New Beginnings
Aug 2, 2020 | by Nancy Newbrough
Many of us have been impacted by the economic downturn since March when Covid 19 begin affecting the American people. My husband and I met with our financial advisor over Zoom in mid-April and were bracing ourselves for the worst. We were extremely nervous as my husband had been contemplating retirement at the end of 2020. What a pleasant surprise to learn that our portfolio had not declined as we expected! Praise God!
A couple of weeks later, we decided to check on the portfolio of my 88-year-old mother-in-law. In talking with her advisor, we learned that her investments had taken a substantial hit! That same day, she also received a letter revealing that one of her long-term care plans would not cover the assisted living facility where she was staying. Bottom line … she was going to run out of money!
After much prayer and seeking God for a resolution, we decided a solution might be to find an acreage property that also had a house with a “mother-in-law suite.” That very day we began searching for houses on the HAR (Houston Association of Realtors) website. There were a few that we wanted to look at and notified our amazing realtor. She set up appointments for several properties later that week.
Just to shake things up and add some excitement and stress -- the day after we decided to look at properties, my husband got an email from Human Resources at his company saying they were going to start offering early retirement packages. The following week he would get notified if eligible for a package. If so and if he were interested, an application would have to be submitted. All the pertinent dates were mapped out -- it would be about a six-week process.
We looked at three properties … and the last place was the one! It was the perfect home with several acres for our multigenerational family (our granddaughter and great granddaughter also live with us). Our realtor wrote up a contract and we submitted our offer. After going back and forth, the owners finally accepted the offer!
Meanwhile, the next week we found out that my husband was eligible for the retirement package! He applied for it and we had to wait for another two weeks to see if his application was accepted.
There were many bumps in the road with the house over the next couple of weeks as it underwent inspections and contractors gave us bids on repairs. The house is only 18 years old, but there had been some additions to the original house -- and part of the electrical and plumbing had not been done correctly. Negotiations followed! After we almost walked away from the purchase, the owners finally agreed to adjust the price. Closing was set for June 17th.
Finally, on June 8th we got the anticipated email from my husband’s company. His retirement was approved, and he would be getting a very nice severance as well! Wow, our God is truly a God of extra abundance -- as Pastor Robert reminded us in last week’s message!
June 17th was a glorious day! We were able to go into the Title Company (with masks on, of course) and sign the papers without a hitch! Thank the Lord, we did not have to sell our current house to close on the new home. There was no way we could move right away due to remodeling and repairs.
We endured a few hiccups, but everything was finally completed on July 10th – and it was also my husband’s official retirement day! Our long-awaited move happened just a few days later on July 14th. My mother-in-law joined us on July 18th.
The last two weeks have been filled with days and days of continuous unpacking and trying to get the other house cleaned up and onto the market! But, finally, we are breathing a little easier! There are still a lot of boxes left to unpack, but we now say, “Every day is a Saturday when you are retired!” To God be the Glory.
J.D.
Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21