house. Score! Sell house – check.
Job Hunt
As for Brent’s job search, he’s had talks, interviews, and meet-ups with no success. It has been pretty discouraging for both of us. Pretty much for our entire marriage, he has wanted to work for Dave Ramsey. We have been following his financial advice since the beginning of our marriage as well as teaching Financial Peace University many times. So when an opportunity came for an interview at Dave Ramsey Solutions we were thrilled, but trying to not get our hopes up too high. After about a month long interview process he got the job! A job for Brent – check.
Nashville House Hunt
It gets better y’all. Since the house prices are so high in Nashville and the public schools seem to be lacking we felt discouraged about our house hunt. Right off the bat, we put a low offer on a house and didn’t get it. Since there are so few houses on the market and many people looking to buy it causes bidding wars and the price of the homes are going for more than their listing price. While I was still down in the dumps from the house we lost, Brent sent me a link to a house listing. It was in the neighborhood next to our ideal neighborhood but still had the same school zone. Through this process, we have had to raise our offering price since we found to get into a neighborhood with a good school you simply have to pay more. Long story short, we went to look at the house the next day, put an offer in and now are under contract! We are floored. “Nothing is impossible with God” has been my response when I or others questioned our situation. House in Nashville – check.
School Options
As far as schooling for Grant we have been discussing all kinds of options but decided that putting him in school rather than homeschooling seemed like the best option for now. We made plans to enroll him at the school near my in-law’s house where we are currently living. Although all along we hoped that we could find a house before school started so he wouldn’t have to change schools mid-year. Well, God showed up and took care of everything. Since we have a contract on a house we were able to enroll Grant in our neighborhood school which just started. School for Grant – check.
The timeline went like this: on a Tuesday Brent got the job offer, that Friday we got a contract on a house and that next Tuesday was the first day of school for Grant. Isn’t God good?
Now we are on the hunt for a church home. We are so excited about where God has placed us and grateful He is providing for us and showing his love toward us in working out every detail. He is pouring out his provision for us and we are standing in the waterfall amazed.
This whole ordeal was not without sleepless nights, a busted radiator hose, and stress but totally worth it. Our theme song for our move to Nashville has been “A Million Dreams” — a million dreams for the life we’re going to make.
What about your dreams? Do you have anything brewing but are fearful or timid to take the leap? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments.
2 thoughts on “One Week Time Span – New Job, New House, and New School”
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Oh my dearest Franci. Such an encouragement you are to so many. You have deeply impacted my life in so many ways. Your bold faith, your biblical priorities, your realness in motherhood, commitment to Jesus and your family, your ability to encourage/prophesy/speak truth/cast vision over others, have all left a forever mark on my heart. This morning in my quiet time I was reading in 1 Corinthians 14 and a verse you spoke over Colby and I jumped out at me. God is not a god of disorder, but of peace. The whole chapter reminded me of you and the things you have encouraged me in. Writing, loving other moms, serving people, applying biblical principles to our finances, and most currently our next big move. Thank you for who you are, we dearly love you and your family. I am blessed by how God is pouring out a waterfall of blessings upon your family. I just wanted to encourage you that your ministry in OKC still lives on in the hearts of many.
Wow, Ashley. I am in tears reading this. I am so blessed to know you. I am so glad you packed up all those boxes, uprooted your life and planted it in OKC. What a blessing you are to so many. I am excited for your future and all that God has in store. Keep being faithful with what you have. God sees you, he loves you, and he desires for your dreams to come true.