I am telling myself all the same stories lately and so this will just be another rehashing of all I have said before. But I keep saying it because I am still walking this path, still waiting, still trying to patiently go through the process.
So we have a few things going on over here.
I have taken the first of 3 classes necessary to get my real estate license and become a Realtor. I don't know why I haven't done it years ago. Actually I know why, I never wanted to commit to actually working and it seemed like if I didn't commit it would just be frustrating. And since I love real estate, love looking at houses, love getting people excited about the potential of their homes, I didn't want to pursue real estate unless I was ready to pursue real estate. And now, finally, I am ready. Of course it takes time to take the classes and find the right broker situation to sign with and then hang your shingle. I have had a couple interviews for positions where I would actually be employed. One full time where I probably wouldn't spend much time pursuing my own thing and one part time where I would. I actually like both options equally and am also not opposed to the idea of just jumping in and generating my own leads and business. Although that one is obviously the most risky and in our current financial state a bit scary. Anyway, I find myself struggling through this licensing process and the decision making process. Impatient. I want to get on with the listing and showing process, and most importantly, the making money process. I am hoping to be done with my current job at the end of this month and not yet knowing where I will be going next is driving me crazy. Where am I going next?
Tomorrow John and I are going to visit a school that we hope is the right fit for him continuing his undergraduate degree, Bethel University. It is literally on the other side of town. It would be hard to find a place further from our house and still consider it to be in the Twin Cities. However, this place does hold some classes near our house which is one of the draws. It is also a Christian university which adds an exciting element to John's education AND they are starting a PA program this fall in their Graduate school so John could potentially move right into that program without switching schools. Although we are hopeful it will work out to attend Bethel I think we are also going to look at the University of Minnesota for comparison sake. It would be nice to have this all figured out by now but we have dragged our feet and so it is just another thing hanging over our heads at the moment. Where will John go to school in the fall?
Finally, after talking about it for a couple years we have decided to sell our house, to get serious about this college student pursuit. I am glad we haven't moved before this, I think we needed the time to really adjust to the fact that John is in school and I am working and this is our new life. But now is the time to decide, are we in it or not? I don't want to live 4-5 more years on the edge of our finances. The big thing for me was realizing this is not a move of failure but of hope. We are sacrificing for the next few years to accomplish our goal and be able to move forward. "Voluntary poverty" someone used to describe his years in graduate school living in the projects. I hope we aren't going to be living in the "projects",(does Minneapolis have projects?), but I know we won't be able to stay in the community we are in right now. Initially our thought was to rent something. A little 2 bedroom town home, save maybe $500/month plus maybe another $1-200 on utilities. Then I realized this weekend that we do have a decent amount of equity in our house. Nothing overwhelming but maybe...I went to check and indeed we could buy something for cash. We have literally been dreaming of being mortgage free since we signed the paperwork on our first house nearly 20 years ago. It might be small, and it will probably be screaming for updates but I am confident we can make anything home for the next 5 years that saves us over $1000/month in living expenses. Everything I am currently looking at would put us at $3-500/month for taxes and insurance. Back to what we were paying for our 1 bedroom apartment when we first got married. We are excited. But we can't really take action on this plan until I finish my real estate license and get a broker. And knowing where John is going to go to school will help us narrow down the location search for a new place. So we wait and wonder, "where will we be living next fall?"
Does anyone remember my word of the year?
Watch.
Sit back and watch what the Lord is doing in my life.
Is 43:19 "See I am dong a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"New thing! Yes I definitely perceive it.
So I told a friend today that, "sometimes the vision of where you are going gets in the way of seeing the path you need to take to get there". (am I allowed to quote myself in my own blog?)
We all know how great I am at vision. I know where we are going. I can see it, I am there. I see us living in a cute little paid for town home in Minneapolis, I see myself showing people houses and listing properties and working with commercial buyers (my main dream), I see John as a PA working with a surgeon and loving it. I see our life coming together. I see us being able to spend our 30th anniversary in Hawaii, travel back to Kenya. I see us owning cars with less than 100,000 miles on them, I see myself being able to get my hair colored again. I see us retiring in Florida. I see it. I do not have a problem with vision. But since the path to the goal is not always a straight line if you don't occasionally take your eye off the prize to watch where you are going you just might wander off the path and get lost.
I need some more immediate goals to get myself excited and stay focused. I need to study non stop for the next 2 days before the license exam I am taking. I need to sign up for and sit through another 60 hours of online training after passing the test. I need to keep working at my current job a few more weeks so we can continue to pay the bills during this transition.
These things are challenging when you have already passed the test and started working with buyers in your mind!
My word of the year is Watch. It may seem like a passive word, just sit back and see what happens, but I am finding it to be a very active word. Keeping up with God as he takes all this action in my life is exhausting. Trusting him to work out the details is trying. Every day I have to remind myself that He is present with me and doing the work. Every day I get up and follow God down the path he has laid before me that day. The hard part is not taking control, I love control, but so far he seems to be doing a pretty good job leading so I guess I will just continue following along.
I wonder where he will take me tomorrow? Watch and see...
Col 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."
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