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.