Nevertheless, Paul and I are thrilled and relieved to have the question answered..."Where will we live come summer?" God has answered it for us and we are overjoyed!
We have decided to relocate our family to the little town of Haslet, Texas, right outside of Fort Worth. This will put us less than 15 minutes from Paul's work and much closer to Paul's family.
The flip side and ultimately the down side is that we are leaving Dallas!!! This also means that we're leaving Trinity, the school which we have loved and has been a huge part of our lives for the past three years. We will all be sad to go!
The story of how it all came about, God's story, is a neat one. We were looking exclusively in the Dallas area for months, making offers on multiple houses, none of which we got. We were starting to wonder why "they" wouldn't LET us buy a house!! In retrospect it was God closing doors, in His kindness, to narrow our options and show us more clearly the path He had for us.
God did a work in my heart as well. I thought it best to stay on this side of town where it was familiar and near friends and dentist and doctor and friends and church and friends!! But, God showed me through the words of my brother-in-law that maybe I wasn't putting my husband first. Maybe I was putting my kids (or even me) first. That struck me to the core. What about my hubby's hour long commute everyday to and from work? He never complains, but I know how hard it is on him. What about being over one hour from his family? Shouldn't this be on the top of the list of considerations? God first, then my sweet husband, then my children and last me. So easy to get that order distorted.
By keeping with this order, I am in obedience to God and He will always bless all those involved and make it what IS best for them, including the kids (and me).
I thank the Lord that He so kindly closed those doors along the way, eventhough it felt like such a loss at the time. Now, I can't imagine it any other way. When I compare the house we now own with the houses we were TRYING to buy, it is night and day different. God was trying to give us something awesome and we were trying to push for something less in our limited knowledge. When will we learn, right? Beautiful home, close to work, close to family...love it!
Just in case any of you were wondering, I will be staying home next year and we'll homeschool Benjamin and Cait. Should be fun!
The post wouldn't be complete without showing you pictures of our new house. I can't wait for you to come visit and stay with us. We will have a guest room now, so come and stay awhile!!
entry way with formal living and dining to the right
study looking out to formals
family room
my favorite...the staiway
breakfast room
master bath
glorious closet!!!
gameroom upstairs looking out to hallway with bedrooms
view from the top of the stairs
backyard with covered patio
nothing behind us and never will be! Hooray for that!
We feel so blessed! Now we have a ton of painting to do and moving bit by bit before we get to love there in May!
15 comments:
Wow! It looks wonderful!! We are so happy for you guys! Thanks for posting pics!
WOW what a home! It is beautiful. Congratulations! We are actually downsizing with all the children. But i cant complain it is new and clean and no work to be done. we are moving to Benbrook before the end of the month. PLease cal sometime and we can meet up. At least you know some friends on this side of the metroplex. Blessings, Cynthia
Well, it's still really great news and I am so happy for you! Beautiful house! You deserve it. I know it will be wonderful to live near Paul's work. It will be very nice to have him home so soon after he gets off his job, trust me. Congratulations. keep blogging, I don't want to lose touch with ya!
What a beautiful home!
So excited for you guys! Enjoy the process and the blessing!
I was just talking about you guys last night ... Happy Early 1st Anniversary!!!!!! :)
Love & Miss you more than you know!
Christi
I've been following your post for a while now. You'll love it in Haslet!! Be sure to check out my church, Life Community Church, located on 2nd street...if you are looking for a new one! We'd love to have your familiy visit.
That looks awesome!!
You know as I was reading your blog, I immediately started thinking, "Well God is truly blessing this sweet girl and her babies with things they have prayed about and never really had!!" I know that the only home that you have ever owned was very small and needed LOTS of love and care! I'm sure it was special but nothing like this gorgeous home that you showed us! Wow, Tamra....3 or 4 years ago - would you ever had thought you would be living in this castle!! I also knew in past years you had prayed about and really felt led to homeschool your kids. And when it didn't happened you questioned why God would have put that in your heart and not let it happen! Well, He did answer your prayer - just in His timing! Isn't God just amazing!!??!!
You know Beth Moore reminded us last night at bible study that God is the Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end. She said that God NEVER brings an Omega into our life without having an Alpha right behind it! When God allowed your Omega He followed up with another Alpha in your life!
Yes, God is truly amazing!
I'm so happy for you and Paul and your kids! I know you may not like to hear it said like this - but you truly deserve this gift from God! You were faithful to Him through some dark times in your life and now His Blessings continue to overflow in your life!
Blessings,
Julie
WOW! That is one beautiful home! I am so excited for you - how much fun is it going to be to decorate that place!
And about the homeschooling - I don't know how close that will be to where Rochelle lives (Weatherford) but she has all kinds of cool homeschool type groups that she is a part of. I often wish I lived closer to her so I could be involved in some of them - they seem really great!
I will be praying for you sister. I know you will do great but I think it is harder to start homeschooling after your kids have already been in school. You don't know exactly where they are in every subject and picking curriculum can be a nightmare! If it's any consultation this is my third year homeschooling and my first year where I feel like I have a notion of what I am doing! You being a teacher and so creative will probably make the adjustment a much smoother one! But call me or e-mail me or what ever :-) if you ever need anything at all. I am so happy for you Tamra!!
Tamra, hope you don't think me odd of snooping on your blog (I think I found it through Erin Cunningham) but your new house looks amazing! Kc told me that you were leaving TCA but it looks like God has amazing things in store for your family! My parents pulled me out of my Christian school when I was in the 1st grade and I was homeschooled the entire way. I'll be praying for you as you begin this huge adventure!!
oh Tamra! your house looks GORGEOUS! how much He gives to those who wait upon Him and are obedient to Him! This is my dream home - especially the stairs, hehe. praying for you and your new adventure in Haslet!
Tamra, this is so exciting! I'm so glad God spoke to you guys on this, and the house is beautiful!!! How exciting to start homeschooling! We would love to see you guys!
jenn
This is AMAZING!!! I'm SO excited for you guys. Wow! Makes me want to break out in chorus:
"Our God is an Awesome God..."
Yay! Can't wait to see/hear your story continue to unfold. I know it will be glorious, especially with your hearts so fully turned to Him.
So happy for you all!
M-
Wow, Tamra Lynn! Do you ever feel like Job whose blessings were doubled after the season of suffering? This is a beautiful home, great for homeschooling, raising kiddos, hosting, planting anything you could imagine in the back yard, etc... Truly wonderful, dear friend! I can't wait to come visit!
Love you!
Lori
Congratulations on the new house! It looks amazing and I know you guys will make many new friends there. I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job homeschooling your two beautiful kids.
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