a lot can change in 3 1/2 months...

Due to the will of God, our lives have been turned upside down during the past few months. It's been and continues to be a practice in trusting in God's provision for our family. We know God is powerful and sovereign over the events of our lives, but is He still good and loving, even when it feels so awful? We answer a resounding YES! and want to share the time line of events and how God worked through the circumstances we found ourselves in:

Oct 4 -- I am laid off from my job, but given a 7 month severance package that includes help from career transition services group. J was able to use the resume & interview materials to market himself more effectively to the military for one of the few staff chiropractor positions available.

Nov 11 -- J applies for a position with the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Since the government moves at a snail's pace, we figure we won't hear anything for a month or two. In the meantime, I'm finding it hard to even get an interview despite several treasury analyst positions within commuting distance. I take my search nationwide, assuming that I'll have an easier time getting hired since there's more jobs for me than him.

Nov 30 -- J gets an email from the recruiter for the USAFA requesting a phone interview. This was the one and only response from the 6 or so positions that he applied for around the country. One position with the VA had 140 applicants! Since most chiropactors have to be self-employed, these military positions are highly sought after.

Dec 2 -- First phone interview goes very well. He's told that they will decide who progresses to round 2 by the next day.

Dec 7 -- No word from the recruiter and we are really struggling to accept what appears to be a door slamming shut. We're praying through our tears as our faith in God's goodness is tested.

Dec 8 -- J sends an email to the recruiter who informs him that the military just gave them their decision and they want to interview J by phone, along with 4 others. My first thought when he told me was "God is giving him this job.". Meanwhile, I have a defense contractor in DC that's interested in bringing me down for an interview, but no date set.

Dec 14 -- J has a phone interview with the Lt Col who would be his boss, which goes well. We wonder if he'll be called out for a face-to-face interview the following week -- while we're on vacation in Seattle. Much to our surprise, the recruiter calls back 4 hours later and offers him the job. The Lt Col selected him because he came across to her as someone that would be easy to get along with. We figured that with all the qualified candidates this would be the thing that would give him the edge. Those of us who know J know that he IS easy to get along with and a team player. God enabled him to communicate this effectively to the Lt Col.

Dec 17 -- We meet with our realtor, Deb, and she strongly suggests that we get the house ready to show prior to our vacation since it will be empty. Since we are leaving in two days, I start scrambling to declutter & clean until late in the night and miss the Berg family Christmas gathering the next day.

Dec 19 -- We're still getting the last of the cleaning done an hour before we need to leave for the airport, so we begin packing for our 10 day trip to see my family. Though it seems like a bad time to leave, we're really excited to see my whole family since it had been a year & a half since our last visit.

Dec 22 -- Deb lists our home on MLS at a very attractive price in order to move it quickly, since we have no desire to be landlords. The market is down and values have dropped over 20% in the past 3 years. Will the Lord do the impossible and bring us a buyer in six weeks?

Dec 29 -- Our flight back to Boston is canceled due to residual problems from the blizzard a few days before. We lose 4 more days of getting ready for our move. We finally get home on New Years.

Jan 5 -- After advertising his practice at a very low price, it turns out that all three people interested in purchasing it have no bank financing or money to put down if we were to self-finance it. So he tries to sell his office assets, but gets very little for them. It appears that the Lord just wants him to give them away and close down.

I'm reminded of Phil 3:7-8 in which Paul writes that whatever was to his profit he considered loss for the sake of Christ. "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ". Somehow in all this, J was going to know Christ more by donating / trashing his assets and shutting down his practice, it seems. It's not what we would have chosen, but our Father knows best what we need, and we rest in that.

Jan 6 -- A couple in Wakefield wants to see our house ahead of our open house on the 9th, in an effort to get ahead of the competition. This is the third couple who asked for a showing and being the only 3 bdrm home in our price range, it's attractive to first-time home buyers. They came in and LOVED the house (as we did) and since they had no realtor of their own, they are very open with Deb about their strong desire to make an offer. Deb said that this is the best couple to show a house to because they want a home, more than they want a good deal. They aren't nitpicky and critical, but see all the best things about the house and are very motivated to buy. They are dubbed the "Thursday couple". Deb puts them in touch with a mortgage lender that we know and he begins the process of prequalifying them for a loan.

Jan 9 -- The Thursday couple is the first to arrive at the open house and they stay the entire time, eventually making themselves at home on our living room couch. Dad and baby fall asleep on our couch and they continue to show great enthusiasm in buying our home. There's a few snags in the prequal process that the woman is working hard to fix as they want to move in by March at the latest. Four other couples attend the open house and one in particular asks to come back the next day to see it with their realtor. Could we end up with a bidding war?

Jan 19 -- It's 10 more days of waiting before the first offer comes in. The Thursday couple is very close to getting their prequal letter, but the other couple puts in an offer late in the evening that is significantly less than we're willing to accept.

Jan 20 -- Deb leans on the Thursday couple to see if she can get them in the game so we can get the highest price possible. In the meantime, we counter with the other couple -- for our full asking price. As we expected the Thursday couple to offer full asking price, Deb tells the other broker that another couple is going to make an offer that afternoon and that we were only prepared to accept a full-price offer.

So... the other couple counter-counters 7k less than our asking price and we wait for the Thursday couple's offer. It comes in 2 hours later at FULL ASKING PRICE and they want to close by the end of Feb! Deb said this is the best scenario that we could have hoped for and we are all thrilled. God indeed prepared a buyer for our house and made them very motivated to own our home, just as we had prayed for.

With Jonathan closing his practice last week and vacating his office space this week, we are ready to pack up and move on the 1st of February. As we suffer through the painful goodbyes to family & friends, we know that God wants us in the Springs and we're excited to look ahead and see what He has in store for us there.

Our God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God cannot do!

Shelby