Friday, November 9, 2007

Construction Journey!






For those of you who do not know, my husband, Tim is a residential home builder. We will be married 15 years on November 16th! I cant believe it has already been 15 years. Lots of ups and downs but we discovered about 5 years ago that peace and joy on this earth is not possible without God. We built our first house in 1995. Chase was born in 1997 and Tim had the itch to build again. We put a For Sale sign in the front yard and in two weeks it had sold. This was the beginning of our construction journey.

Chase was only 2 months old when the house sold and we started looking for a rent house with no idea where we would end up. We found a rent house in Jacksonville on Braden. Let me back up a minute, Tim's uncle Wayland was our builder on house #1 and Tim was on the job learning how to build. He had been around it for several years but had a lot to learn at the time. So.... back on track now, Tim's Mom and Dad owned a lot on Madison Avenue in Jacksonville that was perfect for us to build house #2 on so they sold it to us and off we went to the architect (Gwen Couch) and then the bank for our first very own construction loan. Tim was going to build this one himself with some help from his uncle along the way.

We were in the rent house through the holidays that year, we were building in the winter. I would much rather work in cold weather than hot. Tim and I did alot of work ourselves. We spent most weekends at the house cleaning and picking up after the subs. All went well after about 6 months of construction house #2 was complete and we moved into the house in April of 1998. Chase was almost a year old. During all this time Tim was working at One Source Home & Building Center as an Outside Sales man. He worked his way up to that position and he was great at it but always had a desire to build homes. I'm just not a risk taker and the thought of being a self employed builder scared me. Not having a steady income scared me. I have learned to trust in the Lord and he will provide.

So...... we stayed in house #2 for about 5 years. 3 years longer then Tim wanted to! He was anxious to build again. So we put a for sale sign in the yard and this time was not so quick. It took about 7 months to sale the house and then off we go searching for a rent house again. And what do you know, Tim's Mom and Dad to the rescue once again. They found a mobile home in the boonies off of Hwy 107 in Jacksonville on some land. They bought the mobile home and the land and rented it out to Tim and I so we could begin the construction of house #3. We found the perfect lot in the Gap Creek subdivision of Sherwood. I was so excited. This time we were building in the Hot Hot summer. I about died working out there. It took us approx. 5 - 6 months and we were ready to move in just in time for Christmas 2003. We loved Gap Creek. Chase made lots of friends in the neighborhood and he was so sad when we decided last January to build house #4. He is 10 now. But I told him we would still be in Sherwood and close enough to visit his friends and keep in touch with the ones he doesn't go to school with. In November of 2004 Tim started building homes full time and became self employed! I was so stressed at first but the Lord has blessed us and blessed his career decision. He has built several homes in the past two years and its been an awesome experience for him. He loves what he does and he is so good at it. We know it would not be possible without God and we also know Tim is doing what God led him to do. He has had some very satisfied customers and we are thankful for them and that God brought them into our lives.

Tim had a spec house for sale in Sherwood that was sitting and sitting, interest was adding up. So we put our house up for sale in Gap Creek in hopes it would sale and we would just move into the spec house for awhile. After about 3 months of stress and worry, both homes sold within 4 days of each other and that is how we ended up where we are today. We stated building our new home in Millers Crossing in early spring and moved in on July 4th of this year. I don't know where or when we will be off on the move again but I just thank God for what we have and give him the glory! He has blessed Tim with the ability to build beautiful homes and he is doing what he loves to do! I still stress out a little because of the current Real Estate market and our economy right now. But I try real hard to focus on Gods truth which tells us not to worry, he is with us where ever we go.
Deuteronomy 31:8The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."Deuteronomy 31:7-9 (in Context) Deuteronomy 31 (Whole Chapter)

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