I fell in love... twice. ~ Part 2

(in case you missed part 1, click here)

.... I was lovestruck, filled with hope, envisioning all of my dreams coming true!~  Yes, I knew we were still talking about sticks and stones - and a big God and a big dream in my heart.  I was over the top in love and convinced that this was the place. Our place. Our should be forever place... and Tony agreed.  He understood my vision and the transformation that could take place.

Where I saw this:

I envisioned something like this: 

(found on Southern Weddings)

and this:

(found on Rebloggy)

Where I saw this:

I envisioned something like this:

(found on Elizabeth Anne Designs)

and naturally, the doors of the barn would feature something like this: 

(found on pinterest)

The almost 100 overgrown apple trees
that looked like this in the spring:

I was convinced would look like this by fall:

(found on pinterest)

and, of course, Forrester Farm would provide
 arrangements that looked something like this:

(found on 100 Layer Cake)

We could see ourselves there. We could retire there. We could really love living there, but.....there were some drawbacks.  It wasn't in our school district and would we really want to uproot the kids.  It would add an additional 30 minutes one way to an already sometimes tiring drive to work.  The house needed a new roof. The barn needed repairs in the roof.  There were some foundation concerns.  The property needed alot of work, which we weren't afraid of, but these were all important things to consider.

So, we prayed, we crunched numbers, we talked about options, we brought in a contractor to give us estimates, we met with some advisers, we prayed some more and ....we made an offer!  An offer based on the work that would need to be done.  An offer based on the decision that we should not uproot the kids, but manage two properties until they were all out of school.  An offer based on the knowledge that the property was in short sale status.

We submitted our offer.  We prayed. We waited. We got a response. Not quite the response we were expecting.  The exact words were "sharpen your pencil".  Who says that anyhow?  No counter. No discussion. No deal. And God whispered to my heart, "Do you trust me?" And I responded, "I do."

The story continues next week....