Home Sweet Home Third Verse

Time for a little review.  Moved from NW 64th in OKC to the country in July-Aug, 1979.  Leased a house at 13 Pueblo in Edmond from July 1985-July 1986.  Back to country until Feb, 1987.  Back to Edmond, leased at 2700 Morrison Trail.  Purchased our first house in Edmond in August, 1987 at 301 Timber Ridge Rd in the Timber Ridge addition.  Telephone number was 348-5968.  Here are a couple of pictures of that house.

301 Timber Ridge Rd front of house

Side of house

We lived in this house until April, 2000 when we purchased our largest and prettiest house in Summit Parke addition.  Highlights while living in Timber Ridge included our 25th wedding anniversary which was a surprise party pulled off by me, the high school graduation of both kids, (Mike in 1991 and Sheri in 1993), the death of Joyce's father in May, 1992, the death of my mother, July, 1992, the deaths of several dogs, and the infamous church split at Faith Bible Church in July, 1993.  Joyce and I had not even discussed moving since we were enjoying the empty nest, but for some reason I wanted to be closer to the turnpike since driving across Edmond every day to work on the south side of OKC was getting old.  Joyce and I went house hunting one Saturday and spotted the house on Grand Parke Dr.  We called the realtor and made an appointment for later on that day. 

The realtor was willing to deal if he could also have the listing for our existing house which we agreed to.  Especially after touring the house, we were hooked.  He sold our house in Timber Ridge rather quickly so everything was a go.  After moving in, we had some problems heating and cooling the large family room with a vaulted ceiling so we upgraded the air conditioning unit and added another air return but still did not totally satisfy.  We were still enjoying the house but then the bottom dropped out in January, 2001 when I lost my job.  I was unemployed for eight months and ended up taking a job with a 50% pay cut.  We recovered financially and stayed put until June 2004 when we decided to down-size from almost 2,400 sq ft to about 1,400 square feet.  Here is current picture of 15212 Grand Parke Dr in Summit Parke.

15212 Summit Parke Dr

 We had been watching a new housing addition being built across the street from our addition and the homes were smaller but much less expensive and we had never had a house built to our specifications before even though we were limited to 6-8 floor plans so we signed with Ideal Homes for a house to be built at 14816 Marbleleaf Dr in the Marbleleaf addition.  The house was top quality but after a family gathering at Christmas time, we realized that we really had down-sized too much and began feeling crowded and closed in.  So the search began for a larger place.  Here is a picture of the Marbleleaf house.

14816 Marbleleaf Dr

We viewed a show home in Seminole Pointe in early 2005 which ended up being the exact floor plan that we selected.  Ideal Homes was also the builder so that gave us a $1,500 discount right up front.  The realtor told us there was only one lot left that was big enough for the floor plan (2,028 sq ft) that we selected so we signed on the dotted line and moved about four months later to 16032 Wind Dr (below).

16032 Wind Dr

Again, we had 6-8 floor plans to choose from but we picked everything else for the house:  brick color, paint colors inside and out, cabinets, hardware, carpeting, tile, wood flooring, front door, granite counter tops, etc.  So once we moved in, if we did not like something it was our own fault.  We have truly enjoyed living here and our only complaint is the small size of the two extra bedrooms.  To solve that problem, we turned one into our office where Joyce and I both have computer desks fully loaded and the other is Joyce's sewing room with a custom-built quilting table that also contains a place for her sewing machine.  The only bed in the house besides ours in the master bedroom has to be blown up with an electric pump so be prepared if you expect to spend the night at our house.

The changes to the house in the almost seven years that we have lived here include, of course, a new back door that included a doggie door (actually two of those because we changed doggie doors), new hardwood floor to replace the carpet in the family room, new granite counter tops using a thicker and higher grade of granite than the original, new carpeting in all three bedrooms and dining room, and new paint jobs for the utility room, office, and sewing room.  We also had a sprinkler system installed shortly after moving in and had curbscape flower beds put in the front of the house.  Other than drapes and blinds and new kitchen appliances a couple of years ago, everything else is intact.

Our final years are totally in the hands of a Sovereign God and we do not know our future living arrangements on this planet.  One thing we are sure of is that our final home will be in heaven with Jesus Christ and his body of believers that have been chosen as his own before the foundation of the world.  We read in God's Word:
 Eph 1:3-14  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him  with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him  also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,  to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,  who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

 
So closes the Home Sweet Home story for the verses that have already been written.  The final verse will be the sweetest when "I look upon his face, the one who saved me by His grace, then He'll take me by the hand, lead me through the Promised Land, what a day, glorious day that will be."
Will close with two of my favorite quotes from my favorite Bible teacher, Russ McKnight.

Everything God Requires, He Provides.

 

All of salvation is all of God.

Home Sweet Home Second Verse

In the first verse, we left off with the move to Thousand Oaks addition on the "Seven Mile Line" between Newcastle and Tuttle.  These photos should give some of the flavor of our surroundings. 

