Our God Rains

We got up early this morning for the final walk through of the house at 8 and then the closing at 9. When we got here yesterday the kids could not really see the mountains because it was clouded over. This morning the sky was really clear and the mountains were the first thing the boys noticed from the window of the apartment. When we walked out I could smell rain on the air, despite the clear skies.

On the drive up here it rained off and on the whole way. It wasn't a problem and in fact made me smile. Every special day in my life it has rained. Prom, graduation, my wedding brought a tropical storm, the birth of my children, and some very special days spent with my dear friend Lesley. Three times she and I have been caught in the rain, two of which were down pours! I have always liked to think that it was God raining his blessings down. So when I smelled the rain in the air this morning I breathed deep and gave God a little wink.

As we headed west towards the mountains the kids took in the sights. They loved seeing the hot air balloons and "check out the lake! Can we fish there?"

"Are we going to live there?" Gabriel sighed pointing to the mountains.

"We are" I told him.

"It's just too beautiful! I can't live there!" he took the words right out of my mouth. I was glad to hear that he loved it as much as me and then he said, "I can't live there. Take me back to Texas." Hmm...

When we got to the house the sellers were still there packing. I was a little concerned. It could possibly make things awkward but instead it was another blessing. They are the greatest couple! Just real good people! They are moving to Boulder. She works for the Humane Society there and has been putting up with the commute because they loved the schools where they were at so much. Her son graduated in May though and so they are ready to move and shorten the commute.

They own 4 dogs who were all over the boys and eager to show them the place! The kids ate it up. The sellers loved that young boys would be running through their house again. Constance, (her name. Can't remember his.) showed me some of the things about the house that she felt I should know. She told me all about her fabulous neighbors who were all there the night before for a big going away party. She left chalk behind for me to use on the chalk board wall and beside that a folder full of warranties and such on appliances. Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a key.

"This is the only key we have. I tried it to make sure it was the one. We've never locked the doors. No one out here does." She went on to tell me they even leave the keys in their cars. I was baffled! This is a whole other way of life out here. I always lock my doors. I had good Houston training!

We then stood out on the deck together and she pointed out towards the end of the property.

"The bus picks the kids up at the bottom of the hill there. You can sit out on the deck and watch them board the bus. The little dirt trail that goes around the house is where our son rode his dirt bike." Her eyes welled up and mine spilled over.

"Oh no!" she cried and put her arm around me. "Are you sad?"

"I don't know what...I feel...overwhelmed I guess. I'm so sorry! I'm so embarrassed that I'm crying. I just feel so blessed!" We wiped our tears away and we finished the walk through.

It was time for us to leave for the closing and so we said our goodbyes. I hugged Constance again.

"Won't you be at the closing?" she asked. I was confused. Well, yeah. That's where we are going!

What Aaron and I did not realize was that we would all be at the closing together; sellers and buyers. It was the strangest thing for us. This is the fourth house we've bought and we've never had the sellers present before. So there we all sat together sipping coffee and eating oatmeal cookies. Constance wrote directions out for me on how to get to the grocery store and anything else she could think of to tell me. I hope they feel good about passing their home on to us! I think we will see them again as she is going to help find a "mountain dog" for us. It was the sweetest closing I've ever sat through!

They were a little behind in getting their movers lined up and so everything was getting moved out today. Our movers won't be here until Tuesday and so it posed as no inconvenience for us. We were going to wait and head out there this evening (because we don't want the pets to ruin the corporate apartment) but as we were packing things up again it started pouring rain. It seems to always rain on the special days in my life...