Just moved in - looking south

View from the west

Back of house looking north

Typical late 1970's kitchen

BIG garden!

The kids went to Bridgecreek school which had almost as many separate buildings as it did grades.  It was heavily damaged in the May, 1999 tornado that later destroyed lives and homes in Moore and elsewhere but we had moved to Edmond by then.  In the early to mid-eighties, circumstances began indicating that we needed to think about relocating to Edmond.  I was completing an MBA at Central State University (now UCO) at night, we mostly were attending Faith Bible Church in Edmond until the drive wore us down, and I was doing most of my work in Edmond at the home of a contractor for whom I was writing computer programs.  It was forty miles one way to church so when the drive became too much, we tried Snow Hill Baptist Church (1.5 miles from our house), Ridgecrest Baptist Church (about 3 miles from our house), Grace Bible Church in Del City (about 20 miles from our house), and Grace Chapel which was meeting in the Ramada Inn at NW 39th and May in OKC (about 25 miles from our house. ).

We were also attending a Friday night Bible study on  Romans led by Russ McKnight at the home of Ken Stone in Nichols Hills.  Gas was less than $1.50 per gallon but we wearing out cars quickly with excessive mileage.  We decided to list our house with a realtor who was also the builder of the house and leased a house at 13 Pueblo in the Fairfield South addition off of 15th and Santa Fe in Edmond and moved in the summer of 1985.  Obviously, our financial burden was less at the gas pump but we now were paying a lease payment as well as a house payment.  We lasted a year financially and were forced to move back to the house in the country.  Significant events while living in Edmond included the May, 1986 tornado that missed us by about two blocks and the Post Office massacre by Patrick Sherril at the Edmond post office on N Broadway in which thirteen people were killed.  This occurred in August, 1986 and we had just completed our move back to the acreage.  Here is what the house at 13 Pueblo looks like today.  By the way, our son, Mike, purchased a house a few years ago just across the street from here and still lives there.  Also included are some pictures from the May 8, 1986 tornado.  One is of KFOR news anchor Linda Cavanaugh broadcasting live from the scene.

13 Pueblo, Edmond

May 8, 1986 Tornado

Amazingly, no one was killed or severely injured

KFOR news anchor Linda Cavanaugh broadcasting live

We listed the country home ourselves and after about six months, a man and his wife showed up wanting to see the house.  After the tour, he pulled out a roll of $100 bills and asked how much money we needed for a down payment and asaked if we would we do a "contract for deed".  We were so anxious to return to Edmond that we agreed.  He assured us that he would file the necessary papers to complete the sale and our naivete led us to believe that everything was hunky-dory.  We quickly searched for a house to lease in Edmond and moved to 2700 Morrison Trail in the Trails South addition in February, 1987.  Some normalcy seemed to be returning to our household but it was the calm before the storm.  Here is the Morrison Trail house today.

2700 Morrison Trail, Edmond

Since we had done a contract for deed, the purchasers of our house were to make the payments directly to the mortgage company on the same loan that we originated.  Later, I realized this was just a sneaky but legal way to buy a house without paying any closing costs.  As long as the payments were made, the mortgage company didn't seem to care.  However, the payments were being made late and I would call the purchasers and they would assure me that the "check was in the mail".  This went on for several months and finally I could get no response to my phone calls and then the phone was disconnected.  The events are a bit hazy but I remember that we drove out to the house in the country and it appeared to be abandoned.  We went though the tasks of trying to find the people and then posting notices and sending certified mail to their relatives advising that we were taking the property back since they had not made the payments.

Upon gaining access to the property, we discovered that it had been trashed and we hauled three flat-bed trailer loads of junk from the house and garage to the Newcastle dump.  We managed to salvage one ceiling fan which we used at our next house.  By this time, we had purchased a house at 301 Timber Ridge Rd in the Timber Ridge addition at Danforth and Boulevard just across the street from Graceland cemetery.  To close the case on the country property, the mortgage company agreed to a "friendly foreclosure" which means we lost all of our almost eight years of equity, but, the mortgage company did not pursue us for any remaining balance after the property sold at a sheriff's sale.  No credit blemish would occur so it seemed the best of both worlds at the time because we surely could not afford two house payments at the time.

Best memories from the country living part of our lives must include the above ground pool (self-installed which was a big mistake), fresh produce from our Troybilt tilled 10,000 sq ft garden, the kids' (especially Mike) trips in the fields and forests behind the house, and ability to see the stars at night without having to look beyond the glow of the city lights.  In the twenty-plus years since then, we have driven by the house on many occasions and relived the good memories while trying to forget the bad ones.  It was our first new house but not our last as you will discover if you continue to the third verse to be presented in a future post.  It was a period of spiritual growth for both Joyce and I and both of our kids were baptised by me in two different churches.